Every person we travel these roads with have made their trek to us because they need us and what we know as much as we need them for what they can teach us.\u00a0 This idea has been stressed in earlier essays but it\u2019s one worth further emphasis because of the importance of the journey we share.<\/p>\n
Knowing that every person is specific to our education means we don\u2019t have to be fearful about the experiences that present themselves.\u00a0 We have been guided to each experience and we will be led through it too.\u00a0 I have heard it said in many gatherings, that God never brings us to an experience without also promising us we\u2019d be carried through it.<\/p>\n
Having hope that this is the truth is a decision I was encouraged to make many years ago.\u00a0 A wise sponsor suggested that I had nothing to lose by believing my life was unfolding in a very timely fashion.\u00a0 I would always be at the right place at the right time, facing the next right opportunity, she said.\u00a0 How right she was.\u00a0 Even when the path got rocky, and there were many times it did, I hung on to her belief that what had transpired was what I was ready for.<\/p>\n
The one time, in particular, that is still so vivid in my mind was when a professor told me my Ph.D. dissertation needed complete rewriting.\u00a0 I was stunned, to say the least, and initially terrified.\u00a0 The words that tumbled from my mouth were not really my own.\u00a0 I said, \u201cCan we go through it so that I understand your objections?\u201d fearful I\u2019d not be able to respond at all.\u00a0 However, for nearly four hours, we did just that.\u00a0 I honestly heard nothing, not his questions nor my answers.\u00a0 But at the end of that time, he smiled and approved my dissertation.\u00a0 God had answered my call even though I wasn\u2019t aware I had made it.\u00a0 I immediately called my husband, fearing I\u2019d just been dreaming.<\/p>\n
I remember reading the book, ILLUSIONS, by Richard Bach, very early in my recovery.\u00a0 At the time, I was scared and very confused by the changes that were happening in my life.\u00a0 I was also deeply doubtful that my life had any real purpose.\u00a0 But I was willing to be comforted by any reasonable suggestion and I found it on the back cover of that wonderful little book.\u00a0 It said, and I paraphrase: If you are reading this now, that means you are still alive and your purpose has yet to be fulfilled<\/em>.\u00a0 That tiny statement actually gave me the lift I was so desperate for at the time.\u00a0 It still is a great reminder.\u00a0 I am still alive, and so are you, therefore, we still have work to complete.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rather exciting knowing that we still have important work to do.\u00a0 And that work will continue until that moment when our journey detours and takes us to the last, peaceful stage.\u00a0 But until then, our most important purpose may well be to help those around us develop the hope they may lack at the time of our meeting.\u00a0 It is even now believed, by some researchers, that hope can be taught, that people can be shown how to build on the strengths they already have, rather than focus on what they lack.\u00a0 We can, in our role as way shower, guide others to discover the hope we have already achieved.\u00a0 This may well be why those others have appeared.\u00a0 What a worthy purpose this is.\u00a0Knowing that we can \u201cteach\u201d hopefulness by demonstrating for others how we selected a strength and then emphasized it, gives each experience the value it deserves<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Every person we travel these roads with have made their trek to us because they need us and what we know as much as we need them for what they can teach us.\u00a0 This idea has been stressed in earlier essays but it\u2019s one worth further emphasis because of the importance of the journey we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[65,72,84,112,131],"class_list":["post-269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-your-experience-strength-and-hope","tag-divinity","tag-encounters","tag-fellow-travelers","tag-hopefulness","tag-learning-from-others"],"yoast_head":"\n
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