FIRST Rock That Life Gave

May the stars carry your sadness away,
May the flowers fill your heart with beauty,
May hope forever wipe away your tears,
And, above all, may silence make you strong.
=== Chief Dan George ===

Dear Munchkin,

For many seasons, you were warmly tucked inside your warm nest. Life was as sweet as maple syrup (you hate honey).

But then, out of the blue, the sweet life you had known give you … a rock.

Welcome to ‘real world.’

All these years, you probably only knew ‘one side of a coin.’ That life should always be in your grip. Everything went smooth according to what you had planned. The wind was calm and the waves were at their best behaviors.

You thought you created those harmony. You thought you were fully in control.

To your surprise, the glory days of calm sea was gone. There was no more friendly sky. The boat must face its first obstacle.

Were you caught off-guard?

Now, you’d be too big to sit on my lap as you used to, so please listen with your heart.

Don’t put down your anchor yet. Keep on sailing no matter how slow the speed of your ‘boat.’ Remember, you are not racing with anybody because this is … your very own journey.

Ah, I know it’d take a whole of you to stay on.

Fears and doubts probably have visited you. But please: don’t befriend fears. Don’t be a good host to any emotions that would swallow you more into the storm. And I hope, you don’t dwell in despairs too long either.

Let your fighting spirits be awakened as this is your due time to learn some hard-earned wisdom about life and - your faith.

Please search your heart and … claim your courage in Him. It takes a courage to brush off fears. And it DOES take a courage …. to dare to dream.

Your grandparents dared to dream against the odds. So did your dad. Sometimes, I lost words to describe his perseverance - and stubbornness to life. As you search your family tree history, you should know by what I mean.

Though it may be a rude awakening for you, let me warn you that life still has more rocks to give. It’s beyond our capabilities to know when life would do so. But you still can control how you could react to this unanticipated surprise.

You shall not be intimidated by those rocks. Choose to fight back instead of keeping them in your pocket. Choose to invest more in the courage. You should remember that when you see a bucket of troubles then there is also a bucket of GRACE. And yes, in every life test, you will be given a different kind of grace.

Thus, don’t be let down by life. The invisible hands that have nurtured you will faithfully stay with you in this journey. With Him on your side, you would conquer this rock. To think of that, I have this assurance that you would do just fine.

And lastly, let this be a reminder :

“By perseverance the snail reached the ark”
(By C.H Spurgeon)

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Images Source. Pic 2: by Michal Zacharzewski. Pic3: by Hilde Vanstraelen. Both on stock.xchng.

~ by ourfootprints on September 13, 2007.