God never promised we wouldn’t know pain. He isn’t the author of it, but He isn’t the bodyguard blocking it from us, either. Jesus Himself knew intense, agonizing pain. The worst kind, as a matter of fact. Betrayal. False accusations. A humiliating death on a cross for a crime He didn’t commit. No, God never promised us we wouldn’t know pain. That we wouldn’t know Ground Zero moments and dark nights of the soul. What He DID promise was to be with us in the midst of our pain.

Sometimes “no” is the most loving, gentle answer God can give.

The beauty of life is in its shades of light and dark, heartbreak and healing, joy and sadness, laughter and tears. Everything can't possibly be happy because then NOTHING would be happy.

You haven’t yet learned that your worth isn’t found in him. Or in the man before him. Or in any man at all.

Sometimes it takes great heartbreak to find great healing and even greater wholeness.

It's an audacious way to live, indeed, standing with the door to your heart and life wide open. But isn't that the REAL fairytale…a brave, bold, well-lived life?

You can’t truly heal from a loss until you allow yourself to really FEEL the loss.

Life isn’t always lighthearted and happy and shiny, and it’s okay to admit that. Some chapters of our lives are going to be darker than others, and it’s okay to admit that. Sometimes you’ve gotta get a little lost in order to get found. And it’s okay to admit that.

And I would find myself again. Not the same version of me that I was looking for, but a stronger version. A wiser version. A woman who knew that she was enough, just as she was. A woman who had been tried in the fire but instead of being burned by it, came out gold.A woman who finally, after doubting and questioning and striving and hustling for her worth for years…finally, finally came to the realization that she was and is and has always been…ENOUGH.