Day 21

I knew the day would come where I would stand in front of the Stirring family and share my story. People have heard bits and pieces of it on my blog, and through conversation, but it's quite a different thing to stand before hundreds of people, and share such a vulnerable and personal part of my life. Today, I'm thankful for the strength and courage that God gave me. We're all real people, with real struggles and real hardships. I just happened to have the opportunity to share mine. And to share the way that God restored every part of my broken story. Nate said something at all three of the gatherings after I shared, he said that nobody would every fully understand the battle it took for me to get to this place. I can't tell you how true that is. I struggled to find the perfect words to share with everyone exactly what it is that God's done in my life, but the truth is no one will every totally understand. I just know that our stories need to be shared. Even if we're not sure WHY we're sharing them. There's such power in our stories. They give hope. And they remind people that God WILL show up, he WILL fulfill his promises to us. Words will never satisfy the work of God in our lives. It's something we have to experience. But there's really something to allowing God to USE our words to bring hope to others. Most will probably never fully understand battle and the strength and courage that's gone into the past year and a half for me, but hopefully my words can fuel another person's battle and strength and courage.