i choose better

As I continue to read A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, the quotes are jumping off the pages! I want to share lots of them on this blog! And perhaps i will. But for now, as i consider my own story, i thought this small section would be a good one to post:

My friend Josh Shipp is one of the greatest communicators I've heard. He's only in his twenties but speaks around the country at high schools and is often a guest on MTV. Kids love him because he is funny and direct. Josh grew up in more than twenty foster homes, never knowing his real parents. And yet he is incredibly successful. I asked Josh why he's so healthy, so emotionally stable, considering his childhood. Josh told me something I'll never forget. He said, "Don, when something hard happens to you, you have two choices in how to deal with it. You can either get bitter, or better. I chose to get better. It's made all the difference." (pp. 180-181)

I. LOVE. THIS. It's probably the simplest form of expressing this idea that I've come across. It is SO true too. There really are only those two options, bitterness or betterness (new word??). As I reflect on my own life, there have been different situations that have easily lent themselves to justifiable bitterness. It made sense that i would feel bitter. But God wanted more for me. He knew that if i allowed myself to remain in that bitter stage, I would not become the woman he made me to be. So after some time, I chose to get better.

Making that choice is step 1. Step 2 is actually getting better. That's the hard part. That's the part that's painful and icky and forces your emotions to go to places you'd much rather avoid. It's what i like to call the growing pains. In order to grow, we must experience these pains. If we havent yet, then have we really grown??

Step 3 is a sheer delight! It happens when you reach the other side of the pain and realize that you are better! And not just like "better" in the form of "i'm better from my cold, therefore I'm back to who i was before the cold." It's like an abundant, awesome, "let's celebrate!" kind of better. You're not who you once were. Rather, there's a lightness in your soul. Bitterness is no longer the lens from which you view the world around you. And best of all, you are free to be the best version of you!

Only through the love and grace of Jesus have i been able to release my bitterness in the past and move forward, embracing that freedom and joy. As my future unfolds, His love and grace will allow me to keep choosing better. Praise the LORD!!