Five Minute Friday is a writing event that has writers spending five minutes writing on the same topic and then sharing them at http://katemotaung.com/five-minute-friday/. This week's word is Grow.
Last summer, my pastor preached a sermon series on the windows in the church sanctuary that represent the 12 disciples. He spoke about how the symbols in those windows conveyed what each disciple was known for and represented in the Christian faith. He then challenged the congregation to create their own symbol, as if one day a stained glass window would be created to represent our faith journey. He placed tins full of pony beads in each pew and we used the beads to create our symbol. The beads were then baked until they resembled stained glass. The photo above is my finished product and here is what I wrote about my window:
My symbol is a sprout, my discipleship is growing, reaching through the sky to the light of God.
A year later, I hope I am still growing. I'm not as tall as I would like, not nearly as close to the light of God as I want to be but I am still reaching.
I was shocked a couple of weeks ago when I realized it had been four months since I had written a post. I think my lack of post comes from the fact that most of the time I don't feel adequate to teach others how to go through a divorce and find the life waiting for them. Monday was the 8th anniversary of the day my husband went to court and ended our marriage and some days I feel like I've made great strides and other days I feel the pain as if it was yesterday. But I hope I am still growing into the person I can be, the person God created me to be.
I hope I continue to grow in my faith in God, in my reliance on him. And I hope that in my writing, I grow into someone that others can look at as an example of someone who has grown through the pain and reached for the light of what is waiting for her.
Andrea, I love your "stained glass" and what it symbolizes. I love your honesty as you reflect on where you are and where you hope to go. I also lost my husband and marriage -- not to divorce, but through the passing of my husband 6 years ago -- and my heart goes out to you.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I couldn't find your email anywhere but wanted to contact you about possibly guest-posting on my blog. Let me know (pattimiinch@yahoo.com) if you're interested and would like more details.
ReplyDeleteThat's such a profound idea for the stained glass, with profound thoughts to match.
ReplyDeletei love your growth 'window!' sometimes when facing a change like yours (been there, done that), or a loss of any kind (right now i'm grieving the loss of my 12-year old dog ~ certainly not equal to the loss of a husband or child, but for me, he was my child), we need to remember that all we need to focus on is the here and now. one step, one hour, one minute at times. self-care is not selfish. it is healing. once we learn that it is okay to take care of ourselves first, everything else falls into place. my aunt's favorite word of advice is to remember what they tell you on every airplane, on every flight ... "put your own oxygen mask on first."
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to create a growth window! May it continue to challenge and encourage you!
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