Faith, Hope, Love, and Life
Living with dementia is not exciting, at least not for me. Maybe you consider hunting for the remote for the umpteenth time exciting. Or discovering sweatpants in the silverware drawer. Or realizing you turned your back for literally one minute and now they’re gone. If so, this blog might be a bit too boring for you! But for me, starting to blog again is pretty exciting.
For the past 3-4 years, the world of writing has been dark for me. Not the “words are elusive so try harder” kind of thing but pitch black, silent darkness. People kindly suggest I just start putting words on paper, any story at all, and maybe it will come back. Tried that. It was as if God had taken the words away, and the joy of creating along with them. I was clearly done writing.
At the start of 2023, a dear friend suggested we do the Verse of the Day together (from Women of Prayer) and see what God was saying to us through the words of Scripture. I agreed. And I believe that starting that process is when God lifted the shade of darkness a tiny bit. If you know me personally, you know I have lots of words. 🙂 Some people say, “To make a long story short…” but I say, “To make a short story long (with lots of extraneous details you have zero interest in)…” I’m an extroverted introvert. I NEED time alone. I NEED quiet. But this dementia kind of quiet is overkill. And I still have the desire to write. Just not fiction.
So here I am – wanting to search the Scriptures for hope amidst the darkness of life, to strengthen my faith, and to experience the light and love of God. But I need to share it with someone. Thanks for being that someone! Now, don’t expect perfectly edited, publishable posts. Most of it will be from the gut, an honest response to the verse or whatever the topic is. Join in with your unedited comments, perspective, and response.
Life can be wonderful, disappointing, beautiful, unexpected, exciting, boring. Life is hard. Let’s do it together.
Father God, Thank you for always being beside me, even when I refuse to look for you. When I choose to play the martyr, remind me that’s not who I am. Before I’m a writer, caregiver, mom, grandma, sister, friend, I am a CHILD OF GOD! While that doesn’t protect me from the bad and ugly parts of life, it means there will always be good parts as well. You went to the cross for me. Willingly. So of course you want what is best for me. Help me to lean into that truth, to look to you for guidance, answers, and hope. And most of all, let all that I do and say glorify you as these blog posts unfold. As Jeremiah said, Lord God who rules over all, I belong to you. (Je 15:16) In Jesus’ name, amen.
What’s something you struggle with in life?