From Immense Pain to Incredible Purpose

I wrote a couple weeks ago about lions and their hunting tactics. A female lion doesn’t have a mane, so that she can camouflage herself in the bushes. It’s the male lions who make those terrifying roaring noises, and as the prey run away from the noise, they end up running straight towards where the lionesses are hiding. Lionesses lack a mane. Their purpose is found in something they lack. 

My sweet friend Dana, is the embodiment of this principle. She is a senior at my high school and more importantly, a friend of mine. At age 13, she started to lose her hearing, from a genetic disorder called Neurofibramatosis Type 2. Non-cancerous tumors grow on her auditory nerves, keeping her from hearing. One day, she will eventually lose her hearing completely. Yet even amidst all of this, she is the happiest person I know. When I am around her, I can’t help but be joyful. We laugh about random things. We communicate in the little sign language I know, and the little sign language she has taught me...and laugh about that too. 

Dana is an amazing photographer. Through suffering, she has found her purpose. She is the photographer for many sports teams at the high school, and for Young Life. Dana says her  “photography is a gift [she’s] been given as [her] way to communicate and connect with others”. She is able to feel and connect with people’s emotions through her camera lens. 

Getting to know her better this year has been such a privilege, as it’s dramatically changed my perspective on life. As I have lost a lot due to some health issues this year, being around this beautiful soul who finds her purpose in things she has lost too, has been an encouragement and an example. Because the truth is, we will all experience loss. Whether it be our hearing, our health, our energy, our friends, it will come. The more we focus on the loss, the more our lives will be shaped by negativity and grief. It is up to us to choose what we want in our frame. In Jesus, we have all the strength we need to kick loss out of the frame of our lives, and find our purpose through it, like Dana has. 

Because God is never cruel, there is a reason for all things. We must know the pain of loss; because if we never knew it, we would have no compassion for others. Even God lost His only son for a while and Jesus lost His father. And in that, Jesus found His purpose. Saving us. In the incredible pain of loss, comes incredible purpose!

Here are some of Dana's photographs! All credits go to her!

Lessons from a Four Year Old

Getting out of bed after 9 hours of sleep is already a battle. Try 6 hours and I’ve got a seemingly impossible task in front of me. When my alarm went off at 6:30 AM, I stayed in the haven of my warm bed for 20 more minutes, debating whether or not I wanted to show my face to the world that morning. But I decided to be brave. I got up. 

The first three classes at school were torture. My mind was foggy. I felt like I was going to pass out. All I could think of was how tired I was. I went to the library during my free to attempt to read, and ended up falling asleep (patagonia fleeces make amazing pillows). I woke up to a gentle tap on the shoulder from a sweet girl in my choir class who I barely talk to. My groggy and confused expression must have said it all. “The bell’s about to ring. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead or anything,” she exclaimed, half jokingly and half seriously. And then before turning to leave, she whispered to me, “I believe in you.” I believe in you. Those four words changed just about everything. The day got easier after that. It was still drained in every way, but Jesus was my sustainer. He gave me all I needed to get through the day. He gave me rest in the form of intentional conversation, which re-energized me. 

If that wasn’t enough, God went farther. That same day, an appointment I had scheduled right before work ran late. Frazzled, I ran into the classroom only to find a packed, loud, bustle of kids. Two of whom had just walked in and were teacher-less. My co workers breathed a sigh of relief and within 10 seconds, I was sitting down with these two brothers. They immediately started fighting over a pencil and both of them ended up in tears. A room filled with chaos; kids who have spring fever and don’t feel like studying; now add two screaming crying brothers to the picture. But that’s when the younger one, who had just turned four years old, looked at me and said in his adorable voice: “You’re beautiful. Did that just make your day? I tell my mom that every day.” And then he started doing his work again, as if none of the past 3 minutes of fighting had existed. I almost started crying myself. Because in that moment of chaos, those were the exact words I needed. 

The words we say, change people. You can think the truth in your head, but there’s always a part of you that doesn’t believe. I can tell myself I’m beautiful because Jesus says so and He doesn’t lie. I can trust that so and so loves me, but hearing them say, “I love you,” “You’re beautiful”, solidified those things in my head that day. When my friend and my student spoke those God given words, I felt like it was God speaking those words directly to me. Hearing my friend say “I believe in you” changed everything because I realized that God says that to me every moment. When getting out of bed seemed impossible that morning, Jesus was there whispering to my soul, “I believe in you. I believe in you.” Hearing my four year old tell me I was beautiful, made me realize that even in that moment of chaos, that’s how Jesus was thinking of me. God used a four year old and a friend whom I barely see, to speak truths over my life that I couldn’t access in the moment. Those truths drastically changed the course of my day. 

My prayer is that we would follow these examples. That we would listen to the Holy Spirit and speak truth into people in moments where they can’t access it themselves.