If I could run away, I'd run to a place that looks like this. Gorgeous setting with just enough seats for an intimate meal. Shabby chic yet elegant. A gate that leads to a stunning life somewhere. No stress, no disappointment, no mental fatigue, no irritations.
Today I feel like running away. It's hard to say why exactly, except that a blast of pain from a stained past seems to have punched me in the face like a mean boxer. It's pushed me into a corner where my eyes swell up and I can't see past the bloody mess the boxing gloves have left on my life.

It's in these moments that I'm reminded of a words from a fellow writer who tries to make sense of grace...
"That which seems evil, is it a cloud to bring rain, to bring a greater good to the whole of the world? Who would ever know the greater graces of comfort and perseverance, mercy and forgiveness, patience and courage, if no shadows fell over a life?"

I'm thinking that if I choose the right set of lenses, I can see shadows as proof that the sun is shining. You can't have a shadow without the sun-- and you can't have real grace without THE SON.

So for today, instead of dwelling on the shadow, I choose to see the sun behind it. It's no fairytale, but it beats running away...

Blessings!
Gari