“When life takes you through some things, you become a walking testimony of God.”

By Misty Strieff Prine

              “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” – by Margery Williams from The Velveteen Rabbit.

                You Become. Wow, what a BOLD statement. We all BECOME once we’ve been through some things, don’t, we? The Velveteen Rabbit quotes ring so true, to me, to the lives of a Christian, if you just put them into perspective that way. We all become who we are over a period of hardships, sorrows, being loved by those who love us for us and most of all the joy that comes from loving and helping others. In all my “birthday years”, in the past, up until about 6 years ago, I had been broken more times than I can count. When I mean broken, I mean hurt by people who you would never think would be capable of inflicting such hurt. My edges were often sharp and guarded in fear of getting run over and hurt again. Guarding my heart was something I finally had to prioritize because I left myself open and vulnerable to people's own insecurities and jealousy. I made myself a target...unwillingly. I can't applaud much regarding myself but what I can applaud is how I made it through and by Who's grace enabled me to do it. It wasn't until 6 years ago, I felt God’s calling on my life to take a stand against those people and I felt… "real." I finally realized my purpose in life and understood it. Many of us have led a hard life indeed, some more than others. Some of us have the physical scars to prove it, whereas some have more emotional ones. The fear of being judged, unaccepted, compared, and forgotten. Truth is, it's the things we face in this life that strengthen us to the point we realize what we were called to be...we find our purpose.

                God uses our brokenness to build our purpose and gracious alive, if we let Him use us to tell our story to others, blessings will flow from every direction for you! He did it for me!

                **For daily devotionals, you can follow me on Facebook at The Upward Way or on Instagram at the_upward_way.