The book that I’m reading with some friends quotes a poem by Russell Kelfer. Four lines especially resonated with me (and all of us):

No, that trauma you faced was not easy,

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into his likeness you’d grow.

We had a great discussion about how knowing that God uniquely created me and what that means for accepting our individual personality, background and/or physical appearance. It’s so easy to think “what if” things had been different. What if I was raised differently or grew up somewhere else? What if I didn’t care about what people thought about me?

What if I made good better decisions in my life?

But that isn’t the question. That’s not a productive place to focus my energy. I want to be thankful that God created me with a purpose. I am thankful that he brought me into being for his purpose. And I want to use my life for his purpose.

Without that, my life has no meaning.

(Lots to ponder still 🙂 Goodnight!)