Here to be Changed

An excerpt from the book Choose Joy: Finding Hope and Purpose When Life Hurts. ~ Sara Frankl

We are not put on earth merely to satisfy our desires, to pursue life, liberty, and happiness. We are here to be changed, to be made more like God in order to prepare us for a lifetime with Him. – Philip Yancey

“Any time I got hurt when I was a little girl, I would go to my dad crying about my ailment and he would always do the same thing. He would take my pinched finger or other such hurt and say, “You know what the good thing about this is, don’t you? It’s a long way from your heart.”

Then he’d laugh while trying to get me to laugh and think about anything else buy my hurt. Being a kid, I would always take my finder, hold it to my chest, and say, “No! See? It’s right here by my heart!” But the conversation and the laughter usually distracted me enough, making whatever had been hurting suddenly not so bad.

I eventually understood his lesson behind the distraction, that no physical ailment could change my heart. That every hurt would pass and I would still be the same on the inside regardless of the outside.

I’ve had many opportunities to put that saying to the test in my adult life, and I’ve realized something about Dad’s theory. Some hurts aren’t actually a long way from my heart. Some hurts reside there. But they don’t change who I am inside. They don’t change my faith. Every lesson I learned before remains the same after. Nothing is different. God is the same. Love is the same. No matter how much my heart hurts.”

My friends, choose to nurture who you are and who God intended you to be. His child, made in His image. His beloved.

With love and joy,

Laura