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Validation

             “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)

 

            or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. (II Corinthians 12:7)

 

            In 2015, when I decided to quit my job and start traveling with my father, this was the passage that spoke to me. I was leaving my home and going where I didn’t know. As I’m preparing (mentally mostly) to return to the north, it’s not surprising that I consider the past six months. About this time a year ago, I had finished fixing my fence and was putting in a nice garden bed along my trailer. I felt as if I had done something to improve my place here.

            This year, I’ve worked on my gardens, but I have not done as anything exciting about making my place better. What’s worse, I’ve been sick twice, and one of the times is now and I’ve head some other medical issues, like a bruised knee. I’ve failed in any number of ways, and given an option, my mind will focus on those failures.

            But what God has given me over the past several days – in addition to  the thorns in the flesh I mentioned is a huge dose of validation. I have seen at least bits and pieces of “… I will bless you…you will be a blessing.” I suppose it might be sort of like when a parent or grandparent gets a glimpse of the good person a child or grandchild can become shining out from a long line of uninspiring behavior. A song comes to mind from Sound of Music that is scripturally off-base, but gives the sense of wonder I’m talking about: “Something Good.”

            All of my doing, pushing, struggling, and slogging hasn’t been in vain. And my response is that I want more of it – I want the blessing of being more of a blessing. Somehow, it may be possible to build on the work I have done to do more. I haven’t wasted the last eight  years.

            And here’s the plug for a journal – I’m writing this down – I’m sharing it on Facebook. I’m probably being obnoxious about it all, because tomorrow or the next day, when things are busy but not so nice, and I have screwed up again, and someone has crawled up one side of me and down the other or trodden me into the dirt, I want to have evidence that now existed, so that I an hope that even better can come. 

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