Transformation Through Trajedy

I started reading Chapter 13 in my book last night and it was AMAZING, so I wanted to share some of it with you all. ( I know this is a lot to read and take in, but trust me it's good!) Oh, and a picture of the book this is coming from is on my previous blog.

Pete Wilson, author, begins by saying that the greatest fear he has for you and even for himself is not that we'll abandon the gospel or lose complete faith in our Savior. It's not that we'll go crazy and abandon or morals. His greatest fear for our lives is that we'll just get busy and distracted and settle for mediocre, unexamined life. It's that we'll just settle into life as usual and never become the persons God intended for us to be.

He says, "And here's something I've been wondering as I studied and prayed about

this book. Could it be that we need our Plan B situations (trials and storms in our lives) to rescue us from that kind of life? Do we need our tragedies in order for God to transform us? It's true that God tends to get our attention through our Plan B crises. In fact, many of us started our journey with God during such a difficult time. And I know that when I'm struggling with a Plan B situation, I tend to pray more, read more scriptures, and lean into community a lot harder."

Henri Nouwen observes:

One of the most obvious characteristics of our daily lives is that we are busy. We experience our days as filled with things to do, people to meet, projects to finish, letters to write, calls to make, and appointments to keep. Our lives often seem like over-packed suitcases bursting at the seams. In fact, we are almost always aware of being behind schedule. There is a nagging sense that there are unfinished tasks, unfulfilled promises, and unrealized proposals. There is always something else that we should have remembered, done, or said. There are always people we did not speak to, write to, or visit. Thus, although we are very busy, we have lingering feelings of never really fulfilling our obligations...Beneath our worrying lives, however, something else is going on. While our minds and hearts are filled with many things, and we wonder how we can live up to the expectations imposed upon us by ourselves and others, we have a deep sense of unfulfillment. While busy with and worried about many things, we seldom feel truly satisfied, at peace, at home. A gnawing sense of being unfilled underlies our filled lives... The great paradox of our time is that many of us are busy and bored at the same time.

While running from one event to the next, we wonder in our innermost selves if anything is really happening. While we can hardly keep up with our many tasks and obligations, we are not so sure that it would make any difference if we did nothing at all. While people keep pushing us in all directions, we doubt if anyone really cares. In short, while our lives are full, we are unfulfilled.

Hope you got as much out of that as I did! Have a wonderful day!