Embracing Your Story

Your life is a long story unfolding before your eyes. There are characters who travel in and out of your story. Some stay for a moment, some for an extended time and some throughout your whole life. 

Your story is full of lessons. 

Lessons of love, lessons of friendship, lessons of forgiveness, and lessons of faith.  Your story is full of lessons that help you grow and build your character. Some of these lessons are challenging. Others are defeating. Some are rewarding. Many may bring you disappointments and heartache. And some bring you joy. 

Your story contains chapters or stages in your life.

Some stages are full of laughter and smiles.

Some may be full of tears and sadness. 

But they are all made up of experiences. 

Experiences that help you grow. 

Others that guide you. 

Some that bring you wisdom. 

Many experiences that build hope. 

And ones that grow your faith. 

My Story

I have learned that my story is mine alone. It is mine to tell.  It has been full of fear, heartache, and challenges that have led to joy, hope, and an insurmountable amount of wisdom. 

I have also learned that sometimes not everyone is worthy of hearing my story.  When I was going through my divorce, I am ashamed to say that I may have overshared my story. I realized there were people not worthy to hear it. I was so caught up in the overwhelming amount of emotions that I failed to see clearly with whom I should share my story .  

My story is not meant for everyone, especially the sacred details that are close to my heart and remain heavy to carry. 

I know there are times when I shared too much of what was going on in my life with people who really were not worthy recipients. 

But from these moments, I have now learned to be selective. There are only certain people deserving to hear the complete story. 

Do not be ashamed

I have also learned not to be ashamed of it. 

As much as I did not want my divorce to happen, it did. For so long, I lived with shame- feeling that I failed everyone connected to us, especially our children. I tried so hard to do my part to make it work and when it finally came to an end, I felt so much embarrassment and shame. But I have learned that my divorce does not make me less of a person, because it happened. But rather it has made me stronger for having gone through so much pain. It really is just one part of my story and from it came so many lessons and blessings. As I look back on it, I have so much gratitude for the person that I have become through it all. Without that part of my story, I would not be who I am today. Through my years of growing and learning, I realize that this is a piece of my story. Not my whole story, but just a part of it. 

Embracing my Story

I also have learned to accept and embrace the parts of my story that brought such brokenness, despair, disappointment and shame. Those moments have built my character and created the person whom I am today. They have enabled me to begin to walk with confidence in knowing that I survived those days and came out so better than I was when I went in. The confidence has allowed me to see with clarity all the blessings that exist in my world. It has helped me to live in gratitude for all the parts of my life- pleasant and unpleasant. 

It is not over yet!

I know with certainty that my story is still evolving. More chapters are to be written. There still are many lessons to be learned. It still has several hurdles to overcome and areas in which to grow.  So much wisdom is waiting to be uncovered.  There is a plan for my life and I know that God is leading me in that direction. There is still so much to discover about myself and the offerings I can give to this world. 

If you are walking in despair and disappointment, remember that is a just a fraction of your story. There is hope in new beginnings and new adventures. There are unpaved paths ready for you to explore. Your story is not over yet!

 Stand with confidence and conviction with the assurance that God is not done with you, yet!