Joy & Sorrow - 1st Sept

I was just listening to a podcast - ‘In Totality by Megan Ashley - Ep 51: Discerning Truth (Ft. Phillip Anthony Mitchell)’ I’ll try and link it here - https://youtu.be/dNNKeMZT1FU?si=-Na6BjsrNqwyO-mT

Pastor Phil just said, “When people think about Christianity they think mountaintops and valleys, and to some degree that’s true, but it’s like a train … those two rails run parallel… we have joys and sorrows that run parallel.”

It just reminded me of Lola wearing Lacie’s rollerblades for the first time yesterday, trying to keep her feet pointing straight while Lacie pulled her along!

It got me thinking about this different perspective because I think most of us (I have zero research to back that up, it’s my assumption that it’s ‘most’ of us!) are trying to make the most of the good times (the mountaintops) and can feel like life comes crashing down when something harder hits us and we’re now living in, and often feeling stuck in, that valley.

Buuuut… life.

Life brings the birthday of someone you love while you’re grieving.

Life brings the most beautiful sunset on the day your car breaks down.

Life brings a song that comforts you, and leaves you crying.

Life brings someone empowering you, and someone attempting to tear you down.

And, I guess that was my whole point with messy goodness. Finding the good in the mess. Holding tight onto Jesus, finding comfort in God, and feeling all the emotions with Holy Spirit while we ride the parallel lines of joy and sorrow - and every emotion in between!

I think my biggest takeaway from thinking about this is that we need to both lean and keep stepping forward. Just like Lola on the rollerblades, sometimes we lean to the left where we acknowledge, feel and release the harder moments. Then we lean to the other side - we prioritise watching the sunset, prioritise playing a game with the kids, prioritise a walk alone, prioritise the goodness to keep our mind focused on what is true and bring the strength to then lean back in to the harder side again to keep moving.

Life is keeping one foot in each side and knowing when to lean to the other side to keep moving forward.

Lis x