Brave Enough To Be Bliss

“beauty from ashes.”

In these and so many other ways our faith sustains us and makes us whole.”

Is everything the pastor says exactly right? None of us can know for certain, but I can follow that logic much better than I can believe that God makes human beings abuse, torture and kill innocent little children or the host of other awful things that happen in this world. Once you have endured unspeakable pain personally, believing God is in control of making those unspeakable things happen just doesn’t provide comfort. Believing that we are never alone, that we are unconditionally loved, that we can gain peace and comfort from believing in a God who created us and gives us free will and who can guide us to be a physical presence to one another, that I can do. It doesn’ t mean that my pastor is completely right or that I am right to follow his way of explaining it, it just means that for me, it makes sense and sustains me. Most of the world’s religions have some basic similarities, but most of the time we hear about the differences. It’s easier f or us to focus on the differences because we want to believe that we are exactly right…because if we aren’t, we might have to fear so many things…and when we feel fear, we try to control other people. It was so nice to talk with you this evening. Feel free to call anytime. I so wish I could have crawled through the phone to give you the biggest hug. Let the tears flow whenever they come without apology. I was just telling someone that I cried listening to an audiobook last weekend ( Fearless by Eric Blehm). I never would have done that previously because I wouldn't have let myself feel anything that deeply, but now, I know there's no shame in allowing the tears to flow because it shows we are touched, we are sad, we are grieving, we are happy, we are moved in some way...and there's nothing more real and cleansing in life than tears. It shows we are human, and it shows we care and there's nothing more beautiful than that. When I think back to your tears when we would drive away after a visit to St. Louis it makes me tear up because it showed how much you loved us and were going to miss us. We should have been crying too but instead we kept those tears inside and didn't show you what was in our hearts. That's the stuff that makes life worth living. The tears, the joy, the laughter...all the things that make us human, all the things that get us through the hard times, together. “ Fear grows out of the things we think; it lives in our minds. Compassion grows out of the things we are, and lives in our hearts. ” Barbara Garrison

Please let me know anytime there's something I can do to support you in any way, and I promise to do the same.

I love you dearly, Ginger

From: Kathryn To: Ginger Bliss Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 6:02 PM

Oh, my dear girl! I have read and reread - I have shed tears and smiled- I printed and have highlighted and placed with my devotional readings. THANK YOU for reminding me of the perspective of God’s grace and love! There has been so much sadness and loss this past year, I think I was beginning to question why and even get a bit angry (fear was winning). I can’t wait to read your book! Ginger, you write beautifully straight from your heart - what a very special gift. I am grateful that you shared this chapter with me! I love you, dear one! Wish I could hug you, too!

“I like to think you’re somewhere amongst the stars and on the hardest nights that’s why they shine a little brighter.” Sabina Laura

After her brother’s funeral, she sent me the following message that had been shared at the service. The niece of hers who wrote and presented it reached out to me after my initial Facebook post about my rape and desire for suicide, and we’ve grown close through the years even though we are separated by distance and barely had spoken the 18 years I was officially related to her. I am truly blessed by and grateful for her friendship. Following is what she shared about her uncle.

The BEST is yet to come!

Hi, I’m Abby. So, I’m not a public speaker at all but I’ll do my best to portray who Uncle Tom was to me and who he seemed to be to others. He wasn’t perfect but he was perfectly Tom.

And while I freely admit I have the best uncles on all sides of my family, and I know that sounds super braggy it happens to be very true. But that makes this task even harder. My uncles show up when you need them. Uncle Tom showed up. And my Uncle Lee showed up. Over and over again.

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