some bits of encouragement for your soul–

“control was something i cherished at that point in my life, and losing it was the first step in transformational change in me.”
–jennifer remling

enlightened encouragement from rob bell’s so-brand-new-you-can’t-buy-it-on-amazon book drops like stars:

I want desperately for things to go “how they’re supposed to.” Which is another way of saying “how I want them to.” which is another way of saying “according to my plan.”

And that, as we all know, isn’t how it works.

But it’s in that disappointment, in that confusion, in that pain- the pain that comes from things not going how I wanted them to – that I find the same thing happening, again and again. I come to the end of myself, to the end of my power, the end of my strength, the end of my understanding, only to find in that place of powerlessness a strength and peace that weren’t there before…

It’s there, in the agony of those moments, that we get the first glimpses of just what it looks like for God to take all of our trauma and hurt and disappointment, all those fragments lying there on the ground, and turn them into something else, something new, something we never would have been able to create on our own.

It’s in that place were we’re reminded that true life comes when we’re willing to admit that we’ve reached the end of ourselves, we’ve given up, we’ve let go, we’re willing to die to all of our desires to figure it out and be in control.

We lose our life, only to find it.

please buy this book. or come to my house for 40 minutes to read it.

enough said. i think these two quotes are enough for you to understand what i am saying.