Tragedy Happens- Am I Ready?

Tragedy happens to all of us. How we cope with tragedy makes all the difference in our lives , but am I ready?

2020 has been full of tragedy. I don’t know of anyone who is immune. I feel like it has been wave after wave of “bad things.” I don’t like it.

Today was the first day that I didn’t walk in my house after a walk with a friend and think of how much I miss Scout. I had a lot on my mind, and I didn’t even feel the void when I walked in the house.

Then the phone call came. It was the veterinary office. Scout’s ashes were ready for me to pick up. We had Scout cremated because I couldn’t stand the thoughts of us leaving him here if we ever move. As I hung up from the phone call in tears, I thought, “it’s another wave.” Tragedy comes in waves.

This is how I want to remember Scout. My sidekick- never leaving my side.

Tragedy happens to all of us

I have had thoughts rambling around in my head lately about tragedy. Big bad things and small bad things happen around us every day. Some days they even happen to us. The scale from Big Bad Things to Small Bad Things is vast. What is a tragedy to one might be a small blip on the tragedy meter to another.

Jen Hatmaker has been on my mind a lot lately. If you don’t know her, she is a Christian writer and speaker. She has recently let her followers know that a tragedy has occurred in her family, and she is divorcing her husband, Brandon.

I know she is suffering terribly right now, and although I’ve never met her, her words keep echoing in my mind. The quote below is from a post she shared on social media after she let followers know her family was in the middle of turmoil.

Jen Hatmaker Quote

A very recent discovery:
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If you carefully and consistently build the right things into your life, into your soul, into your relationships, into your very character:
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Integrity
Loyalty
Trustworthiness
Goodness
Compassion
Healthy community
Honor
Faithfulness
Love
Self-control
Kindness.
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…it will all hold when your life unravels. Every bit of it. Crisis doesn’t destroy it; it reveals it. What has sat gently and softly inside your heart will come roaring out like a lioness when called upon to save your very life. The faith you tended? Holds like the Rock of Gibraltar. The healthy relationships you nurtured will be your anchor. Your good character keeps you true to yourself, true to what is noble and right, even as the waves crash over your head.
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If it wasn’t there in the light of day, it will certainly not be in the dark night of the soul. Crisis reveals that too.
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Build it all while you are in the good cheer of daylight. Tend it all well, sisters. Though I don’t wish the severe testing of your integrity, you will face your test sooner or later, and whatever you have built is what will show up.
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I discovered that I am who I thought I was, who you thought I was, even now. Jesus has never been closer; this is the truest thing I’ve ever said. Suffering is his specialty. What a blessed relief. It all held.
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Your girl is going to live. I have everything I need.

Tragedy Happens To All Of Us!

Wow! Could anything be more true than what Jen wrote? I know it’s true because I’ve experienced it in my own life. I’ve said before that I didn’t turn from the faith that I had invested my life in from a young age. Tragedy reveals what it truly there in our lives.

I pray that I continue to tend my faith. The only way I know to do that is to practice it. Studying what God says to us, praying to continue that communication, leaning into the things that I know to be true. There really isn’t a difficult process to a firm foundation.

Remember the story of the wise man who built his house on the rock? You can refresh your memory HERE.

Matthew 7:24-27 reminds us that it isn’t enough to hear God’s word. We have to put it into practice. Am I practicing? Am I exercising that faith muscle? Am I “putting into practice” what I’m reading in the bible?

The “If” “Then” Game

The video I’m sharing below is one that I will never forget. It is Beth Moore going through the “If” “Then” game. Have you ever played it? I have. It is taking your worst nightmare- the “If” and thinking through how you will deal with it- the “Then.” It can be very self empowering. If you’ve never done it, I encourage you to try it with an issue in your life because I think we as Christian women all end up at the same place… Watch and see if you agree with me. It’s powerful!!

I personally know many of you reading this . You’ve been through a tragedy- death of a spouse, betrayal of a spouse, betrayal of a child, miscarriage of a child, abuse by a parent… the list goes on. I’ve personally seen you get up off the floor, and dust yourself off to go on living your life. You have been my inspiration.

We can’t allow ourselves to let life (especially 2020) keep us down. I told a friend the other day that Jen Hatmaker will go on and write a book about her experience, and it will bless more women than she will ever know.