In the Face of Adversity

How are you this morning?
Are things going well for you? Or are you feeling like you've reached the end of your rope?
I know how you feel. I've been there.
You know we humans, writers in particular I think, complain a lot. We gripe about 'the rules' and how the bestselling authors get to break them and nobody cares. We moan about the length of time it takes to hear back from editors and agents, and God help the poor soul sitting with us when a rejection lands in our Inbox.
I'm sure you don't have the slightest clue what I'm talking about. You're probably one of those bright and cheerful people that see the good in everything. Rejection slides off you like rain on a newly polished car.
Not so for me. I have learned to arm myself in the face of adversity, but I'll admit it, my Armorall is a little chipped and rusty, and has more than one hole that lets in the occasional arrow.
But I'm still wearing it. I'm still in the fight.
Why? Because I know if I take it off, if I walk off the field in surrender, a lot of things just won't be the same.
And I won't be where I'm supposed to be.

Last week I had the pleasure of a visit from a friend who lives in Canada. The last time we saw each other, our kids were very small. Imagine the conversations that took place, having fifteen or so years to catch up on! I'm surprised she had a chance to get a word in edgewise with the lengthly stories I had to tell. And no, she didn't leave early.
As we sat on the porch watching the waves, eating and drinking and taking turns reminiscing, I realized something.
We need to share our stories.
As I told her about my journey, the search for my birth mother and the hard things I went through with that, but then the joy of discovering my sister, I experienced the same elation I felt seven years ago when we were first in contact with one another.
We looked at the beautiful book my sister put together for me when we met. The pictures that told her story. My birth mother's story. We laughed and cried over the awesome way things came together at the end of what had been a very rough road.
It was good to share those memories again. I needed to remember what I went through, how much it hurt, and how only God could bring good out of what seemed at the time an impossible situation.
I needed to hear Him say, "Look. Remember. I brought you through that. Don't you think I'm going to get you through this?"

It's easy to forget, isn't it?
If you're struggling today, whether it be with your writing or a personal issue, I urge you to take a time out.
Sit with a friend or just by yourself.
Remember your story.
You might think you don't have one, but I assure you, you do. Perhaps you've been fortunate enough not to have experienced anything really hard in life yet. Stories are made up of good times as well as bad. You might just be starting yours.
Write it down.
Tell it.
Relive it.
And remember that in the face of adversity, whether we have our armor on or not, we're not in this battle alone.