There are days my heart feels so lively in the morning, the words just come and they flow…??

…and there are mornings that I feel very quiet inside. ?

Yesterday and this morning I have been processing a lot of things, I’ve been considering and pondering and thinking…but mostly processing.

Being the kind of person who feels things deeply —being quite a “tenderheart” can make life more of a challenge at times, though I wouldn’t dare trade it for the opposite.

It just means I have to really make sure I’m living in God’s peace. I have to lean on Him always.

I have to make sure to hand all of the things that trouble my heart over to Him so that He can make something beautiful of it. ?

Sometimes being sensitive and tenderhearted makes me feel that I am extremely ‘vulnerable’ to any kind of pain.

I suppose I am in a sense….

But it also means that the pain in my life only gives more opportunity for me to lean on Him to soothe the pain…

…and there is nothing more tender and soothing than His nearness…even in the midst of pain. ?

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.” —Psalm 34:18

Life may try to take me on a rollercoaster sometimes, but with God by my side, I am able to enjoy the ride. ?? (Oops, was that cheesy? ?)

When I turn to Him, when I take it all to Him, that’s when He gives me that peace that surpasses all understanding, and I am unshaken.

I am given strength. I am able to see from His perspective. And I am far better because of all of it, because of experiencing (whatever it could be) with Him.

There is nothing like experiencing His tenderness and nearness in the midst of a painful situation —to be soothed by Him… there’s just nothing like it. ?

And when we’ve been through it with Him, just look at what He can then do with it….

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” —2 Corinthians 1:3

It’s like He can take a painful situation that He’s led us through, and “wrap it all up”…

…and then He gives it to us to be able to give away to someone else. ?

Isn’t that beautiful? ?

-Heather ?