Daring to be....Me

Matthew 5:4~Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.


September 11th.

I'm sure none of us will forget where we were when it happened. The news that changed our nation. Our lives. The world.

I wonder how long it will take before the wounds no longer feel fresh? The memories so vivid?

My heart joins with the masses today as we remember the tragedy that took place on that day 5 years ago. But I'm not gonna lie. My heart also mourns with the people of Afghanistan... Iraq... Pakistan... Iran...Sudan...Indonesia...etc. Every life lost is of highest importance--no matter their geography. As Shane Claiborne reminds us, "The lives of the thirty thousand children who die of starvation each day is like six September 11ths every single day, a silent tsunami that happens every week."

I am grateful to serve a God who brings beauty from ashes. It's sometimes the only thing that gives me hope as I look around the world today.

And when I really think about it, I know that He used the ashes of those buildings in New York to break our hearts for those who are hurting...to hear the cries of the world (even the hard-to-reach places)...to begin to weep with those who weep...and for some people, like myself, this event even led us to the other side of the world to love on the people whose lives are affected by terrorism on a daily basis.

HE's doing it, my friends. Even as we grieve on this day, God is bringing about His purposes. He's bringing beauty from ashes....gladness from mourning....praise from despair. He's binding up the brokenhearted. He's proclaiming freedom for the captives. He's comforting those who mourn.

Be encouraged & take heart. He has overcome the world.