"A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY"

Many moons ago, on one of our many drives between Portland and Seattle while dating, Matt & I were having a discussion about our divorces, the pain, life, kids, meeting each other again. I turned to him and said that all the pain, heartache, the lessons, I could see then, were for a purpose. That even some of the pain during childhood, were preparation for our life together, raising our 5 kids together. It was one of the few moments that I've seen Matt cry and it will forever be stuck in my memory banks as a moment of deep revelation. Here is an excerpt from a book I bought for Matt but started to read myself. (Rebecca)

From In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day - Mark Batterson

"Here's the point: God is in the resume building business. He is always using past experiences to prepare us for future opportunities. But those God given opportunities often come disguised as man-eating lions. And how we react when we encounter those lions will determine our destiny. We can cower in fear and run away from our greatest challenges. Or we can chase our God ordained destiny by seizing the god ordained opportunity.

As I look back on my own life, I recognize this simple truth: The greatest opportunities were the scariest lions. Part of me has wanted to play it safe, but I've learned that taking no risks is the greatest risk of all.

Giving up a full ride scholarship at the U of Chicago to transfer to a small Bible college was a huge risk. Asking my wife to marry me was a huge risk. Packing all of our..belongings...and moving to WA DC with no place to live and no guaranteed salary..huge risk. Each of our children...risk.

....But when I look in the rearview mirror, I realize that the biggest risks were the greatest opportunities. Some of those life altering decisions caused sleepless nights. The steps of faith were accompanied by acute fear that caused nausea. We experienced some financial hardships that required miraculous provision. And we had to pick ourselves up & dust ourselves off after falling flat on our faces a few times.

But those were the moments that I came alive. Those were the moment when God set the stage. Those were the moments that changed the trajectory of my life."