Saying goodbye to "Never"land

"Never" is a strong word, a harsh one that can cause pain. It's a word most often devoid of hope. "Never" is an oversimplification of personal truth - "I'll NEVER do that again!" I mean really, how do you know you'll NEVER do whatever it is again? How can you be so sure?

In my life the word "never" was bandied about as a threat to my identity, to my personhood.

"Mark my words, you will NEVER have friends again!"

"You will never have a ministry again!"

Those were threats put out there by a pastor who was privy to some pretty ugly stuff in my life. I hadn't killed someone. Didn't rob a bank. Simply put I was in a horrid place and did some stupid stuff. And as I mentioned earlier this week, I'm on the path to owning that "stuff".

I have it on good authority - namely that of the dear friends I have made in the ensuing years - that those two threats were nothing more than hot air coming from a frustrated and controlling man. I am ministering. This blog is one way I do that. I serve at my church and have stepped out and facilitated our Sunday morning study group. That was a biggie for me.

The thought of living the rest of my life in a land where threats of "NEVER" hover over like storm clouds caught between mountain ranges just doesn't seem real comforting, comfortable, desirable. It doesn't sound like a place God would want me to live in either.

Valleys are fine with God. That's where we live for the most part, doing our work, the day-to-day stuff of life. Living here by the Snowy Mountain Range I can tell you mountain tops are amazing, but we don't live there. We go there for a day or a weekend. We enjoy the climb, the view, the beauty, the solitude. And then we go back to the valley (in my case, the Laramie Valley) and do carry on the business of living. On the mountain I have done things I NEVER dreamed I'd do. Long hikes and mild rock climbing were not on my radar for my physical condition. I didn't have the confidence to try it. But I've done it. And now that NEVER word can eat my dust! God gives us the strength, courage, encouragement, and people to make it possible us to do the things we have been told and have thought we would NEVER be able to do.

So, instead of heading off to NEVERland to night I head to a land that is everlasting. Where God is generous and provides all I need when I need it, including the opportunity to minister and make friends.

I invite you to take part in an exercise I have been doing the past week. Read Psalm 23 in the morning on waking and before you go to bed. Add any other times during the day if you think about it. See how that changes the negative definitive words the world whispers in your ear. I'll be praying!