Hurting when others hurt

I haven't done a post in a while, and it feels like the world has spun so fast while I have walked in slow motion. I'm now back in the big BR, working diligently toward the thesis. What is interesting about that little light at the end of the tunnel is that it gets a bit brighter, dims, and then gets a tad brighter again. Sometimes it pulses, teasing me a bit as if I might actually be making progress. However, I keep hearing that it is all about the journey, so I'll keep hiking.

As I've been back in town, many have asked about my summer and the amazing people I met. They want to hear about celebrities, and I want to tell them about my favorite new friends. This rendition really doesn't satisfy them, but if they really want to hear my heart, those are the people who God used to make the most difference.

The one word that keeps coming back to me about my summer is healing. For some reason, I had a deep wound coming into the summer that I had tried to cover up really well. I thought it had healed a few years ago, but it crept back up like a bad dream. When I think of this summer incredibly amazed at how God met a need of mine that I didn't realize I so desparately desired.

And as I reflect on all of this, I see someone who caused me a great amount of hurt to now be in a great amount of pain. Never before did I realize how strongly in me God instilled empathy. Empathy is a funny thing, isn't it? Really, it's the ability to walk alongside someone and feel all that they feel- not because you are going through the pain, but because you care so much for the person and their outcome. Empathy is a funny thing.... or maybe it is grace. Grace that isn't of my own doing, but the Healer who renewed me.