by Lauren Watt

​Suffering.  It’s all around us.  You see it on the faces of people you pass at the grocery store, see it in the stories posted on the news and social media, and see the pain it causes in the lives of those you know and love.  We live in a broken world, but it can be hard to make sense of all the pain and suffering we see and experience.  How can a good, loving Father allow us to go through hard times?  As born-again believers, shouldn’t we be free from the ravages of a sinful world?  If God is truly sovereign, why does He allow us to walk through suffering?

​As Thanksgiving approaches, it may be hard to feel thankful.  Our nation has been hit hard with catastrophe, tragedy, and unprecedented violence.  From the fires in the west to the hurricanes in the south and flooding in the east and numerous shootings throughout, no region has been spared from calamity.  Many people are hurting and broken.  Some are destitute without a home, while others have lost loved ones without having the chance to say goodbye. 
 
Our hearts hurt for those who have lost everything, and we’re heavily burdened for those who have no hope.  So this Thanksgiving, how can we rejoice and give thanks when our world seems to be falling apart?  

Since a very young age, I have always been fascinated by the stained glass windows found  within the states. The stories of Jesus show forth proudly as the new day sun shines through. Casting the dark reds, and deep blues upon the faces of the congregation as they eagerly listen to the words of their shepherd. Small children investigate the photos of Christ in His ministry on earth, remembering the tales of Christ that they so often hear from their parents: the feeding of the 5,000, Christ's birth, death and resurrection. Though it may seem childish, I still enjoy spending my time looking at stained glass windows and maybe the reason behind my love of them is knowing how much they show my own story. 

​Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations.  So reads the title of the book, the start of a Rebelution.  It’s challenging.  It’s exciting.  It’s world changing.  But for some of us, it’s not reality.  For some of us, doing hard things doesn’t always mean rebelling against low expectations but rather merely meeting them. 
 
Now before you stop reading in aghast, let me explain.  I agree that we are all called to do hard things.  However, for some of us, those hard things are not necessarily big things.  In fact, they might be ordinary, mundane, supposedly “normal” things, but they’re hard for us.  Now the “us” I’m referring to is not the typical, everyday teenager or young person, but the one navigating physical affliction and suffering whether it be cancer, Lyme’s disease, juvenile arthritis, autoimmune disease, or any other chronic illness.  Can you relate?

Today is a day of remembrance and reflection for our country.  A time to remember lives lost, sacrifices made, and a war begun.   Fifteen years ago, terror struck America as three hijacked planes hurled into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.  The attackers’ objective:  terrorize the most powerful nation in the world and bring fear and devastation.  They accomplished their mission and ignited the War on Terror.  Since that fateful day in 2001, there have been many other terrorist attacks in America and around the world where innocent people have lost their lives and military personnel have sacrificed theirs.

Author Unknown

While God was making His covenant with Abraham, He told Abraham that his descendants, the Israelites, would be sojourners in a foreign land and that they would be afflicted for four hundred years.  Now this is not something I would want God to tell me, would you?!  But as always there’s a promise, and it is in the fact that although God allowed the Israelites to suffer He vowed to bring judgment on their oppressors and lead them out with great possessions.  ​