thanksgiving17: the darkness before the dawn.

“It’s always darkest before the dawn.”

~Shake It Out Florence and the Machine

Today I’m thankful for:

The darkness before the dawn.

Whew…this is a tricky one to be thankful for. In the midst of the darkness, it's hard to be thankful! But when it's all said and done, the dawn is so worth it!

I had an awesome conversation with a great friend of mine earlier this week. He called to give me a life update worth noting. Man, not to call it prematurely, but there was a little shock and rejoicing on both our parts. I’ve thought about that chat a lot this week and can’t wait for his next update.

Here’s the thing: that conversation meant so very much to me because this friend and I have walked through some rough days together. It wasn’t but a few months ago we looked at each other with tear filled eyes, completely honest about our lives at that point. We talked about the journey, the struggle, the wrestling with ourselves and with the Lord for some type of explanation, the very real hurt of our respective situations. He encouraged me. I encouraged him. This guy’s been like a brother to me for the last few years and I love him a lot for that. I hadn’t talked to him in several weeks, and his update this week was very unexpected. I loved it. His dawn…it’s coming!!!

I’ve been humming this song all yesterday and all today. In fact, one of my students told me randomly yesterday, “Ms. Staats, I think God put a song in your heart today and it’s gonna be beautiful.” Why, thank you buddy… I guess this was the song?

How beautiful is that first hint of sunlight after a dark, cold night. Without the darkness, I don’t think I’d ever fully appreciate the light. Like with my friend, this new dawn seems so much greater because I saw him grow through the darkness...

Now let's celebrate the dawn!!