Grain Must be Ground to Make Bread

Grain must be ground to make bread. Isaiah 28:28

Oh, the pain we go through in our lives. The misery. We scream. We yell. We beg. We throw our hands up in desperation. We cry.

I’ve done a lot of that.

So, when we have experienced great pain, we are better able to reach out and help others who are going through rough times, we can more readily understand and be empathetic toward someones anxieties, frustrations, struggles, losses and grief. This sorrow is not too big a price to pay to be able to reach out and help others, is it? Oh man! I struggled in my grief, I hated and felt so lost. But my pain is what allows me the privilege of reaching out to others to help them through their pain. To help and ensure that fewer realize the same pain I had to endure.

Those of you who know me, know that my whole life has been filled to the brim with pain. I’ve “been through a lot”. And yet, somehow I have been given the strength to endure and thrive. But, don’t think for a moment that there were not very dark times. Moments of great despair where I thought that nothing would ever change, that I was being sucked down into the darkness forever. Moments? Years.

The best artists, poets, composers have been through pain. And think of people you know who are therapists, counselors, psychologists and social workers. Even doctors, lawyers and politicians may have experienced a great form of pain in their lives that have motivated them to work to help others through their pain.

I recently was asked a question about whether or not my Facebook posts are helpful or harmful to me professionally. My job has me in a position of great trust. I manage what is likely the most valuable assets that a person may own. And I work with people who trust me because they know me. I post successes, struggles and failures. I try to be real. Real-real. I’m open, honest and raw. Very little sugar coating here. We all need help and trust those who have struggled and found success! They proved they can do it!

My constitution is that of a survivor. I will not let pain, suffering or loss get me down. Well, not for long. And I have to keep on working on it (sometimes daily) because we are always facing new loss, frustration and disappointment. It took me some time to realize that not everyone is like me. I want to be here to help motivate and inspire you.  I had to learn that I am grain that needs to be ground into flour to be kneaded, baked and made to bread which may feed others.

I asked a FB friend what she thought and this is a brief excerpt from her response:

“You make me feel like I have been invited on the journey with you. You’ll not only ask for advice, but actually listen to see if you can apply it. You aren’t afraid to admit you don’t know everything. I love how you find something to laugh about when you’ve hit a bump in the road.It’s like you take the goal seriously, but have learned to find a positive in a diversion when things don’t go exactly as planned. And the way you share it, it’s as though we’re sitting with a glass of wine, relaxing and you want to gently share, thereby teach by your experience. Yet the way you do makes me feel like it would be OK for me to try and OK if I hit a bump as well. The way you share makes me feel like, if I’m laughing, you TOTALLY get I’m laughing with you and know I’d be thinking I’d have hit the same bump. ”

I invite you to join me on this journey. Let’s sip a glass of wine and share some fresh baked bread together and talk it out. Let’s feed one another with the wisdom of our experiences. The best baked bread comes from fresh ground grain.