Living life so you can tell your story

I shared in my latest weekly message that I took a bit of a break to focus on healing after my back procedure. This week I have continued to focus on healing and testing the limits of my back as I prepare to head to hike El Camino de Santiago. I shared this with a dear friend and her wise words stuck with me…Sometimes you have to live life so that you can write. Another fellow writer once told me that he felt he had no more stories to share, I encouraged him to sit and write in support of one of our freelance writing opportunities and he found his voice again. It’s not that my voice has been silent or I ahve not felt the urge to write, it is simply that I needed to focus on healing so that I could write. It reminds me of the message of hope and restoration from the book of Jeremiah. "I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it” (Jeremiah 33: 6-9, NIV) God shares that when we God restores us, we cannot help but share and rejoice at all that He has provided. Our stories are built from living life. They are built of the heartbreaks and joys of living.