One of my mom’s favorite stories about me is from when I was probably about 7 or 8.
I was taking swimming lessons in Seattle, in an olympic sized pool.
All the other kids had been swimming in the deep end for some time, and I couldn’t do it. I was paralyzed by fear.
She taught me
“I can do ALL THINGS through CHRIST, who STRENGTHENS ME”
She told me to sing it in my head as I stood on the diving board.
She showed me how to breath it in my breaths as I did the crawl stroke to the wall.
And then I did it.
That is the first significant moment of overcoming in my life.
As I washed dishes this morning, preparing for another day in court for my never-ending divorce, I heard her voice, and I saw her face, telling this story over the years.
I remembered a picture of me from that time, when I got a new bike.
I can and will kick all the ass through Christ who strengthens me.
As I was sitting here writing this, my mom, who was trying to call another place, accidentally called me. I haven’t spoken with her on the phone since the summer, when I was kicked out of the family picture. I told her about this memory, and I felt her love and connection through the pain, fear, and sorrow.
Perfect love casts out fear.
And as I hung up and let the sobs come, my friend walked the door unannounced to give me a hug.
I couldn’t be more loved or seen if I wrote the story of my life myself.
LOVE ALWAYS WINS