This Will Get Better, I Promise

I was seven years old. I was suicidal. My dad came home from Vietnam with post-traumatic stress disorder. My days were horribly dark. I had a real monster in my house. A big tall scary monster. A monster no one could make go away because it was his house too. That was my "this." As a child, I believed that God told me, "This will get better, I promise." As an adult, God showed me "this" always gets better. Nights can be black, dark, and cold. Night always fades into day. The cold of winter translates into the warmth of spring. Sometimes your "this" can be bloody. A very bad injury cannot be fixed with a Band-Aid. If you put a bandage on a wound that requires stitches, you will not heal properly. There will be infection. One can make their "this" worse because of ignorance of healing. You just do not know enough to believe for any kind of change. Healing is often a process. Are we even aware of the work it takes to heal a heart, a mind, or a very bad memory? There is healing. THERE IS HOPE. To make life even more interesting, there are a group of people most of us meet along the way. They are "do nothing" people. If you are wise, you will not be distracted by these people. They are everywhere. They love to have fun. The "do nothing" people are sitting, watching television, and drinking beer. They are not resting from their labor and preparing to continue on their journey. They were never on a journey to begin with. These are people who sit on the sidelines of life. They are the critics. They are the people who swear they can coach the game from the bench even though never got any time actually playing in the game. If you have been visiting among them, GET INTO THE GAME. Come with me and find the sun. Long nights do come to an end. Hold on until you see daylight. Find some words that will encourage you. Spend time with a friend. Watch a funny movie. Whatever you do, believe that a better day is coming.