A few words of encouragement…unedited, but complete!

Good morning.

I’m sitting at my kitchen table listening to the wind howl and the rain pelt my widows. Outside, our chimes are swaying like a drunken person on a three-day bender. Chunk and Casanova are at my feet, each gnawing on the jumbo-size bones my wife gets them from Amazon. 

To say these animals are rotten is an understatement. I suppose a big shout out should go to Amazon for carrying said bones. 

Since we wed back in January, we make it a habit to get in bed early. Last night wasn’t that night though. I have a small MacBook Air and for months now, I could not update it. 

“I’m going to fix that tonight,” I growled. “What’s the point of having a computer, if you can’t use it?”

The issue itself wasn’t in the processor or any part of the hardware. Instead, the problem was in the hard drive that was in five separate parts. So, I sat at the table and began researching on possible solutions. 

It didn’t take long for me to find a solution that I thought might work. So, I wrote the steps on an index card and set to work. 

“Erase the MacOS,” the instructions began. “Do it from the Recovery Mode.”

The tension I felt when I pressed erase is indescribable, but I went ahead and did it. Then, I clicked on reinstall once all the old data was erased. This morning, I’m writing on the computer I erased last night. My system and software are now running at peak efficiency.

And all that made me think of my turnaround. As many know, especially if you follow my blog, I went through a dark period in my life. It’s nothing new. Many people go through dark periods. Still, I returned home, and I was as fractured as the hard drive on this computer. Most things didn’t work, and the things that kept trying to work ran inefficiently.

Slowly, things began to turn around for me. I started going to church, and soon, I found out the more I went, the better I felt. God refilled me with His spirit. Of course, I had to repent and turn my back on my old way of doing things. Then, I took on His name through baptism in Jesus’s name. Then, I received His spirit. 

See, God doesn’t dwell where He’s not wanted, and He’s not staying in a pig pen. As I began my walk as a new Christian, I didn’t always stay on the path. There’s been rabbit trails that I chased, and other hiccups, but I was in Recovery Mode. 

Recovery doesn’t happen within a set timeframe. For some it takes days or even weeks, sometimes months. My full recovery took 11 years. 

As I wrote previously, there were hiccups. Still, I kept walking the path. If I learned anything in the military it’s this: Even if you stumble, keep going. 

The Apostle Paul likened the Christian walk to a race. You don’t quit running when your muscles ache. You push through the pain. It took many years for me to realize this fact. 

Regardless of what you’re going through, keep on going. You’ve got this. If you’re in a storm, better days are ahead. The race isn’t to the swift, but to those that endure unto the end. 

I pray this finds you all doing well. I’ll add some fiction in a bit. Take care of yourselves.

Freeman