Treasures Along the Way

It’s easy to keep our chin up when we see an end to our challenges

It’s easy to keep being attentive to a loved one when we think they won’t need us terribly for an extended time

It’s easy to keep hoping for change when there are signs of hope and improvement

But when there is no end in sight, the rubber meets the road, eh?

When there is constant and never-ending pain, maybe we are stretched beyond the limit, or do we rise to the top?

When we are the one who is mostly alone fighting the constant and relentless trial, we see who is real, who is sincere and who is really filled with love

When the trial reaches every aspect of our being—physical, mental, emotional, spiritual; we learn what we are made of-

When we learn what we are made of-we can either shine like gold or become dull as a burnt field in the scorching summer heat

When we get real, when we get raw, exposed to ourself and to God, there are no more distractions keeping us from the truth of the person in the mirror

Would we ever learn these truly deep lessons about ourselves without this excruciating trial?

Would we see the beauty and truth of the love from those who are faithful, true, constant, always reaching out to us when we lose our hope?

Would we be inspired by the Divine inspiration coming from God to our loved ones, nudging them to reach out when we are truly at the end of our rope?

We would never see these glorious, beautiful signs from Heaven above if we didn’t have to look so hard and so long for the light to come

We would never know who is so true to us, who is so unselfish, who inspires us to become more than we have been, if we had not seen their shining spirit reaching out to us in our time of greatest need

The pain, the suffering, the loneliness, the despair all have a divine purpose that only reveals itself through these difficult paths that we travel

One day after the trial is over, it is most probable that we will sing praises for the difficult journey and be filled with gratitude for the seemingly impossible test we passed, for the lessons we learned and the growth we saw —oh, please help us pass this test!

Please, dear Father in Heaven, help us look for the beauty, the love and be able to keep enduring and progressing until the end

Help us continue to find Treasures Along the Way

Becky Hull
March 26, 2023