Road Rash

Over the last few days, I've seen more road rash than any two people should ever have to endure. But as I had time to reflect on "What could be the meaning of all of this?" I began to think about my journey on my own road of life and the rashes I've endured. 

This is the thing about road rash-no one is to fault; it isn't a deliberate intent to harm. Rather, it is a by product of being on the road-a spiritual, emotional or physical road. It is the result of a situation, a circumstance that occurs while traveling your road. Often times, I wanted someone to blame, but it's hard to hold a grudge against a piece of pavement.

Sometimes there are the superficial rashes, the "strawberry" if you will. These are usually small, on the surface, and don't require much medical attention.  Sometimes you don't even know you have an injury until something irritates it. To me, this road rash teaches me a quick lesson like, "Well, I'll never do that again!" These scab over, flake off, and are gone pretty quickly.

Another level of road rash would be moderate. You know, knocks a chunk of skin off, leaves some holes. This goes a little deeper and requires me to provide a little more attention to my healing process. This makes me a little more cautious when similar situations that caused my road rash arrive. I'm not sure I want that feeling again.

The worse kind of road rash I have seen is an avulsion down to muscles, tendons, and even bone. You could say, "This cuts to the bone." Road rash to this extent needs constant and intentional care. Often times, I've needed a group of people to contribute to my recovery as I just could not conquer this injury alone. The cause of this road rash is avoided in the future!

So I learned this about road rash:

1) They all hurt...... and they all heal.  There's no gradient of rash when it comes to healing. They all heal in time. I have seen a severe physical road rash begin to heal over a matter of days. I know God can and wants to do the same for my heart, mind, and soul.  

2) They all leave a scar..... and they all tell a story.  I want my story to be one of Faith in times of overwhelming questions, Hope in times of deepest desperation, and Unconditional Love INSPITE of my conditions. 

My road has brought rashes in all of these categories and I am sure they will continue as long as I travel my road of life in Faith. I will tend to my wounds. I will embrace the healing and I will tell my story. 

Tori

A Father's Sacrifice

We'll, Happy Father's Day everyone! This weekend, I was privileged to spend the weekend with fathers of many generations who are the most invincible men I know.  They are husbands, boyfriends, brothers, sons, grandpas, and DADDYS, even Heavenly Daddy!  I witnessed emotion, devotion, celebration, and collaboration. But what touched me most was the sacrifice that each of these fathers embraced.  They sacrificed spending the day the way they had planned. They sacrificed enjoying the activities of their children. They sacrificed time from their church family and activities. They sacrificed pride. But, they did not sacrifice out of burden.  They sacrifice out of joy.  The joy of life and health.  The joy of family and friends.  The joy of expectation. They joy of knowing their foundation and future. I have been so blessed to be surrounded by men of God who willingly sacrifice whatever necessary for family, for friends, and even for love.  I can honestly say that I would not be nearly as savvy, as solving, or as sincere if it were not for men who taught me how to be practical yet spontaneous, vulnerable yet confident, and most of all - who taught me how to be loved and how to love. I can not imagine one moment of my life without any of them.  So fathers of all ages - know your sacrifice is not going unnoticed. I thank you for being MEN who lead and love. 

Happy Father's Day EVERYDAY!

Tori