I’m cleaning out closets. I have the energy and will to do that, now. It’s been a long time. Too long. Walking through hard things looks different for everybody, I realize that. But I think while we’re in the midst of it we all share the feeling that there might never be an end to it. That the darkness might hold on forever and the dawn will never break.

Can I just give you some hope if you’re stuck in that darkness? Keep walking, friend. Light is coming. Morning will dawn. Christ has already won the war raging inside you and He’s working it together for your good. I promise you.

As I sit here and feel the light of that dawn on my face after a very long, cold night, I almost don’t have the words to say how good it feels to feel good. To feel hopeful in a way that’s not tinged with doubt and sorrow. It’s coming, friends. Your hopeful, bright days are coming.

I found the following entry in a notebook in the closet I’m cleaning. I wrote it in the midst of our darkness and during some of the lowest days I’ve ever had and when I did need to dig deep into Jesus and face those demons. Reading it now both reminded me of how far Paul and I have come, and also that sometimes we just need to remind ourselves that while darkness and sorrow and sometimes just life in general are hard, there’s hope on the horizon. Just hold on.

December 1, 2017:

Going there is hard, you know as well as I do. That dark place inside your soul where the best of you and the worst of you meet and mingle. The emotions that come from there seem to be best left under lock and key - but that’s not where the healing takes place. That’s not how we get over the ones we’ve lost or triumph in our accomplishments.

No, that dark place needs to be explored. It needs a candle - lit - to poke into the dark corners and stir the demons from their slumber so they can be faced, defeated, beaten back with a stick.

They’ll be big. Huge. Their weathered claws and snapped-off teeth will come for you. They’ll come hard after you and push you to your breaking point. They’ll make you believe you’ve been defeated and this is just how life is - them sitting on your chest. But it’s not the end. Until there’s light in every corner of your soul, until you know who the real Winner is, until joy radiates from your fingertips and you know that you’ll be OK - never again like you were before, but OK - only then is it over.

So don’t give up. Don’t give in. Surround yourself with warriors and press forward in the battle for your soul. And remember, the war has already been won.