Despite their persistence…
Cainspirations by Kristi Cain, originally published October 1, 2020
DISCOVERING DESTINY.
Overcoming Darkness.
How are you overcoming the darkness of life’s barriers? Let’s journey together!
This world can make us feel boxed in at times, let alone the giant box of a pandemic time.
But even before the plague of 2020 hit, we have all faced circumstances and trials that made us feel repressed, misunderstood, and even forsaken.
Walls that closed us in no matter how hard we tried to move them.
I recently had the privilege of meeting Vince Vawter, the Newberry-award-winning author of one of my newest favorite books, Paperboy.
In this courageously honest and inspiring story, Vawter reveals a personal wall through the eyes of his eleven-year-old self: a stutter that was once so severe that for years single letter sounds tripped him up on a regular basis.
Throughout his childhood, this wall made basic communication and almost any social occasion painful and humiliating. And worst of all, under those circumstances, it was impossible to explain to anyone that stuttering did not make him unintelligent or socially unaware – when, in fact, quite the opposite was true.
But despite the litany of ways he was boxed in and excluded, Vawter still managed to find his own special tribe at a precociously young age. People who saw past his wall to show him kindness and light.
And while Vawter’s wall may not be one we can all relate to, the personal effects of it most definitely are.
Because the world has a way of punishing failure and success alike, of finding excuse after excuse to devalue and isolate us, and defining us through the lens of its ruler, our enemy, who has sought to destroy us from our very creation.
Yet the power of facing our own walls not only frees us to confront the source of our hurts and start the process of healing, but it can also open our eyes and our heart to an entire world full of people with walls of their very own. People just as broken, just as hurting, and longing just as much for a little kindness, compassion, and understanding.
And once you start seeing yourself and your neighbors, not as the prisoners our enemy wants to define us as, but as souls whom our maker found worthy of love, redemption, and freedom, you might just be on the path to becoming the next great breaker of walls. A force that our enemy can’t confine in this life – or the next.
YOUR TURN!
Don’t make me do all the talking – I’d love to hear from you!
- What walls have you faced in your life?
- Any “wall-breaking” stories of kindness or grace to share?
- Do you want to hear about anything else? Any prayer requests?
Just shoot me an email – don’t be shy! And I promise to reply!
BEAUTY IN TODAY
Check out these awesome photos from readers like you!
Photo Credits (from left column to right column, top to bottom): “Hearst Castle – San Simeon, CA” by Jordan Ring; “Cherohala Skyway – Tellico, TN” by Carolyn Watson; “Front Porch View – Englewood, TN” by Carol Bates, “Hiwassee River – Polk County, TN” by Ruthe Tucker Short; “Staunton, VA” by Deanna Womac; “Maple Syrup Paw Prints – St. Louis, MO” by Erica Knaup; “Fishing – Oxford, AL” by Amy Goodin
Want to share your “Beauty in Today” picture or inspirational musings? Shoot me an email and you just might be featured in my next issue!
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Cainspirations by author Kristi Cain 