Blessings in the Chaos

Petra Anderson

Petra Anderson was having an evening with girlfriends when she was shot with several bullets in the Aurora, Colorado shooting.  One of those bullets traveled through Petra's brain and stopped at the back of her skull.  The medical professionals expected massive brain injury from such a devastating bullet path through the brain.  When surgeons went in to clean up the damaged brain tissue, they discovered what is now being called a miracle.  Initially sited as a birth defect, Petra has a canal in her brain formed by a fluid pocket.  We have since learned that the fluid pockets are not as rare as it was first reported.  What is exceptional, is that the bullet entered at the exact point of Petra's fluid pocket.  The bullet then traveled along the canal formed by the fluid and left no damage to brain tissue.  Petra is talking, walking and has been released to undergo rehab for other injuries sustained in the attack.  It is as if Petra Anderson was designed to take this bullet to the brain.  Her brain was designed to receive that exact bullet in that exact location.  If she was built to take this bullet, it leaves me wondering,  what "bullet" were you built to live through?  What heartbreak, accident, trauma, hurt, (insert your painful experience here) were YOU built to live to tell about?  YOU have a purpose.  I have a purpose.   You were born to live through it, not with it.  You are not your experiences.  These experiences are a part of your story, they are not all of your story.  Acknowledge the miracles in your life, the ones that have kept you alive, the ones YOU were designed to live through.  Know that if you find yourself in a space in your mind that feels dark, you are not your darkness.  It is simply a reminder of the strength you have to move beyond it.

One Good Decision After Another

My daughter recently asked me to wear a dress.  I tend to wear frumpy shorts and a overly casual t-shirt.  My three-year old LOVES to wear dresses.  She had been asking me for days.  On this particular day, I agreed and found a dress that I felt comfortable in, put it on and wore it for the day.  The question was swirling in my head, "Why don't I choose to do this more often?"  It feels good to wear dresses.  It feels good to look good.  So, what was holding me back?  That morning I made the decision to wear dresses for the entire month of June.  It is now the middle of July and I am proud to report what happened as a result.  After choosing to wear a dress that day, I then made the decision to wear dresses or skies every day for one month.  Which led me to start looking for dresses in thrift stores and at garage sales, something I otherwise don't do for myself.  I'm the kind who is always looking for someone else, or at the very least, something more practical than nice clothes for me!  I could not stop finding nice dresses, skirts and beautiful shirts to match!  I was looking good and feeling sexy, sassy and ALIVE!  That feeling led me to start running in the mornings.  Wow!  What a difference those runs made.  The running did more than make me appreciate the health of my body, it made me think of other ways I could challenge myself.  It made me want to eat healthy.  It supported me to feel more alive!
Can you think of a time in your life when you made one healthy decision that snowballed into other good choices?  What is one good choice that you will make for yourself today?  Share what the results were of your healthy decision making!