Author: Melody Copenny

Posted on

The Intersection

What I’ve found to be true in the intersection of God and us:

Life is hard. Struggle is real. We suffer often.

We lose people we love. We walk through pain and the suffering that comes with it.

The world is not kind but it is bearable. Evil exists and sin is rampant. Hope may feel elusive but it, along with love, never fails. No one has an easy life that is problem free.

When sin entered the world it guaranteed heartache for humanity for generations to come.

We climb large mountains, experience rest for a season only to see new summits on the horizons of our lives. Keep moving. Don’t stop.

God invites us to not only find him, but discover him anew in the journey of our lives. Allow our understanding of him to intersect with the actual reality of him in the pain, the deaths, the illnesses, the divorce, the abuse, the addictions, the depression, the rejection, the apathy, the loneliness, the unanswered questions, the failed faith, the church wounds, the atheism, the lifestyles and more.

Engage him in your thorns and thistles, your tears and silent sobs. I believe that what we find will simply leave us speechless. The world is beautifully scarred but God is doggedly committed and in the business of fixing broken things – namely, human beings.

Posted on

Finding Me Truth # 5: In The Crazy

 

If we didn’t experience eventful things, we often wouldn’t be aware of God’s protection and peace in the middle of the crazy, right?

Flat tires happen. I got one on Monday. Pulled over to check the damage and it sounded like a hurricane wanted to blow through the punctured hole. That tire got slayed by something beasty in the road I never saw. I was en route to check out a friend’s for sale bookcase to see if it would be a good fit in my bedroom. Once I finished there, planned to meet up with another friend and cook dinner together.

My annihilated left rear tire changed all of that.

But God is good in the middle of it all.

An auto shop was less than a minute away. I pulled into a parking spot, went inside and met J.P., a friendly mechanic full of jokes and easy to speak with. In the time it took to explain what happened to my tire and walk back outside with him, the tire had sunk flat to the ground.

Mercy.

J.P. got one of his mechanics to put my spare tire on. I made plans to get the damaged tire replaced. Though slightly frazzled, I let J.P. know he made what could have been a really stressful situation for me not stressful at all. I was able to still make my evening engagements and the night ended well.

Life can be hectic. I’ve been traveling almost back to back the last four weeks for my job. First Illinois, then Indiana, followed by Georgia and lastly Pennsylvania. Lots of flying and driving, with an allergy cold thrown in there, two leadership conferences I served with, a staff work conference, visits to college campuses to meet with students leading chapters with my organization, several meetings AND trying to eat well and stay on track with nutrition goals.

It’s been a lot.

But God is good in the middle of it all. 

I made it through the travels, through the airports, through the allergies and I gained the beautiful gift of memories with some amazing people. Plus, an authentic Philly cheesesteak thrown in for good measure. You can’t just be in Philly people and NOT have one. I’m just saying.

What I’m finding to be true: In the crazy it seems like I find a little bit more of me. Sometimes crazy helps us to see who we are in the flurry of activity that surrounds us.

I don’t always like the crazy but it reminds me God is good in the middle of it all. He’s in the midst of my crazy and he’s in the middle of it. Calming fears, giving strength and reminding me he’s near. Sometimes that’s all we really need – that reminder that he’s near, even if we don’t always feel like he is. Our feelings don’t change the truth of his nearness.

Posted on

Applicable

Sometimes we need to pay attention to the journey of grief and loss others are enduring before us.

You may not be in it now but a season of your own will come as transitions, death and mourning play no favorites and exempt no one.

You may realize your deep need to apply the lessons learned from the suffering of grievers to a stage that will be set before you in the near future.

Life is applicable in nature, in all things and in all seasons.

Learn from those who carry cups of tears. Their sorrow has much to offer you and greater strength than you can imagine.

All+Cups

Posted on

Blessings

One of my Instafriends Keilah gave a challenge this morning to list our blessings. Here’s what flowed from my heart:

Grateful for my life, the gift to love, the honor to write, the ability to be musical, the presence of people who love me, a future that’s crafted exactly for my story and a personal relationship with the one true and living God that keeps me on my toes with surprise and expectation each new day.

I’m thankful, living and growing still.

Posted on

The Element

In the shock of grief, in the midst of death, in unfathomable loss and pain that makes your soul cringe just to get air you instinctively fight for normalcy.

And then at some point you realize the normal you want is no longer the normal you have.

And then you have a choice to make: to keep fighting for what has left you that you no longer have or to relent and surrender, accepting your powerlessness and with it the freedom and the healing to take hold of a new normal.

This is what I call the element of finding melodie in grieving, mourning, losing and learning how to love and live again.

The element of finding new music in your life and a new you.

I understand the language of grief and the vernacular of tears. I understand them both very well.