Finding the words

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words. I think it would be worth more if it included words written by your daughter. For me, this picture is priceless.

And so, on a summer afternoon, I ran across another one of my many journals. I have been journaling for the past 25 years and have the journals to prove it.

You think I would have them tucked all together on a shelf, but I don’t. I love running across them and discovering my thoughts over the years. I do have a stack of not-yet-written-in favorite ones. Some may say I have an addiction to pretty ones. I recently discovered that I could take the ones that do not lay flat when open and have Discount Copies spiral them. Who knew?

This may be one of those rambling-to-get-to-a-point columns, but that is often how I write.

This note fell out as I opened the journal to see the date I wrote in it. I am not sure when Emily wrote it, but I’ll save it in a place where I can read it again whenever life gets a bit, let’s say, challenging. She knows her mother well; words matter.

I don’t think she wrote it at the time I wrote in the journal because what I wrote in the journal was not at all a time when I was down. It was late September 2013, soon after Chuck and I became engaged. My life was at an all-time happiness high. I must have just found the note and tucked it into my journal.

I am getting back on track with this note and my column.

Staying strong during and after a battle isn’t easy. Worry makes you weary, sleepless nights make you weak, and the constant fight to keep positive makes you frazzled. My mother taught me that life may wear you to a frazzle, but your faith ties hope to the ends of the frazzle. This keeps you staying the course and remaining strong.

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1 NLT

Oh, the power of hope. The strength you gain when you know that God isn’t finished writing your story is found in hope. This hard part of your journey is just a chapter. I’ve often said I do not want to reread certain chapters of my life, yet I find myself writing about them. For me, it’s therapy.

Photo provided by Janet Hart Leonard

If the number of journals in which I have written tells anything, it’s that I’ve needed a lot of therapy over the years. I may have asked Emily to burn them upon my death. Maybe she could sell the rights to make them into a movie … but no one would believe the details of my story are true. It would leave many people wondering if “that” really happened. Trust me … it did.

Some days, when I write, I take my readers on a journey with squirrels and rabbits. I take you down the rabbit hole, and then the squirrel appears, and you go up the tree. At the end of my columns, I hope to have you land in a comfy, cozy place where you find hope in the frazzle.

Remember what my daughter wrote to me: You have already won the battle by surviving. All you have to do is stand strong. I know it’s not easy.

While you may be in the worst battle of your life, you are not alone. There is peace in the strength God gives us.

I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. John 14:27

In the midst of my frazzle, I’ve found this to be true.

Thank you, Emily, for the reminder. And as I read today in Jeremiah 17:7, But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

Thank you, my dear readers, for allowing me to take you on a rambling journey that will reassure you that you can find hope in the midst of your battle.

Thank you, Emily, for your words … they still matter.

Janet Hart Leonard can be contacted at janethartleonard@gmail.com or followed on Facebook or Instagram (@janethartleonard). Visit janethartleonard.com.