Note To Self...

Tonight Corey & Jack are gone on their last hunting trip of the season... I guess that is why I am sleepless. (despite the fact that I was ready to call it a night at 6:30) So, in my effort to get myself unwound enough to go to bed, I am blog-reading. Some people I know, some people I don't. On a blog of a person I don't, I just found the most inspirational quote that fits in perfectly with my inner-theme right now. A friend and I went to dinner last night and discussed many things... one of them being how suffering has changed and is changing us and the things that we have learned and are learning from the very real, very painful experiences in our lives. I think both of us have come up with the conclusion that we have found thankfulness in our suffering and can see how God has used those circumstances in our lives to transform us for His glory. I, personally, have so far to go, but I am thankful for the lessons that I am learning and the sense that I can sometimes make of this life of mine. So, with that in mind, here is what I "randomly" came across tonight...

Dear Child of God, I am sorry to say that suffering is not optional. It seems to be part and parcel of the human condition, but suffering can either embitter or ennoble. Our suffering can become a spirituality or transformation when we understand that we have a role in God's transfiguration of the world. And if we are able to be true partners with God, we must learn to see with the eyes of God--that is, to see with the eyes of the heart and not just the eyes of the head. The eyes of the heart are not concerned with appearances but with essences, and as we cultivate these eyes we are able to learn from our suffering and to see the world with more loving, forgiving, humble, generous eyes.
-Desmond Tutu, God Has a Dream