momma told me there'd be days like this...

so there was this conversation between friends yesterday in which one walked away a bit concerned about the other.  you see, her friend seemed to be doing fine...no signs of sadness, despondency, or anything...but there also seemed to be no signs of joy, no signs of excitement.  it was as if she was just there.  now, i know there are seasons in life, we go through those kinds of things, its natural....but it got me thinking about our time out here...

'momma told me there'd be days like this, days like this my momma said...'

i've sung myself that many times.  there have been many days where i couldn't be more frustrated, wondering what in the world we are doing...are we having any kind of impact? are we being faithful?  are we being obedient...cause surely we'd be able to see some kind of growth right?  but I distinctly remember, during those times of frustration, sadness, anger...if someone asked me how things were going...stories would flow, stories I couldn't have recalled in moments where i was by myself, stories that didn't seem big in the moments they happened, but stories i could tell of how God is moving...even if what seems like, ever so slightly.  and as i would tell those stories, even in my sadness...joy would creep through, the stories would overcome any sense of sadness or frustration because God would show me that its worth it.  God would show me, that even in those moments of frustration, moments of 'are you kidding me?!' Emmanuel is still Emmanuel.  and that is cause for joy.

thats the power of story i think.  well, maybe its the power of God within the story, but as we swap stories, as we share about real life change, no matter how small, they infuse a sort of joy, excitement, anticipation and expectation for more...like this story has more chapters to be written, dialog to share...the story goes on, and Emmanuel remains...