We all walk through dark nights of the soul… days, weeks and sometimes more when life comes down on us.  Sometimes it’s one hard, unforeseen circumstance that slams you to the ground.  Sometimes it’s the slow, steady weight of everyday living that covers you with layer upon layer of suffocating sadness.  Relentless… hopeless… with no end in sight.  As a life coach, I have walked along side my clients as they traveled it as well, with tears leaving a path for the next lonely journeyer.

I have taken this road more than a few times in my life.  Along the way, I have tried to pray.  Sometimes I haven’t been able to pray at all, other times able only to speak with groanings that only God can interpret (Romans 8:26 26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;). Other times I have been able to lift up small prayers, perhaps only a word or two.  God places them among the gloomy obscurity like luminous flecks of hope.  Each tiny one a glimmer of faith, promise and expectation which I store in my heart, like a collection of summer fireflies in a jar at twilight.  One step, one hour, one day at a time… perhaps one breath at a time.

So if you find yourself moving through this passage today, I encourage you to take care of yourself.  Choose positive methods of “self-medication”:  clean eating, exercise, enough sleep, nurture yourself and breath slowly and deeply.  Talk with a trusted friend, don’t try to go it alone.  If you need to, seek professional help.  And pray.  Ask God to give you glimmers to give you courage.  And know you are loved, worthy and oh so valuable.  I share with you this beautiful video by Radim Schreiber called “Firefly Experience.”  It is magical.  Think of each light as your prayers, as God lighting your way, even in the storm.  Be blessed today, and be a blessing.

Radim Schreiber “Firefly Experience”:  https://vimeo.com/137033684