If I choose to allow the hardships of life to make me stronger, if I allow times of extreme stress to make me treasure the peaceful times, if times of deprivation make me appreciate even the smallest provision, then I am beginning to understand…

If I allow cruelty or abuse to make me more compassionate, if I allow rejection to make me more accepting, if I allow the pain of false friends to make me determined to be a true one, I am becoming. 

If, in my disillusionment, I press deeper into the arms of the One who is acquainted with sorrow beyond my imagination, I will be comforted.

By embracing, I am becoming. I am becoming more of who I was made to be and more like the One who made me.

My pain, my loss, my seemingly wasted years are all worth more than gold. 

By simply accepting, I align myself with the Creator of all things, who redeems everything that was lost and makes our pain into something beautiful.

I want to be beautiful.