Walking With Others Through Life’s ValleysSample

WOUNDED HEALER They’re familiar storylines: Children grow up to be doctors after watching a parent die from an illness. Adults, once drug addicts themselves, become counselors. Or a man whose daughter died in a car accident starts a school to teach driving skills to teens. Time and again we see that people’s greatest passions in life are often born from their deepest pain. They become what many call a “wounded healer” – someone whose own pain serves as inspiration to help others in similar circumstances. It’s a lot of what motivates me. My father left our family when I was five, and my mother passed away when I was nine. The youngest of five kids, I was shuffled from home to home most of my childhood. Is it any wonder I have such passion to see strong marriages, healthy parenting, and a society that encourages thriving families rather than tearing them apart? What about you? The pain you’ve suffered may not motivate you to create a whole new career. But I hope it will inspire you to come alongside others. Suffering people don’t need instruction. They need someone unafraid to sit beside them in their dark experiences, someone to share the misery of what they’re going through. And you’ve been there, so your compassion – your very presence – in the midst of the difficulties they’re facing may be the salve God uses to help them find strength and to point them to the One whose wounds ultimately heal us. For a daily dose of encouragement and perspective, check out Jim Daly’s blog, Daly Focus, at JimDalyBlog.com.