In Others’ Word: Being You

I’m not a woodworker — too afraid of a table saw for that kind of endeavor.

Even so, I know that wood has a grain to it. Go against a piece of wood’s natural grain and guess what happens …

The wood tears.

There have been seasons in my life when I lived against the grain. Circumstances pressured me to act a certain way. And then there were the expectations — mine or someone else’s — forcing me to say and do things that tore at the edges of my soul. I’d get to the end of the day and  look in the mirror … and I wouldn’t even recognize myself.

More and more life’s been about respecting the grain of my own wood … and seeing the beauty of it. There’s no denying the nicks and dents that come with growing older — and growing up — but I’m embracing those too.

In Your Words: What have you done lately that followed the grain in your own wood?