i wish you all hardship

And I'll explain why.....



Does anyone know the name Freya Stark? Freya was the daughter of fairly prominent parents--well educated and lovely. In 1909, at the age of 16, she was touring a factory in Italy with her father when her hair got caught in a machine. Not only did it rip a large portion of her hair and scalp off....but a big chunk of her face as well. Freya spent the next 4 months in a hospital receiving skin grafts--but her face would always remain disfigured.



Because of her appearance, Freya saw her chances for a "normal" turn of the century life---marriage and children-- now seemingly beyond her reach. But she didn't give up. Her father passed away and left her a sizable amount of money. Seeing that she could now support herself, her adventures began. Freya was the first western woman to travel the deserts of Arabia--often travelling solo farther than any European (let alone a woman!) had traveled. She wrote and made maps and learned the language. She formed deep and lasting friendships. During World War II, she was instrumental in helping plead the cause of the allied forces before the Arabian nations asking them to fight or remain neutral.



She passed away in 1993 at the age of 100--leaving behind a personal legacy few of her generation could rival.



Now...what would have happened if Freya had never wanted for anything? What if WE never lacked? If we had people rescue us at every turn? If we never knew what it felt like to be rejected or lost or hopeless or scared or even just uncomfortable?



Hardship, if dealt with right, makes us pull ourselves up by the boot straps. It gets our minds going, gets us thinking, makes us come up with some pretty creative solutions for our problems. There are SOOOO many things in my life that aren't like I wanted them to be. But, I try to only complain about 30% of the time. The other 70%, I spend on my knees praying for help, then getting up and going to work to figure stuff out.



So....today I wish you all some hardship. Let's just see what you do with it ;).