Scars and Sad Words

An excerpt from the novel "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave:

"On the girl's brown legs there were many small white scars.  I was thinking, Do those scars cover the whole of you, like the stars and the moons on your dress?  I thought that would be pretty too, and I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly.  That is what the scar makers want us to think.  But you and I , we must make an agreement to defy them.  We must see all scars as beauty.  Okay?  This will be our secret.  Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying.  A scar means, I survived. 

In a few breaths' time I will speak some sad words to you.  But you must hear them the same way we have agreed to see scars now.  Sad words are just another beauty.  A sad story means, this storyteller is alive.  The next thing you know, something fine will happened to her, something marvelous, and then she will turn around and smile."

This passage tugged at my heart.  Think of how different our world would be if we all viewed scars as things of beauty, and sad words as stories of strength and resilience.  I know how hard it is to see God's goodness in the midst of pain and trials.  I know how easy it is to look at your scars and think of your challenging and difficult life stories and wonder where God was in the midst of it all.  Believe me, I am often filled with doubt.  But God's story for our lives is one of redemption.  As I continue to walk through life, growing older and wiser, I am learning to see the beauty in the pain.  Yes, it is still hard, and it still hurts.  But the more I let God in, the more I see the larger picture.  God's plan is so much larger and so much greater then we can understand.  Your scars and your sad stories can be made into something wonderful; I truly believe that.