Abuse

My zodiac thingy is Cancer, which is also how I am planning to die, since I so often forget to apply sunscreen. Yesterday was a warm day filled with sunshine, and I, in my bikini top, went into the back yard to improve it. I dug numerous holes in the ground, planted a few things, and developed a magnificent sunburn. All over my bare back. Not only this, but said back is dreadfully sore internally from the excessive manual labor. Poor me.
I want to do it again.

I don't believe in the zodiac thing, by the way. I am telling you so won't think I am going to go read my horoscope after I am done blogging. The only horoscope I ever read is the Chinese one on my paper place mat at the restaurant I rarely go to. I think I'm a dog on that.

Last night I went to that class I'm taking. The instructor is very amusing, like Donald Miller. He has this dry, rather random, sense of humor. Kara and I giggled, and then outright guffawed. The rest of the class seems to miss most of the humor. They turn around and look at us as though we're being disruptive. I hope he meant to be funny, because otherwise, we were maybe a shade too jocular.

He also taught some serious things.
He was talking about Joseph from the Old Testament, and he made a comment that really resonated with me. He said that Joseph didn't get bitter because he had a correct perspective.
Is that the recipe to keep from being bitter? Bitter is ugly, and I don't want to be it.
Joseph was the most unjustly treated individual that I can think of, and yet he turned out to be so sensitive and gracious. He was mistreated by brothers who ought to have been protective of him.

People I know who have been abused, deal with the same thing. Whether they were molested or neglected as children, they were harmed by the very folks who should have granted them protection. That kind of childhood trauma is about the worst thing I can imagine. Yet, here we have this story of Joseph, who was seriously traumatized as a kid, yet he doesn't give any indication of being held back by the experience. In fact, in a conversation with his abusers, he claims, "You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

How do I wrap my mind around that truth as an adult? Yet, truth it certainly is. God's Sovereignty and Goodness must be my assurance. It must frame all the injustice and heartache of my life. Only then is my perspective healthy, correct, and secure.