Make Pain Your Inspiration
Greetings!

BEULAH and BART...

What do a dog and a singer/songwriter have in common?

Quote from I Can Only Imagine (movie)

Brickell : Let me ask you something Bart, what are you running from?

Bart : My dad. He, uh, he...

Brickell : ...he beat you, didn't he? Ya ain't got no poker face kid.

Bart : I carry that. I have to live with that, you know. I always will.

Brickell : Then write about it. Stop running from it. Let that pain become your inspiration.

What do a dog and a singer/songwriter have in common?
BEULAH-
Shown above with grandson Joseph (15) and granddaughter Zoe (19)

BEULAH the chocolate lab...active, powerful runner, friendly, dedicated and always faithful.
Despite a few physical setbacks was full of life for 13 years and an ideal pet and a very important part of the family.

A few days ago...GOOD FRIDAY

On Good Friday our daughter Trisha from Atlanta, Tudi and I joined our daughter Trinda in Alabama for the Easter weekend. We went for a walk that Trinda and her dogs do almost daily covering 2 laps and totaling nearly an hour walk. After one lap Trisha and I decided to join Joseph (15) our grandson and his girlfriend Ali (16) shooting some basketball hoops. We encouraged the dogs to join us instead of walking with Trinda and Tudi during their 2nd lap ...because Beulah suffers from arthritis.

I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS...
Beulah started following Trisha and me back to the basketball court but stopped and looked back in the distance (about a quarter of a mile) at Trinda, her master, walking the opposite direction with Tudi...then looked back at Trisha and me...then back at Trinda...then back at us... Finally she took off in a slow run after Trinda. My heart was deeply touched because she ended up catching Trinda and I'm sure in discomfort went an extra 3O minutes walking up and down in mild rolling hills ...eventually joining us at the basketball court for a rest on the sidelines

Later that night Joseph, Ali, Jeremiah, Zoe and Trinda discovered Beulah being sick...and later that night- BEULAH DIED !

As an entire family on Saturday morning we buried Beulah and through prayer and testimony we thanked the Lord for Beulah...a wonderful faithful companion
THE MOVIE

"I Can Only Imagine" was so enjoyable and meaningful to Tudi and me ...so we encouraged Trisha and Trinda (shown here with Tudi) to go see it as sisters needing a nice break in their busy lives...while Tudi and I watched the final 4 basketball playoffs




I wanted them to see it to get the exact quote when the music manager told Bart he needed to sing a song that was deeply meaningful and personal versus a song that was performance based..."I Can Only Imagine" was the result... the agent told Bart to write songs based on his experience with his dad- to "LET THAT PAIN BECOME YOUR INSPIRATION"

Also very meaningful to me was Bart's very difficult relationship with his father and the impact it negatively had on Bart...however the song was born out of those trials 
Mercy Me manager Brickell :
" Let that pain become your inspiration."

WHAT DO BEULAH and BART have to do with WB?

JOSEPH'S LIFE in the book of Genesis GIVES INSIGHT into overcoming loss and bitterness...so we can let "PAIN be our INSPIRATION"

"After the death of their father, Joseph's brothers said, “What if Joseph still hates us and plans to pay us back for all the harm we did to him?” So they sent a message to Joseph: “Before our father died, he told us to ask you, ‘Please forgive the crime your brothers committed when they wronged you.’ Now please forgive us the wrong that we, the servants of your father's God, have done.” Joseph cried when he received this message. Then his brothers themselves came and bowed down before him. “Here we are before you as your slaves,” they said. But Joseph said to them, “Don't be afraid; I can't put myself in the place of God. You plotted evil against me, but God turned it into good, in order to preserve the lives of many people who are alive today because of what happened. You have nothing to fear. I will take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them with kind words that touched their hearts."
Genesis 50:15-21
HOW DOES..." LET THAT PAIN BECOME YOUR INSPIRATION" impact our witness?

Just as Bart's agent told him (in my words) not to just sing skillfully ...instead mean it from your soul

OUR POSITIVE WITNESS should be the same...
our testimony of being forgiven of all our sins of omission and commission, thought, word and deed should bring unbelievable joy and positive emotion to our souls...
as we share our faith INSPIRED BY GOD'S GRACE in Jesus Christ...
the PAIN of sin has been defeated!
I cannot understand how people can give their testimony without emotion and inspiration.

I'll never sing a hit tune no matter how INSPIRED I get...but I do know somewhat how Bart felt at age 11.
I was raised in a dysfunctional family environment...eventually coming from a broken home four times...a proud atheist...thanks to a Chaplain giving me a Bible...I came to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior

I now boast about my weakness... 1 Cor 12:9
"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses..."


Instead of singing from the rooftops...as led, I'm PROUDLY PROCLAIMING ...I am a sinner, Jesus Christ is my Savior,
John 3:16...
where I live, move and have my being...
indeed PAIN HAS BEEN USED TO BE MY INSPIRATION ...2 Cor 1:3-11

Pointing to the place where Beulah turned back to follow Trinda.."I will never forget that moment"
As BEULAH had a choice to come back to rest and get water by following Trisha and me home- the last day she was alive, she instead chose to follow Trinda, her master, greatly multiplying her distance...
I too desire to follow my Lord and Savior more than the ways and comforts of the world...how about you?

 Beulah carefully weighed which way to go and sacrificially went the right way

Ted
1 Cor. 12:9
Boasting about my weakness (even though I would not want anyone to experience my upbringing...but by His grace I do often boast about my weakness when sharing the Gospel. .. as beautifully done in Bart's life too..through his song....I CAN ONLY IMAGINE ) God does use our weakness more than our home runs to His honor and glory
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