Growing Pains

Life is filled with ups and downs

Deep valleys,

Steep climbs,

And darkness.

Beautiful views,

Leisurely strolls,

And people who shine brighter than the sun.

Growing pains,

Loss,

Heartache,

Love and affection.

The bad and the good come hand in hand;

Without one, the other would be mediocre.

They say it’s a beautiful thing to have had something so good

That it hurts so much to let it go.

But God doesn’t give us challenges we aren’t equipped to overcome.

Because on the other side of darkness is light,

And in that light, there is a whole new beginning.

I wrote this poem in the thick of a heartache so deep, the lyrics to “Love is a Battlefield” felt painfully literal. My heart felt shattered into a thousand sharp, bleeding pieces. My body moved like it had aged a century overnight, tired, heavy, and hollow. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I could only feel.

And in that stillness, I remembered a pattern: my deepest, darkest moments have always drawn me closer to God. This one was no different. It was part of the refining - a painful, necessary undoing that would shape me into someone stronger, softer, and more whole.

I carried the lessons, the ache, and a fragment of love lost with me and then, not long after, I met the true love of my life - the one God had always set aside. And just like that, what once felt like the end became a new, beautiful beginning.