The old adage goes, “time heals all wounds” yet I’m not 100% sure that I believe those words. On its own, time has no power and it does not do anything except advance, never going backwards or standing still. Time alone does not heal all wounds, but it is a great place to start.

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This weekend my Love and I traveled to a semi-remote cabin created for Combat Veterans and their families. This facility proudly boasts that it is in the business of “Healing Heroes” and that was very evident from all of the space, opportunity, and activities that it offers veterans. We enjoyed a relaxing weekend of doing nothing except reclining by a fireplace, playing card and board games, and literally taking in the beauty of God’s masterpieces. When we did go out, we had an opportunity to see caverns and a passing view of the Shenandoah River, traverse a 31-mile expanse of overlooks, and pet and bond with retired horses who are healing themselves as they help others heal. Forty-eight hours of intentional isolation from the noise of the world has caused me to truly understand what the unknown author of that old adage was truly saying:

Intentional time spent healing, heals all wounds.

There we go; I fixed it.

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One of this weekend’s activities that I forgot to mention earlier was that my Love and I spent about two hours talking about our future, by discussing events from my past. While I thought I had shared everything with him, he wanted to know how certain moments impacted me at the time they occurred and how they could potentially impact me in our future. It was a healing conversation because it forced me to be real and honest with both him and myself. Many decades have passed since my childhood trauma, but time alone did not heal me. God did that.

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Beloved, Thanksgiving is this week and I already know that everyone is in the full swing of preparing for all of the activities of the week. Someone who is reading this is currently writing out the menu for Thursday’s consumption. Someone else is getting a list of stores that will be open on Friday so that they can map out those Black Friday sales. Someone else is mapping out the homes they will visit- and in which order- to maximize their Thanksgiving/Friendsgiving day meals (this person is also fasting right now to make room for Thursday). Lastly, someone is preparing to say goodbye to a loved one and trying desperately to find joy in this season.

Regardless of which category you fit into, we all have one thing in common- time is passing us by. Today I encourage you to take a moment to focus intentionally on your healing. Consider what (or who) you must let go of in order to heal, what HEALED looks like to you (because it does look different for every person, and how much time you believe you need. Once you have considered all of that, double it… because I know that you will need more than what you estimated.

The purpose of this space has never changed with time- we are all here to heal. We show up every week, put in this work together today, so that we can have a healed tomorrow. I thank you for joining this healing journey and for trusting God to move divinely through it all.

Sweet friend, be intentional about healing, seek God in all matters, and let His love envelop you in the best of ways.

Happy Thanksgiving to you.