I have this jacket worn mostly during the winter months that I am very fond of.

 

I bought this jacket while I was in high school from my favorite store (at the time) and surprisingly it’s held up all these years.

 

This jacket has been through A LOT.

 

I was in a horrible car accident when I was 17 where I could have been seriously injured or killed and I was wearing this jacket.

 

In college, a couple of buddies thought it would be funny to spray paint my dorm room. It just so happens that my jacket was close by and was the victim of some of the overspray. (Which is still there some 16 years later.)

 

It’s been packed away in storage units, traveled through several states, and involuntarily endured the move with us from 6 apartments and 2 homes.

 

Every year as I retrieve my “winter” clothes, I look forward to breaking it out again. Can I really call what we have in Texas “winter” since it rarely drops below freezing and doesn’t last near as long as our summers?

 

Regardless, as the weather necessitates its entry back into the closet, I’m thrilled!

 

My wife? Eh, not so much.

 

It’s not that she detests it, she’d just rather it be “retired”.

 

With all that it’s been through, it’s not in terrible shape, but the battle scars it’s endured are clearly visible, especially to me.

 

I have had this jacket longer than my wife and I have been together and the stories that go through my mind are present with me when I look at it, but to her, they’re missing.

 

The scratches from my accident bring me back to the place where my life was spared by the hand of God. I look at those marks and whisper a prayer of thanks every time I see them.

 

The little specks of white from the paint remind me that although the act wasn’t very well thought out, I have memorable people and friendships in my life that have made it richer.

 

It also reminds me of what life can do to us sometimes.

 

We can be just like my jacket.

 

Crisis hits everyone. When it does, it can feel like you were in a car wreck.

 

You look down at the scratches, bruises, broken bones, all the wreckage and you’re in shock. You didn’t ask for this to happen, you didn’t intend for this to happen, yet it did.

 

I’m not referring to only physical scars, but the emotional and mental trauma are just as bad, if not worse.

 

Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of flashing a red light in front of our eyes causing us to forget it ever happened.

 

We can move past it, absolutely. But the memories are still there.

 

When I look at the condition of my jacket, yes my mind wanders back to those instances, but I don’t dwell on them.

 

I’m briefly reminiscent, then I move on.

 

Sometimes things are so traumatizing that it can take years for us to work through them, find forgiveness and peace, and return to something that resembles normal.

 

I’m not making light of anyone’s pain or belittling the crises you’ve faced.

 

What I do want to encourage you today, though, is that you can make it.

 

My accident was in 1998. That was almost 20 years ago.

 

You may be carrying your pain for that long or even longer.

 

Look how far you’ve come and how far there is still to go. Don’t throw in the towel now.

 

Look how far you’ve come and how far there is still to go. Don’t throw in the towel now. Click To Tweet

 

Don’t repeat to yourself “What if I forgave?”, or “What if I got help?”, or “What if I purposed to move on?”

 

Instead, do it. Today.

 

Forgive.

 

Seek help.

 

Pick yourself up and move forward.

 

One day at a time.

 

One step at a time.

 

No more “what if…”.

 

 

Share an encouraging word with someone today, you never know who in your world needs a ‘pick me up’.