“Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. ” —Lewis Smedes (1921-2002) Dear Beloved, While we have a need to release what is in our hearts, we must be mindful of spending too much time on our trauma and trouble. Talking about what hurts us is cathartic but it doesn’t change, improve, or solve the issue. It’s paramount that once we have discussed our problem, we shift our focus to solutions and how we can move forward. Investing our time and energy to extracting life lessons from negative situations allows us to transform the bad into good and discover the treasures in our trials. No, it’s not always easy to do this, but this is a critical step to healing and finding the purpose in our pain. Waddling in victimhood shackles us to our problems; it’s like being stuck in emotional mud! However, we can ema