the memoir

i think my favorite kind of writing to read is Memoir. I'm reading a memoir called Thin Places by Mary DeMuth right now and while I don't particularly think all of it is well-written or pieced together, I am almost glad. It's real.

Memoir gives you a glimpse into someone else's life. Sometimes, the author relays thoughts and experiences in such a way that free you because she (or he) has just put into words something that you have felt or thought or experienced but couldn't, for whatever the reason, put words to. Other times it gives you insight to situations that you, save for through the reading of this person's story, could never understand because your experiences have worked out differently.

That is how this memoir has been for me. Mary tells her life story which is spattered with sexual abuse and secrets that no little girl, or adult girl for that matter, should have to keep. Her story is accompanied by painful lessons God's taught her along the way. I benefit from reading her story because through her words I can learn things about God, see facets of His grace, through eyes which I otherwise could not. It helps me understand some of the pain (and the redemption) that those, even those i love dearly, have and are experiencing having faced abuse.

On a slightly different note, in Bible Study on thursday we talked about Biblical hope. It was defined as anxious anticipation or expectation. How different is that than the idea of hope that we're often handed, that which says it is a whimsical wish, "hoping" to win a large sum of money, or to be a princess when i grow up. Instead of riches or fame, I dare to hope, to eagerly anticipate and expect the Lord to do great, unspeakable things as I enter into this new season, and really, in the rest of my time on earth.