Elevated Friday, August 2nd, 2019

Happy Elevated Friday! Today we highlight a story of one woman who turned her weakness into strength and in doing so has helped so many. Rachel Oehlert has dealt with dyslexia her whole life, struggling to see and read words on a page. As most with dyslexia would attest to, one of the greatest fears in childhood (and later in life) is being asked to read aloud. As an adult though, Rachel was determined to overcome this challenge and knew she needed to do something truly radical and scary to overcome it. In 2016, she dreamed up the idea of practicing her reading to people who would appreciate it no matter what: children in hospitals. In addition, she even bought a Disney princess costume to wear while reading! Over the last three years, not only has her confidence and reading ability drastically improved, but she has grown her reading effort by attracting 15 more volunteer readers to make a difference in the children’s life. She turned her efforts into a charity and gave it a name: Truly Make Believe. There are many people who dress up as Disney characters for events and appearances, but most charge a few hundred dollars per appearance. Truly Make Believe is completely free and run by volunteers. It goes to show that our weaknesses can become our strengths in life when we decide to confront them head on.

God created us all with strengths and talents, but it is often our weaknesses that lead our purpose. Said another way, our strengths often allow us to succeed along the path that our weaknesses create. This is the case because Christ’s power is made perfect in our weaknesses. When we lean into our weaknesses, we are forced to rely on Christ and not just ourselves. Paul wrote, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Today, give your weaknesses to Jesus and allow him to work within you to make them strong.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-11 NIV

Original Article:

http://bit.ly/2MC9jX3