Are you living in the middle of the Ampersand?

Have you ever heard of an ampersand?

I recently learned what this meant in Kaitlyn Bouchillon’s book, Even If Not. The Ampersand is the “and” symbol (&).

Kaitlyn says in her book, “An ampersand connects two different thoughts or ideas. When you see an ampersand, you know the story isn’t over yet.” She shares in her book that most of us live in this in between: Broken & mended. Dark & light. Lonely & in community.

We live in the ampersand.

A couple weeks ago, I had an ampersand moment. My heart was bouncing back and forth between joy & sorrow.

Honestly, I still am struggling to understand God’s timing because on the exact same day, just hours apart, I experienced my highest high for my year and my lowest low.

That morning, I had the opportunity to interview one of my favorite authors whose books have impacted my life. That afternoon, my heart shattered as we said goodbye to our sweet dog, Shadow.

Excitement & Sadness.

Joy & Sorrow.

I was living in the ampersand. Have you ever found yourself in this place?

As I was processing my emotions, my mind kept thinking about Kay Warren’s book, Choose Joy. She talks about how life is like two railroad tracks that run parallel to each other. On one side of the track is sorrow, all the painful things that break our hearts. But running right alongside is the track for joy, all the good things and beauty in our life.

Kay says, “It’s accepting both the sorrow AND the joy together and choosing then to see it from God’s point of view.”

Friend, are you living in the middle of the ampersand? Maybe you are living in the middle of healing & sickness. Brokenness & Wholeness. I want to encourage you today.

God is also in the middle of the ampersand!

In those hard in between times, God is guiding you & comforting you. He is with you in the middle of the pain and you don’t have to walk this hard road alone.

Just last week, I was shopping when my eye spotted it: An Ampersand! I was elated and immediately bought this & symbol. It‘s a reminder that life does not always go as we hoped and planned, but God always meets us in the messy middle.

Friend, I want to remind you today that God wants to meet you in the middle of the ampersand.

Love, Jodi