A Year in the Furnace
Some years are gentle. Some years are steady. And some years arrive as a furnace.
This year has stripped away illusions, dissolved bonds, and forced reckonings I did not expect. Recognition came, but not without shadows. Family ties unraveled in ways that felt final. Trust fractured where I thought it would hold. What was supposed to be togetherness revealed the weight of dysfunction in daily ways.
Each moment carried its own burn.
And yet, the furnace is not only destruction. It is also a place of forming. Within the flames, impurities fall away. What remains though smaller, leaner, changed is stronger, clearer, more enduring.
I do not yet know what precious thing will be revealed from this season of fire. But I sense that even in the heat, something is being shaped. A presence that may carry me into a happiness that lasts longer than a fleeting spark.
May the heat soften what must go, and strengthen what is meant to stay.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
When you look back on your own seasons of fire, what softened away and what strengthened within you?
What illusions, expectations, or attachments were you ready to dissolve so that something more enduring can emerge?
In the midst of heat and hardship, where do you notice sparks of clarity, resilience, or beauty trying to reveal themselves?
