lost and alone

ever feel that on your journey down the less traveled path that you're alone? this last week i learned that you are never alone. that christ is always with you and that he cares for you and the pain and emotions that you go through. He sometimes gives us pain so that we can appreciate the joy and find the happiness within. The bumps and bruises and big klutzy mistakes, like accidentally texting the wrong person, or losing an animal, or hurting someone unintentionally, helps us to be a better person. But why does it have to hurt so much? Maybe it's to learn and become better, or to rely on the Lord and have faith in Him, or to learn to forgive, and to forgive yourself, or to be humble when you ask for forgiveness? Or maybe it's so we can struggle in the dark, in hurt and fear, so that when we stumble across that beautiful meadow of sunlight and flowers, we appreciate the road that the Lord gave us because we can truly see the beauty of life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not explaining things away, but trying to see the joy in the journey, and to fight for that joy that i know that i can have.