Onward, Upward, and Further In

“Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.” Proverbs 16:32 I grew up in an environment of quick and furious anger. It was all I knew. It was so pervasive in my life that I assumed everyone in my life was dangerously angry, and could blow up on me at any second (whether deserved or not). This had a huge impact on my childhood. I grew up in terror. I had a hard time making friends. I literally trembled just trying to say hi to someone at school. I lived in the assumption that eventually everyone would be angry with me if they really knew me. Honestly…I was angry with myself. I was angry because I was overweight. I was angry when I struggled with math. I was angry at all my imperfections, and felt the weight of them keenly. I had some incredibly kind teachers. Small kindnesses shown to me then will never be forgotten. On one brutally cold winter day, I remember my fingers turning blue, and my teacher giving me hi...