On Coming Alive Project is Coming to Valpo

On-Coming-Alive-2016Have you ever had a determining moment in your life? That moment where only you can make the choice of how to pick yourself up and decide that this tragedy, no matter what it is will not be the end for you? Over 75 individuals from all walks of life, who have endured a variety of life changing occurrences, who are part of the On Coming Alive project including myself have been there and we chose to rise from the ashes. We chose to truly live and share our stories of survival and discovering joy.

On February 15th of this year a group of once broken, tattered, and damaged souls came together to bring light to the masses. We told of our journeys in this life. We shared stories of child loss, abuse, addiction, divorce, depression, illness, and so much more. Through those stories, we shared how there was a pivotal moment in our lives where we had a decision to make and we chose joy. We chose to love again. To live our lives not forgetting about our tragedies, but finding our way through the pain to allow the light in. This wasn't easy, not for a single person who has been a part of the project. But life isn't easy, we all have our own journeys we have to endure. Some lighter than others, but in each we have that crossroad moment, that game time decision of which way we will go.

I encourage you to read these stories, to find ones that resonate with you. To look to them when you feel lost and need to know that others have walked this path before you. Though it may seem dark now and that the hope you are aching for is far away, I promise you that it is out there just waiting for you to decide what your next step will be. On November 5th, of 2014 my husband and I said goodbye to our 23 day old twin daughter Emma as she took her last breath. The idea of life ever having the same type of joy as it did before her seemed hopeless to us. We didn’t know if we would survive. But we did. Life has its way of testing you and showing just how much you can handle. It’s a punch in the gut at times, but every day is a new chance to prove that you can do this. You will do this.

I invite you to join us in this project, to reach out and share with the world how you have come alive. What was the moment in your life that you chose to keep going and to not let your tragedy get the better of you? Where were you when you had your game time decision, or maybe it’s right now. Will you choose to live where your hope, love, and pain can be intertwined together or will you chose to let tragedy win? Only you can make that decision, but I promise you that when you begin to live again and to truly embrace that short life we are given it is a beautiful way to push right back at life and show the world just how strong you are.

You can find the On Coming Alive project here: http://oncomingalive.com/

You can find Amelia’s story here: http://oncomingalive.com/posts/i-keep-on/

On Coming Alive is bringing a bereaved parents workshop to Valparaiso on November 19th, for more information check out the event page on Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/on-coming-alive-bereaved-parents-workshop-tickets-27607741498