Ralph-if and His Neighborhood

I can still picture it: my first “book,” written in blue magic marker on orange construction paper; the pages stapled together with way too many staples. I remember my dad proudly showing off my first written masterpiece to neighbors and family.

It was a “masterpiece” with a huge mistake.

I did not know how to spell Ralph—the name of the hero in the story—correctly. Somehow, I spelled it with an if in it. Ralif ? Ralfif ? I do not remember how I spelled it, but I do recall that when I learned about my mistake, I just included it in the story. Ralph had an “if” for everything. The entire story focused on all of the young boy’s “ifs” for everything that happened around him in his neighborhood. My mistake was redeemed and became the central theme of his story. This redemption of a mistake is much like what God does in our lives. God takes our mistakes, the things we get wrong, and the hard things thrown at us, and He redeems them. He speaks into the devastating moments with grace, loving-kindness, and unending mercy—and redeems. And like with “Ralph-if,” He often wants to use these parts of our stories to impact others. The very parts of our stories we wish we could hide are often the stories where we see God most powerfully in our own lives, and they brings courage and hope to others.

One of my mistakes was a suicide attempt at eighteen.

It was a source of shame and something my parents said we would never speak of again. And yet I knew God wanted me to tell that story when another family faced a similar crisis. With fear and trembling, I shared how God had led me in that moment and turned my life around. My story brought them courage and hope. Similarly, a friend thought of her divorce only as a source of pain and shame. God transformed her story with healing and blessing and turned it into a powerful message of courage for others. Another friend is a survivor of domestic violence—something she hid from her family for years. Now she walks alongside others, bringing hope and teaching churches and people how to best minister to hurting people. Our God not only redeems but also brings beauty and hope from our pain and wounds.

Tamyra Horst