Last night we watched ‘Life of Pi’, and so I found it ironic that this was my morning’s devotional.
“We were under great pressure,…so that we despaired even of life…But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” {2 Corinthians 1:8-9}
“Pressed beyond measure; yes, pressed to great length; Pressed so intensely, beyond my own strength; Pressed in my body and pressed in my soul, Pressed in my mind till the dark surges roll. Pressure from foes, and pressure from dear friends. Pressure on pressure, till life nearly ends.
“Pressed into knowing no helper but God; Pressed in loving His staff and His rod. Pressed into liberty where nothing clings; Pressed into faith for impossible things. Pressed into living my life for the Lord, Pressed into living a Christ-life outpoured.” {Streams in the Desert}
Does this poem describe your life right now?
You realize, don’t you, that you cannot walk with others down a path of difficulty until you have walked your own? You can’t lift another’s heart until your heart has been lifted. You can’t know how they feel until you’ve felt it yourself. And you can’t understand until you know.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” {Psalm 46:10}
There may be pressure all around at this moment, but…hold on. You will emerge from this trial fully capable of the work set before you.
My mind was on a lot of things this morning, but as I began to pray and read my scriptures/devotionals, these thoughts started pouring in. So I grabbed my computer to share.
“Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.” {Luke 18:1}
“The failure to persevere is the most common problem in prayer and intercession. We begin to pray for something, raising our petitions for a day, a week, or even a month, but then if we have not received a definite answer, we quickly give up and stop praying for it altogether. This is a mistake with deadly consequences and is simply a trap where we begin many times but never see them completed. It leads to ruin in every area of life. People who get into the habit of starting without ever finishing form the habit of failure. And those who begin praying about something without ever praying it through to a successful conclusion form the same habit in prayer. Giving up is admitting failure and defeat. Defeat then leads to discouragement and doubt in the power of prayer, and that is fatal to the success of a person’s prayer life. Pray until what you pray for has been accomplished OR until you have complete assurance in your heart that it will be.” {Streams in the Desert}
“But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” {James 1:6}
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.” {Hebrews 10:23}
I recently read this comment on city-data.com concerning a question about what makes someone double-minded. “Well in my understanding one has to read vv. 6-8 to get the context of the question you are asking. It is that of a person who will not trust God, he is as unstable as a wave. He is not asking in faith. There is doubt. {Look up Eph. 4:14}. He is double-minded because he trusts God but yet does not trust completely. His heart is not simply given up to God. James 4:8 goes along with this verse. God is always ready to accept those who truly come Him. The double-minded are those Christians divided in their heart’s love between God and the world. The person is bouncing back and forth like in Eph. 4:14 it says toss to and fro. He is not trusting completely!” {Thanks, Cyber Munchkin!}
This was my God’s Calling devotional. “The oarsman, trusting in Me, does not lean on his oars and drift with the tide, trusting to the current. Nay, more often – once I have shown the way – it is against the tide you must direct all your effort. And even when difficulties come, it is by your effort that they will be surmounted. My fishermen-disciples did not find the fishes ready on the shore in their nets. I take man’s effort and bless that. I need man’s effort – he needs My blessing.”
I also subscribe to Kimberly Jones-Pothier on Facebook mainly because with all the ‘junk’ FB hands out daily, her God-inspired words are a refreshing piece of light in the dark. This was today’s post. “Lord, help us learn to hang onto You when our world is rocked with dramatic change. Empower us to trust You and not to panic and fight for control. Help us to stop confusing a change in our circumstances as a change in our security status. You are our security. You are the one sure thing. When everything around us shakes, You are unshakable. Nothing has the effect on us to expose false gods in our world like a sudden change in our circumstances. Help us to see them and surrender them instantaneously. Use change to provoke what needs to be changed in us, Lord, increase our appreciation for the only one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Amen!!”
Wow. Powerful statement – ‘nothing has the effect on us to expose false gods in our world like a sudden change in our circumstances.’ Think you don’t lean on your career, your routines, your 5-year life plans, your health, your status?…watch what happens when they are pulled away.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” {2 Timothy 3:16}
Speaking of ‘training’, check out today’s Jesus Calling. {Is it just me or are you sensing a theme here?} “If you learn to trust Me – really trust Me – with your whole being, then nothing can separate you from My peace. Everything you endure can be put to good use by allowing it to train you in trusting Me. This is how you foil the works of evil, growing in grace through the adversity that was meant to harm you. Joseph was a prime example of this divine reversal, declaring to his brothers: ‘You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.’ Do not fear what this day, or any day, may bring your way. Concentrate on trusting Me and on doing what needs to be done. Relax in My sovereignty, remembering that I go before you, as well as with you, into each day. Fear no evil, for I can bring good out of every situation you will ever encounter.”{Some emphasis mine}
When is God going to let me know something? Don’t know.
When is this storm going to calm down. Don’t know.
When is life going to become easy? …ummm, probably never. {Sorry.}
God gives peace in the storm.
God gives strength for the journey.
God equips us to follow His path.
So what does a successful journey require? An unwavering belief that God is in control always, that He knows right where you are, and that He will finish the work He has begun in you even though it looks as though He’s hiking in the Alps right now.
Does everything look uncertain right now? Believe Him anyways.
Do you feel turned around and confused? Don’t budge.
You do understand what training is like, right? It takes you from not knowing something to very much knowing it. It breaks downs muscles and rebuilds them stronger. It gets rid of old ways that don’t line up with God’s way of thinking, and puts new ones in their place.
Because God can’t work with doubt and unbelief. It’s His kryptonite. Once He gives you the course of action, continue to follow it until He says otherwise. Just ask Daniel about the lion’s den. He can tell you all about walking into ‘rough waters’ and God using it for His glory. Your situation is no different.
I just started reading In the Meantime: The Practice of Proactive Waiting by Rob Brendle, and I came across an incredible point that I wanted to share.
“Many of us desire to be done with the pettiness of whatever we’re doing now so that God can start using us in powerful ways. This mind-set seems noble at first, but the insidious underbelly of pride ends up poisoning and immobilizing us. It’s pride because – by despising whatever we’re doing now, by considering it beneath us – too often we are rejecting the very process God has designed to prepare us for taking the next steps in our calling.
“If you are walking with God and surrendering your life to his service, whatever you are doing right now is useful to Him. Maybe He planned it, and maybe He didn’t. Either way, He can work with it to make you a person after His own heart. Maybe you’re in the middle of God’s perfect will, and maybe you’re at the tail end of a horrendously unproductive detour. No matter, He can cause even the biggest detour to work together for your good and for the good of His kingdom. God is the one who thought of the calling you so vigilantly guard, and He is more than capable of accomplishing it through the circumstances of your life right now.” {In the Meantime/some emphasis mine}
A few chapters back he explained this further…
“David the king was a product of David the teenage shepherd, David the courier, David the court musician, David the armor bearer, David the unlikely hero, and David the fugitive.”
This thought may not strike a chord with you as it did me, but as I look back over my life, I am tempted to beat myself up over past choices I made that appeared to have been aimless. I see people who decided what they were going to be when they were about 4 months old {know anyone like that}, and it makes me feel like at times my life-path has been scattered and somewhat unfocused.
However, at 41 years old, I honestly wouldn’t change much. Granted, there may be a few things I would have either completed or avoided, but, in the long run, what I’ve gone through and the decisions I’ve made have formed who I am and where I am right now.
Which makes me incredibly thankful for all of it.
The good. The bad.
The focused. The aimless.
The obvious. The not-so-sure.
Everything has contributed to this point in my life.
It’s formed me.
It’s guided me.
It’s prepared me.
It’s strengthened me.
It’s toughened me up.
It’s equipped me.
And just like David in the Bible, who I am now is a product of every role I’ve played, every choice I’ve made, and every turn I’ve taken on life’s path.
Has it been easy? Not always.
Do I regret anything? A few things.
Do I wish I had done it all differently? I don’t really think so.
Life is full of mistakes and successes. Failures and achievements. Ups and downs. And if I can’t be okay with walking through what may appear to be an uncertain time right now, then I’m not going to be in the right frame of mind when a smoother curve in the path of life shows up later. Because quite possibly what I don’t understand today will make complete sense…tomorrow.
So for this day…I choose to accept. To trust. To believe. To know that He is God. He’s got me tucked safely away in His process, and He will complete the work He has started.
‘And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.’ {Philippians 1:6}
Trust Him, my friend. The roles and curves of life’s path may seem confusing and pointless right now, but in the end they will all add up to what He has prepared you for. And something tells me it will make perfect sense then.
I needed this encouragement this morning. Thought you might also.
“…when we walk ‘in the center of trouble’ and are tempted to think, like Martha, that we are past the point of ever being delivered, our Lord also answers us with a promise from His Word: ‘Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life.’ Although His answer seems so long in coming and we continue to ‘walk in the midst of trouble,’ ‘the center of trouble‘ is the place where He preserves us, not the place where He fails us. The times we continue to walk in seemingly utter hopelessness are the very times He will ‘stretch out [His] hand against the anger of [our] foe.’ {Psalm 138:7}. He will bring our trouble to completion, causing the Enemy’s attack to cease and to fail. In light of this, what reason would there ever be for despair?” {Streams in the Desert, some emphasis mine}
Wondering if this storm will ever quit? I totally understand. Lately I’ve been wondering that myself. But He sees. He hears. He knows.
And best of all, He’s still in control.
So don’t give up.
‘Faith is being CERTAIN of what we do not see.’ {Hebrews 11:1}
‘But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.’ {Job 23:10}
Feel like you’re in a ‘trouble storm’? Yeah, me too. But don’t worry, it’s in that very storm that He preserves us, tests us, strengthens us, and prepares us for the abundant blessings He is getting ready to pour out on us.
Just keep walking. God’s never been more proud of you than right now.
So I’ve been a bit quiet here lately, but my world has been far from that in ‘real life’. I’m working on writing some blog posts {or maybe I’ll get brave and try to self-publish a small book} on what it took for us to get started homeschooling. I’ve learned a lot over this past year, and after having been asked quite repeatedly by friends who want to try it for themselves, I figured maybe I could share the information and connections I’ve stumbled across along the way. {Ya know, ’cause that’s just how I roll.}
In the meantime, I read something this morning that spoke to me deeply, and figured here would be a great place to pass it along. It was from my Streams in the Desert devotional. {Dontcha’ just love that book?}
“He will do this.” {Psalm 37:5}
“I once believed that after I prayed, it was my responsibility to do everything in my power to bring about the answer.”{Oh, wow. So glad I’m not the only one.}“Yet God taught me a better way…”{of course He did}“…and showed me that self-effort always hinders His work. He also revealed that when I prayed and had confident trust in Him for something, He simply wanted me to wait in an attitude of praise and do only what He told me.”{Sigh.}“Sitting still, doing nothing except trusting in the Lord, causes a feeling of uncertainty…,”{that’s a mild way of putting it}“…and there is often a tremendous temptation to take the battle into our own hands.”{Wha..?? Moi? Neh-ver.}
“We all know how difficult it is to rescue a drowning person who tries to help his rescuer, and it is equally difficult for the Lord to fight our battles for us when we insist upon trying to fight them ourselves. It is not that God will not but that He cannot, for our interference hinders His work.”{Sigh #2.}“Spiritual forces cannot work while we are trusting earthly forces. Often we fail to give God an opportunity to work, not realizing that it takes time for Him to answer prayer. …we sow the seed, till the ground, and then wait and trust until God’s purpose has been fulfilled. We understand this princicple when it comes to planting a field, and we need to learn the same lesson regarding our prayer life. It takes time for God to answer prayer.”{Yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah. And some all of the emphasis was mine. Shocking, I know.}
So…yeah. That about sums it up.
He can’t work…if I won’t step back.
He can’t accomplish His purpose…if I’m determined to focus on mine.
He can’t finish what He started…if I won’t let go.
So…yeah. That about sums it up.
Lately I’ve been applying for jobs. {Ya know, like ‘real’ jobs.} The kind of jobs where you get up earlier than you want, get dressed whether you like it or not, and get in a car to drive in traffic that stresses you out, in order to receive a check that’s already spent before it’s been issued. {Weird, huh?} But every once in a while I guess I want to feel and act like everyone else for whatever reason. Even though it seems pretty pointless.
And why does it seem pointless? Well, because…I honestly love what I currently do. Homeschooling. Writing. Teaching. Organizing. Managing our household. Taking pictures. Capturing memories. Recording events. Raising awesome kids. Enjoying time with my husband. Living an abundant life.
And yet…when the bills roll in, it just seems like I need to be doing something to help. Something that brings in a little bit of ‘extra’ to lighten the load. But in order to do that, I have to step away from what I love. And is it really worth it?
Probably not.
And so I wait.
On Him.
To show us the way.
To reveal His purposes.
To finish His work.
{Sigh.} Yeah. I’m not so good at ‘hanging out’ while someone else is busy at work. How ’bout you? Can you sit back with no problems, or am I the only chick-a-dee in the bunch with ‘stillness’ issues?
It’s that time of the year again, when Autism becomes something to be celebrated and understood. Here’s where I wrote about how autism pertains to us… 31 Days to Understanding Autism
Every day we learn how to function with it and are thankful for the lessons it has taught us. As we look back over our family’s history, we find that it has been a thread which has weaved in and out of all of our lives for many generations. It’s not weird or different for us…it’s simply a part of who we are and how God designed us. And for that, we are grateful.
Ever been walking along in a situation, everything feeling on-course and God-directed, when suddenly out of nowhere, it’s as if the bottom falls out, and what seemed so ‘sure’ in the beginning immediately begins to unravel faster than a knitted sweater?
That’s where we are right now.
And over the last few days I’ve felt confusion, fear, despair, hopelessness, and a tad bit of grief. I’ve looked around in almost perplexity wondering ‘how on earth did this come apart so fast’? {Am I the only one who’s asked this question?}
I laid in bed last night saying, ‘God…? What in the world is happening? This doesn’t make sense.’
His answer? Silence.
So when I woke up this morning and read this blog post I subscribe to, I realized that I am in a ‘Saturday’ experience.
Here’s a piece of what she wrote:
“Much of our life here on this earth is lived out feeling somewhat trapped in “Saturday.” I’m trying to get to a place in my life where I can embrace “Saturday.” I’m trying to get to a place where I can view it as a type of preparation for what I believe God might be doing in my life. You may currently be in the midst of a horrible, out-of-control situation. You feel as if God is not there, that there’s nothing that can be done. But here is the message of the gospel for you while you’re stuck in your helpless, hopeless Saturday life: God does his best work in hopeless situations. We worship a God who specializes in resurrections.” {Pete Wilson on Heirs With Christ blog}
I knelt to pray this morning and had a glimpse of probably exactly what the disciples prayed on their ‘Sunday’ morning. And while I know now that there was a Sunday experience coming…they didn’t. They headed to Emmaus in despair. Some went to the tomb but most of them?…didn’t even know where to begin.
I totally get that feeling. {In fact, I’ve experienced it before.}
Which leads me to wonder, is my ‘Sunday’ experience right around the corner? Is it beyond where my physical eyes can see right now?
I sure hope so. No, take that back…I have to believe so.
We followed Him. Right to this point. So surely, surely, surely this also was a part of His plan. {Right, God…?}
How ’bout you? What do you do in a Saturday experience?
Do you believe or despair? {Frankly, I’m doing a little of both right now.}
Very ready for our ‘resurrection’. {And I couldn’t think of a better day for it.}
This quote by Theodore Roosevelt was at the end of Brene Brown’s Daring Greatly book. It was definitely worth sharing.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.
“The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, who face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming…
“…but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worse, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly…”{T. Roosevelt…emphasis mine}
So I’ve been pretty quiet around here. I had a small group I was leading, and I’ve been helping our kids through the last parts of their main school curriculum for the year. {Small stuff really.} But in the midst of all that, I’ve been reading two books side-by-side for the last few months – The Gifts of Imperfection and Daring Greatly by Brene Brown – and I can’t think of any other books {besides the Bible} that have opened me back up to truly living by faith.
The main theme that runs through these two books?…vulnerability. {Yikes, right?} Brene says you cannot live life in a ‘wholehearted’ manner without also opening yourself up to being vulnerable. You cannot. If you decide to close yourself in, protecting who you are from what others might think, you actually end up imprisoning your own self behind those very same walls. Basically, you become a prisoner of your own making. And while you may not feel the pain of criticism, you also won’t be able to experience joy in its deepest measure. Which is no way to live, no matter how ‘safe’ it sounds.
Vulnerability. Courage. Brene explains the root word of courage. It has to do with the heart, and it simply means to let the story of your heart, imperfections and all, be heard and be seen. {Not as easy as it sounds though, right?}
Brene was on Oprah for Super Soul Sunday for the last two weeks, and after the first interview, they showed a young climber who had ‘dared greatly’ to climb a very difficult cliff. It showed her making progress and then…{zzzip! as the rope slipped}…she would lose her grip and end up losing more ground than she had gained. Over and over and over again. But…she didn’t stop. It took her three days to climb. There was blood, scraped skin, and callouses all over her fingertips when she presented them to the camera, but there was also the hugest smile of accomplishment on her face. Because she didn’t quit. Every time she plummeted down after slipping, she simply regained her grip – wherever she had landed – and started climbing again, re-covering the same ground she had just covered. Over and over again.
Isn’t that what vulnerability looks like? You open up, and feel pretty proud of yourself for gaining that ground. And then. Your fingertips lose their grip. You can’t find the next slot to reach for and…{zzzip! the rope slips}…it feels as though you lose not only the ground you just gained but also some of the areas you’ve already covered way back ‘there’.
Yuck, right?
And it’s in those moments when you get faced with a choice. Do you continue to re-gain your grip – over and over and over again – until you have completed the climb?…or…Do you release the rope and just drop to the ground, giving up?
I think the answer lies in what you’re focused on. Are you so intent on reaching your goal that no amount of ‘slips’ is going to de-rail your course?…or…Are you beginning to get your eyes on the number of times you keep losing your grip and is that all you can see right now?
The answer to those two questions matter, you know. Because it determines whether or not you will press on. It’s just that basic. And I am convinced we face these questions every single day. That choice of whether it’s actually worth the effort to press onward.
So this morning I woke up {gotta love them hot-flashes} and couldn’t get back to sleep. {Ah, I know what that means.} I reached for my Daring Greatly book, and opened to a final statement that sunk like a well-timed rock to the core of who I am:
‘Traveler, there is no path, the path must be forged as you walk.’ {Spanish poet Antonio Machado}
That may need to sink in for a moment. Read it again and let it simmer in your heart for a bit. Do you understand what it’s saying? What it’s describing? It’s what ‘walking by faith‘ actually looks like.
Have you been wondering why you feel the way you do? Well, here’s the reason. You’re not following a path; you’re forging one. There’s no blueprint for where you’re heading; you {and God} are actually designing one for those who will come behind you.
Which both sucks and is awesome. All at the same time.
It sucks because…forging a path will cause a few things to show up in your life.
Confusion. {Am I seriously heading in the right direction?}
Fear. {What if this doesn’t end up well?}
Pain. {Every time another ‘branch’ hits me in the face, I bleed just a little bit more.}
Weariness. {When will I get to that ‘I-finally-made-it’ feeling? Or worse…Will I ever get to that feeling?}
Think about it. There is no path to follow. There is no pre-written journal to keep you on-point.
Well…except that…there really is. We call it - The Bible.
It’s the one book that is filled with people who forged paths where there were none. And it is those paths and those stories that have caused the Bible to last through the ages. Those stories are God’s written word because forging paths is what God is all about. ‘The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.’ {Psalm 37:23, NLT} He orders our steps…even when there seems to be none in front of us, and He orders what appears to be no path because He knows you’re about to make one. {He believes in you that much.}
God didn’t just show up to Creation; He created Creation. From nothing. He forged the ultimate path. For you. For me. All because He desired a relationship with us. Amazing, isn’t it?
Which would also mean that He loves it when we trust Him enough to follow Him toward uncharted territories in order to forge more new paths for those coming behind us. Because God is all about faith. And He is inspired when He sees it come alive in us.
Brene said in her interview with Oprah, {paraphrased} ‘Don’t tell me about your faith if you have all the answers. Faith isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being open to what you aren’t sure of, to what you don’t really see or fully know yet.’ {Sort of the gist of what she said. She said it much more brilliantly than I could re-capture.}
And I never really thought of it that way before. I’ve always considered that the more faith I have, the more concrete knowledge I will be able to hold onto. But it’s the total opposite. Because the more I follow God into uncharted territories…the less and less I have to hold onto in-and-of-myself. {And that’s right where God does His best work.}
Peter walking on the water to God?…I honestly can’t really wrap my brain around that – the literal action of his feet being on top of the water despite the impossibility of that in ‘everyday’ life. And I guess it’s because I have a hard time seeing how I could also ‘walk on the water’.
But, then again, maybe I’m not supposed to. Maybe, just maybe, that was Peter’s path to forge. Which may be why I can’t walk on the water. Maybe I’m supposed to ‘walk’ on something else. Could there be a place out there designed for only my feet to clear? I think so.
Question is, when I’m out there forging this path through uncharted territory, what will keep me moving forward? {Ah, the million dollar question.} Again, I think it’s what I’m focused on while I’m forging ahead. If I keep my eyes on my goal {whatever that may be}, something tells me that no matter how many times I lose my grip, I won’t quit. But. If I drop my gaze to the place where my feet are currently planted?…something also tells me that I won’t be able to hang onto the courage required to make that next step, wherever it may land.
‘Traveler, there is no path, the path must be forged as you walk.’ {Machado}
What about it? Does it make more sense now, knowing that the reason you have no clue as to what’s up ahead is because you’re actually creating the blueprint, along with God, as you walk? {Umm. Yeah, I know. It may make more ‘sense’, but it sure doesn’t make the bloody, calloused fingertips feel any better, right? I totally get it.}
Personally though, I would rather forge a path than simply follow one that won’t grow me or make me better.
Wouldn’t you? {You don’t have to answer right now. }
{tapping microphone}….hello?…everyone still out there?
It’s been a bit since I’ve posted, huh? I completed the 40-day prayer challenge group I started, and then have been busy helping the kids to finish the main parts of their curriculum for the school year. {For some reason, my kids are not as fired up as me about the prospects of pushing through the last little bits of school. Weird.}
So while doing my devotions this morning, I read something incredible and wanted to share. It was from Brene Brown’s book The Gift of Imperfection:
“When we value being cool and in control over granting ourselves the freedom to unleash the passionate, goofy, heartfelt, and soulful expressions of who we are…we betray ourselves. When we consistently betray ourselves, we can expect to do the same to the people we love. When we don’t give ourselves permission to be free, we rarely tolerate that freedom in others. We put them down, make fun of them, ridicule their behaviors, and sometimes shame them. We can do this intentionally or unconsciously. Either way the message is, ‘Geez, man. Don’t be so uncool.’ The Hopi Indians have a saying, ‘To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.’{Love that!} I know how much courage it takes to let people hear our hearts speak, but life is way too precious to spend it pretending like we’re super-cool and totally in control when we could be laughing, singing, and dancing.”
I must be honest – I don’t understand why we allow others to embarrass us for who we are. {Yes, I meant to write ‘allow’.} It simply makes no sense to me. I want to ask, ‘At what point did your way of doing things become ‘better’ than mine?’ Ya know? When did the measuring stick first appear between two people, differentiating between who is acceptable and who is not? And who got the privilege of being the ‘judge’?
I watched the last two weeks of Brene Brown on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and was re-reminded of the importance and vulnerability of letting your true self be ‘seen’ by the world. Because while it is scary to walk into a situation and be committed to remaining who you are despite the judgement you may incur, as Brene said, you cannot shut down vulnerability without also shutting down joy. Once you close yourself off from the scary emotions, you also shut yourself away from the life-renewing ones. You can’t shut out one without blocking the other as well.
And, seriously…who wants to live like that?
Who wants to wake up each morning monitoring everything you say, do, and wear in order to be accepted and approved of by people who probably have no clue of who they even are. Ironic, right? {Well…sad, really.}
I also find it interesting that being ‘authentic’ is heralded as the new cool concept in Christianity. And I put authentic in quotations because the irony is, when you’re truly authentic, it’s usually not accepted. {Yep, even in the Christian arena.} Because for some reason, even though we say we are all uniquely designed…we have a hard time accepting we aren’t the only amazing cookie in the basket. {I guess it’s not easy acknowledging that while ‘they’ may not be like me, they are still perfectly created by the same God who formed me.} Funny thing is, if I think they need help ’cause they’re not like me…imagine how others see me. {Yikes.}
So that was just on my mind today, and I thought I’d pass it along.
I don’t know who you really are. But you do. So why not be yourself and quit worrying about whether or not others are going to be okay with it?
Can you do that?
And if you’re not sure of where to start, how ’bout start here.
In fact, I’ll go first.
Pressed so intensely, beyond my own strength;
}
![[064/365] ~Just Dance](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2734/4339264827_c6949d08b5_n.jpg)
