Small Steps, Big Faith Series, 1 of 2: Q1 Reflections- Divinity in the Smallest Starts
I went out with two phenomenal soul sister friends to talk about and celebrate our successes in the first quarter (that’s mature woman speak for …
I went out with two phenomenal soul sister friends to talk about and celebrate our successes in the first quarter (that’s mature woman speak for …
Everyone needs to hear this and know this. And I mean EVERYONE. I believe we already know it, but we’ve become so disconnected from ourselves we no longer believe what the God in us teaches us. It’s the still, deep knowing. Rather than bemoan the season of rest, akin to the leaves falling off the trees, we must instead appreciate the season we’re in and embrace the importance of and recognize these periods of stability as opportunities for reflection, adjustment, and preparation for continued progress.
Unaddressed wounds don’t heal. If I cut my arm severely but don’t acknowledge it, it won’t heal, it’s get worse! And healing hurts. After I notice the wound, I have to clean it so it doesn’t get infected and it stings. Whether I apply pressure to stop the bleeding or clean it with alcohol, it’s gonna hurt. But the hurt doesn’t last forever. It’s temporary.
I hated the fullness of my cheeks and the width of my nose and the gap in my teeth and my double chins and my uneven eyebrows and the deep chocolate brown of my skin. I distracted others from my face by wearing low cut shirts. “Surely if they notice my breasts they won’t notice me, I thought.” Deep exhale. Deep inhale. Deep exhale.
I hated the width of my nose. The White and White presenting girls at my elite private high school were getting nose jobs for their 16th birthday and boob jobs for graduation gifts. We were taught to hate our ever-growing and changing bodies. And I couldn’t wait to get my nose job. To narrow it. To make it a cute lil tip.
It’s the end of another year and the beginning of a new. The end of the year is an invitation to look forward. It’s like …
As I prepared these orange roses for the vase I’d assign them as their home, I was surprised when I was pricked by their thorns. …
“Did you know that confidence is a skill?” I asked her. “It isn’t about whether you have it or not, but how can you grow more of it. The question is: how do you begin to trust yourself more instead of relinquishing your power to other people and have them make decisions for you? You have such a strong discernment! Use that! Leverage that! Your discernment and your intuition is so strong and I know that you know that, which is why you’re so ambivalent about what you want to do.”
Life happens a spectrum. On one end, there’s complete abstinence, avoidance, no partaking, sobriety. Zero. On the other end of the spectrum, there’s consumption. Healthy, …
For people who play too small, you will always be too much. Too sensitive. Too smart. Too bold. Too courageous. Too much of everything they think they aren’t, but simply don’t know they are. And it’s not your problem to correct. It’s not your concern. Your only concern is God. And in him, you are. You’re only concern is you. Not selfishly, but lovingly. Love your neighbors as yourself. Patiently and kindly.
Just because they hurt you doesn’t mean you need to hurt yourself, too. Just because their love hurt doesn’t mean you need to hurt yourself in the name of love, too. That isn’t love. It’s “love”. It’s struggle love. Hurt love. Harmful love. It’s love from someone who didn’t learn how to truly love themselves, but it’s the love they know to give.