Surprise! You received what you needed without asking.

I have personalized this message just for you; to encourage and empower you.  The actual text and extended version can be found in the footnote.[1]

When my soul is filled with grief.  When everything around me is suddenly painted mean or distorted. When I overestimate my maturity, thinking what I understand will get me through the storm, only to discover it won’t. That’s when I used to hide what was true about me. That’s when I used to put on my mask.

To feel particularly and uniquely not enough. To get embarrassed by my world not working was an appalling place.  I was a perfectionist; I never wanted folks to feel sorry for me or be the one who wasn’t “getting it”. At those times, I didn’t  love me or allow me room to make mistakes. Those times were especially tough for both me and others like me who lived to express hope and release to others by speaking, coaching, writing, or Facebook posts.

BUT HERE’S THE GOOD STUFF.

What if there were a place so safe that the worst of you could be known, and you’d discover that you would not be loved less but more in the telling of it?” I love the thought of the healing  and comfort residing there. I love how I believe with all my heart that place really exists. I realize now this is one of the reasons people spend so much time and risk to create and nurture deep, tested, unconditional relationships. It’s for these times when you can’t call out. To have friends who sense the nuances of your hurt and relentlessly gain permission to carry the pain you want to cover. And when they show up with everything they have, when they cry out to God on your behalf, something happens that breathes life into your inability.

Something in their lack of judgment, their willingness to allow pain to be created in them on your behalf, tells you there is a day approaching, a new chapter that you have not yet experienced. Blessed are they who’ve chosen to invest deeply in intimate, unconditional relationships of trust and love? For they have a posse who can find them in any storm and pull them out of any drift.

You were unable to ask, but asking wasn’t necessary.

If you are a gift of unconditional friendship or you have received it when you  were in need; encourage someone else.  Like, comment, share. Your thoughts and feelings are important to me. This space is yours.

[1] http://truefaced.com/out-of-the-drift

    Until next time, remember,

• You are not alone.

• You are not your circumstances.

• You have everything within you to live a purpose-filled life.