Christianity

Once upon a time

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In days past I could stand tall

Against the world

Against the noise

And the bleating and the chaos was a calm normal in the wake

Though it never should have been

And now the rust settles to decay

And I stand anyway

Because that’s what it means to be in the realm of the real

So feeling you gone doesn’t hurt like it should

And I know I should find my emotions

But I laughed today, hard, until tears flowed with my ten-year-old

And that’s enough to keep me going

Maybe we should measure better

Maybe the laughter should be our compass

I love deeply despite the hurt and I move on despite the pain and now I’m me alone against the void

And maybe that’s best.

The Harder Things

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I used to try to prevent the hard things.

I used to try and make it all okay with extra work and a swing of my magic sword of indifference and strength combined.

Now I’m learning to lean in.

In the hard things, hope comes from strange places.

In the hard things, we realize there is more than this moment…more than us.

There is a God who provides!

I tend to minimize the thing’s happening in my life.

I tend to act like it’s all fine (when it is not).

But I’m truly grateful!

Because there’s a God who sees it all and is faithful to me no matter what!

And I’m willing to fight through the day, despite the pain, knowing He’s there to hold me up on the other side.

Lean in!

Don’t be afraid!

He’s got you and me and all the broken pieces and a million hearts searching.

Because he’s big enough!

That’s enough for me!

On Nights When I Am Broken

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Darkness has a funny way of trying to creep into lit spaces.

And I see it coming and light candles and try to combat the impact.

But sometimes, I am fighting enemies that were too long my friends.

Sometimes, I’m comfortably numb.

Sometimes, I want to hurt until I cry to prove I’m still human.

Sometimes , I want to hide.

Sometimes, I wish I were dust that would vanish with a good amount of deep cleaning.

But I think the air is most thin when we don’t open up.

When the vacuum of our silence has stolen so much.

And sometimes, when the air creeps in and we feel exposed, we bleed.

But blood once paid for everything so maybe it’s okay to feel the pain.

Tonight, I’m just praying for a warm pillow and sleep where the comforter finds me.

And tomorrow…I will breathe again…that’s life in the land of the living.

Sweet dreams, baby! Get up and roar!

When the mirror finds you

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I’ve been going through some stuff.

It’s heavy.

But tonight I found myself on the elliptical running out the problems of today and I wonder

What if the mirror has been lying?

What if the me I want isn’t hiding in the shadows of the me I was?

What if all my striving wasn’t meant to make me whole?

What if us and everything together isn’t the goal?

Maybe there’s more behind the veil.

Maybe something good can come from this beautiful mess.

So I surrender to the night and shower away the pain of today and find hope and healing in a God who never fails.

And, I realize none of this makes sense.

But to the ones hurting, tonight can be a light if we let it.

Tomorrow can bring hope regardless of the night before.

Fight on dear friends. You have greatness in you!

Find the light even when the mirror tells you otherwise.

Nighttime

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When the world crashes down, make sure to bring a straw

Something you can hang above the landslide to catch your breath.

I’ve learned the importance of a hundred straws

And I’ve grappled with the soil countless times

Yet, my anchor still holds.

Struggling and wriggling beneath the weight is real

And they don’t send you instructions or preparatory warnings

It’s you and God and the thread attached to the anchor that holds.

So dive deep when the oxygen tank is close to empty and find the miracle

Because it’s waiting.

He never fails!

I do

But even when I do, He’s enough!

So I dig into the soil and find the gold in the midst of the muck and mire.

And I’ll be better tomorrow…

One time…

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One time, there was a girl who was afraid.

She wrestled with her fear.

She thought if she gave it voice it would consume her.

She thought if she showed weakness, the weakness would swallow her.

She thought if she were better, she wouldn’t find herself here.

She thought if she were better everything would be okay.

Then the world caved in

She had to realize it wasn’t about her at all

She had to realize that in the pain and brokenness, Jesus would still see her, meet her, find her.

And He did! And it’s okay. And brokenness can lead to healing. And pain can lead to triumph and all the things.

And maybe, just maybe, that can be her story.

I am she, and this is now, and my brokenness today led to beauty. So there’s that…

Messy me

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I am a mess, woven in clay, wrapped up in yarn, and presented to the world.

You may see me strung or unstrung, strong or weak

Flesh and bone or fierce.

With every thread I hang on to the maker of the tapestry.

Because that’s all that matters.

Broken and fragmented, waiting for the hands of the sculptor.

And it isn’t weak to wait.

Bravery stands at the edge of a precipice and waits for instruction before flying.

Bravery is being willing to rest at the feet of something greater and be still.

So here I am Lord, use me however.

Bravery is being fully yours!

Who are you?

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I think I am me when the dust settles and the night falls and I stare at my pillow and I wonder

What is today? And what will be different tomorrow? And what’s the harm in thinking about that?

I think tomorrow is propelled by today.

I think I am the sum of yesterday and today and tomorrow combined because I believe God is bigger than that mess!

There’s a symbolism in the weight of the fracture between me and today and tomorrow.

There is more than I can see

There is more than me.

So hold on tight beloved. You are beloved

Because you don’t always see what’s waiting beyond the veil.

And I know theology and not every gets a peak behind the curtain but I’m waiting and I know He is too. That’s enough for me!

On learning and loving and walking on

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Sometimes your own people won’t get you

Sometimes it hurts

Sometimes that’s okay

Sometimes it’s not

That’s okay too

Walk on dear friend.

Move into the next moment, okay with yourself and who you are.

If the night stopped the second a cloud came, we’d never see daylight

But we keep spinning

And the dawn will come

Wake up tomorrow and realize you don’t need the approval of the setting sun.

If you really knew me…

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If you really knew me, would you hang me out to dry with the stars?

Would you wonder if I’m someone worth your time?

Would you debate with the clock and the ashes of lives lived and gone?

Would you pull me close and tell me of tomorrows?

Would you fold the flames of a life well lived around me or call for backup?

If you really knew me, would you say hello when you saw me or hide?

If you really knew me would you wonder at the greatness I hold or run in the opposite direction?

Will you read my words on a page and wonder if I’m human?

Or will you find that we are the same

Fumbling for light when the darkness presses in and …

Reaching, so hard, when the light calls?

Do you see me? Can you hear me?

These are questions for the abyss yet I ask them.

These moments define destiny.

Iif you really knew me, you would know.

But in the space of time and light and all the things that make us….us, I’m a voice screaming into the air.

But if you really knew me, that might matter.

In the meantime, I’m okay with the background chatter.