JOURNAL 003

It is so tempting to bring all the polished parts of me into my writing and online presence.

Tempting to share the highlight reels, all the best parts of my week, all the moments I looked the most like Jesus. 

Tempting to wrap a bow on the days, and paint them with all the colors of the rainbow. 

But, that’s just simply not who I am, or what I have been called to. 

See, Hope is the middle name I was given, and how can I bring hope if I’m just pretending everything is perfect all the time?

I just can’t do it. 

I won’t do it.

After bearing my heart about grief in last week’s journal, I asked Christian “Is this too heavy? Is this going to just bum people out?” 

He reminded me, “No, it’s real, and it’s going to bring people hope.”

Real. Defined as: not imitation or artificial; genuine.

So I strip off the fear, and lean into this gift I have been given - to be real.

There is freedom in this space of transparency, a permission to confront what is around me, and a power to speak the Truth to it. 

If we suppress our feelings or ignore what is coming against us, we relinquish the very authority we have been given to address what is out of alignment. 

Just because you don’t look at it, doesn’t mean it is going away. 

I am giving you permission, friend. I am inviting you into this space with me. 

You are safe here. Covered by a love that transforms, and empowers.

Remove the mask, take off the blinders, strip off the fear.

There is more than that tightness in your chest, more than the overwhelm, more than the shadows of your past breathing down your neck. 

You were not created to hide, and die. 

You were created to live, and live abundantly.

So lift your eyes, look at what has been trying to control you. 

Put on that authority, and address what is out of alignment. 

Pursue healing. Feel the feelings. 

You have to hold them, in order to let them go. 

Step into the fullness of who you were created to be. 

Receive this love. Learn to apply it to yourself, then your neighbor.

Choose life, and then share it. 

People need to hear your story.

Let the past be just that. 

Onward and upward.

Your best days are right in front of you. 

You’re not too late.

Take one step, that’s all it takes.

God is for you, and He is just getting started.