Reflection
Writing, gifts, waves
Reflect.
To reflect is to throw back, or deeply and carefully think about something.
When I reflect on the days since Lent started and I began to write everyday I see myself changed. Writing here has become a safe space for me to think my thoughts. I decided I would write whether anyone would read or not, but the hundreds of you who have opened your email almost daily kept me accountable to continue to come back on the hard days when my brain was tired and I had to dig deep for words. Thank you for your accountability, even though you most likely were unaware of your part in it all.
Then there are those of you who took the extra step to pay for my words, what a gift to my heart. Words are a way I hope and pray I can serve the world. We all have our ways, don’t we? I offer my words like a present to the hearer whether spoken or written, one on one, in a group of 2, 30 or hundreds. I choose my words carefully, I pray over them, I edit myself in the moment, and sometimes in an agonizing way after the fact. I pray they are encouraging, comforting and challenging in the most compassionate way.
When blogs first became a thing around 2010 I read the words of women, slightly older than me, who are now famous. Everyone in the writing world then talked about finding your voice and I didn’t know what that meant. What I did know is I didn’t want to write with an edge. I didn’t want to gain “followers” because I picked a “side”. I wanted to speak truth but I desperately wanted to do so in love, creating community, calling us all to Jesus.
In the last 30 some days of writing I have often wondered if the past 14 years of life has given me a gift. The gift of depth of compassion. I feel compassionate. The younger would me would have told you outright I didn’t have the gift of compassion. It was difficult for me to see things from someone else’s perspective. Now, I feel great love for us all who are trying to navigate the pain of life in a loud culture. My heart and eyes swell for us as hold tight to our Anchor, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus as the waves threaten to wash over our face, blur our vision and take us under.
I hope these words, as they land where you find them, buoy you to a place where you can see more clearly again. This time does that for me. A moment in my day where I remember who God is, who I am, who we are. From here, a time of reflection and remembrance, my faith is strengthened by the Truth - Jesus.
Jesus,
You are constant in a constantly moving world.
Your very self is our anchor and your truth keeps us afloat.
Remind us of your ever present presence and help us to cry out to you in times of need.
We love you.
Amen.
I will continue to write, maybe not every day, but most days.
The majority of what I write will continue to be free, if you find value in them I would ask you to consider being a $5 a month paid subscriber. Your partnership in this work would be a gift to me in many ways.
May the God of peace himself sanctify you by his truth as you follow him in his Kingdom way and may you know you are kept under the shadow of his wings until he comes again.
Amen.