Good morning, Lisa! I knew that Scripture from the time I was young….and I never really understood how she was socially outcast, and the courage it took her, to reach out for that promise. I knew that she touched His robe, and had the faith that she would be healed if she did this, but to see that as she touched the “promise” is beautiful! Thank you for sharing this, and showing a deeper depth of it. ☮️🙏
I am very surprised to see you describing yourself as unable to connect with others at that time in your life. From here, I see lots of connections between you and friends, family, romantic partners, mentors, and so on. I take it these relationships felt somehow incomplete? (I do acknowledge what you've written about your first husband.) Regardless and as always, your courage and vulnerability in excavating and examining all of this, for public consumption no less, will always amaze and inspire me. Ironically, I suspect everyone who reads this feels some connection with you, but my hope is that God did answer/will answer "yes" to your prayer to feel more connected to others. Happy Sunday!
You've put your finger on something worth more than a quick reply, the gap between having connections and feeling connected. I want to take that into Thursday's post and give it real room. Thank you for seeing it and asking. See you then.
Lisa, good morning :) This is hitting home today because my husband just lost his job this week, due to a company acquisition and he had done nothing wrong. In fact, he's lost several jobs over our 37 years of marriage and with each one, he was one of the top people, but still expendable. I found myself this week asking "what have we done to deserve this over and over?" Logically I know it's nothing he's done, but spiritually I have to wonder why God continually allows this. Is there a lesson we're missing? Are we counting on a paycheck too much? What could it possibly be, that this God who loves us, doesn't stand in the gap when injustice comes knocking? We do mental flips just to try and figure it all out, only to come up with nothing. Sometimes I feel like just throwing my hands up to the whole "faith" thing and living like those who just go about life without a 2nd thought about anything. They seem to be doing just fine. Of course, then I remember all the times I've seen God's hand in the past, but still...why is it always a battle? Do you ever get tired of all of these comments? :) It's a lot. Thanks for always supplying the thought-provoking content.
I'm so sorry. Losing a job with no warning is scary, and having it happen again after 37 years has to shake something loose. That "what did we do to deserve this" question is exhausting, and usually the truest answer is nothing. Be easy on yourselves this week. I'm thinking of you both.
Good morning Lisa. You know the more I read your post I came to realized I’m more of the person who stays. Reading that story reminded me that belonging isn’t something I have to earn by fixing the “problem” in order to be reached, I just have to receive and show up. I have a close friend who was adopted, and we’ve been friends since grade school. (She is the one I talked about in this past Thursday’s post) When she’s in hard seasons, she turns to me because she know i am her safe place and that I’ll be there for her.
That was beautiful. I had never looked at her story that way before... I sit mourning and feeling bad for a woman who has been in heaven probably close to 2,000 years now.... But everybody has their time, their situation, for feeling like that....
I think of Job and his friends- they told him he had sinned and that's why God was punishing him.... I am certainly not saying we don't cause harm when we do something wrong, but- and this is more a rhetorical question out into the air, but feel free to answer if you'd like 🙂-- why do so many people feel they are going through something because of a secret sin? When I almost lost my life when my daughter was born- when that was over and I was home, I kept telling my husband God used my story to reveal Himself to somebody- somebody was struggling with faith, looking for answers and my miraculous healing was the answer to that searching.... I'm a sinner saved by a very gracious God, but I never questioned if God was punishing me..
Just saddens me that people are digging through their lives trying to find sin that doesn't exist to explain problems when there are other explanations..... When Tom was in the hospital I was getting mad... His wife was weary, he was, another woman at our church was getting mad at doctors for not figuring out his problem.... And whether I am right or not, I laid the blame for his repeated illness on Satan. God allowed it, but he doesn't bring sickness on us, and so I was furious with Satan himself and told him that he couldn't have Tom and his health anymore. My son and I love the song "Get Behind Me" by Emerson Day.... For anybody who hasn't heard it, go look it up :-)
A line from the chorus says, "In case you forgot, let me tell you the truth, you're stuck under my blood bought boots," and I was using that song as a mandate to evict Satan from Tom's hospital room... The fact he kept getting sicker was making me angry, and in a way- while I cry for me- I'm so glad that God finally ended that battle and his suffering.... Tom is away from the grasp of Satan because of those blood bought boots.
So many of us were taught young that suffering must be a punishment, so we go hunting for the sin behind it. It usually isn't there. And I can hear Tom's loss still sitting under all of this. However you needed to fight for him, and however you're getting through losing him, I'm glad his suffering has ended.
That is sad, but maybe just because I wasn't raised the same.
It hurts and it stinks- but I know he's better than he's ever been. I bawled Friday, I cried today- but my heart will one day catch up with my brain knowing that he's better than okay and we will be together again one day :)
When something bad happens, we all have to blame somebody and I don't want that person to be God.
Wow. Just wow. I help guide people through the Spiritual Exercises in daily life and have absolutely *loved* reading about your experience each week. I often find myself quoting Trevor Hudson as he shares about his experience with a Jesuit Priest saying, “Insight is the consolation prize; *encounter* takes first place.” Your story invites us to enter in and encounter Jesus. Thank you!!!!
Coming from someone who leads others through the Exercises, this means a lot. And that Trevor Hudson line about encounter over insight is new to me, I'll be carrying it around. Thank you for reading along.
Good morning Lisa. Such a good article today. The question got me still thinking of my ex. There were times that I wished he would have stayed, but I knew we were going to divorce. My parents even told me. My dad told my mom to get a bigger trailer because my son and I would be moving in. I was the only one to move in. This is off the subject, but the photo of you and your family, you look like your mom. Such a lovely photo. May your Sunday be blessed. Blessings and keep smiling from Bolivar Missouri 💐.
It's hard to wish someone would stay while already knowing how it ends. I'm glad your parents made room for you and your son when it came to that. And thank you for the kind words about the photo. Blessings back to you in Bolivar.
Well this is a bit personal, and it may get deleted soon. The time I was most afraid people would leave was when I told my family the extent of my drinking. I had so much shame and I was sure they would be disgusted and angry but instead I was met with so much love and concern.
Nothing here needs deleting. You told the hardest truth you had and got love instead of the disgust you were bracing for. I'm glad your family showed up for you.
For me, it wasn’t just admitting that I couldn’t quit drinking, it was admitting that nature overtook nurture. My biological mom is an addict, my adopted parents don’t drink. Nature won and I could not stand it!
Happy Sunday! Oh wow, I have heard the story about the woman many times but never once did I stop and think of her past. How she would have been treated and felt like an outcast. Thank you for sharing that today, I really resonated with it.
I don’t want to keep setting your questions aside. You ask great ones and while I know there are no expectations I still feel I need to share in some way the same. The question today, is there a time I expected someone not to stay and they did? Excluding marriage b/c that’s a different story. No not really, I don’t really put expectations on people either though if that makes sense. I think it goes back to my earliest memories. I just wrote about this so it’s fresh in my mind. The few times my mother would come around I would beg her to stay. When that didn’t work I would beg to go with her. She figured out if she told me yes and to pack a bag that would buy her time to sneak out while I was distracted. I would get back ready to go only to find her already gone or seeing her taillights in the driveway. Of course, I would cry and then get in trouble for crying. I learned a lesson that has always stayed with me: don’t expect people to stay and don’t show emotion. Now whether that lesson was healthy, I doubt it but I carried it with me.
I also recently had a conversation with someone and it drifted into this. I told them “I know this sounds negative, but I don’t mean it that way.” I try not to engage in negative self-talk, but if I’m honest, I’ve always had this underlying belief of “Why would anyone want me?” I don’t say that as self-pity or that I feel worthless as I know God made me for a reason but more of I guess I expect rejection before anyone can prove otherwise. I accepted it first to prevent the hurt of what comes later. So I’m not trying to put myself down it’s just the lens I’ve always looked t through.
To wrap this up and please feel no rush to read or respond as others have things they want to share and I know I got wordy here lol. Writing has helped me learn those feelings don’t appear out of nowhere, I learned it somewhere along the way. Maybe just maybe I don’t have to carry that forever but for now, like that country song “ I never let my heart go all the way, every time I try I just pump the brakes.” Different reason he’s singing about but that’s kind of where I am in my journey. I jokingly say I have this tiny little piece of my metaphorical heart left and i’m holding on to it for dear life. Sure, anything is possible though, God opens doors no one can and makes the impossible…possible. So if someone by chance comes along and proves me wrong, then I guess it’s theirs to take. Until then, I'll just sip sweet tea with folks on the front porch of my metaphorical house and watch the hummingbirds. And if one does well, may the odds be ever in their favor. Lol! I hope you have a great week! Great post today!
No wonder you learned not to expect people to stay, watching those taillights and then getting punished for crying about it. That was survival for a little girl. You're allowed to outgrow it now. And I hope the person who finally gets that last guarded piece of your heart knows what they've been handed.
As a mother, hearing about you packing your bag only to find your mom pulling out of the driveway each time — you deserved so much more than that and it’s ok to feel it. I want to say, too, that you may still find it spiritually. Feel everything, but don’t despair 💕
Thank you so much, I greatly appreciate that. I am gonna try my very best and reminding myself of that especially the times when my mind likes to say out of nowhere “Hey you remember that time when you were little and ……” 😒lol again thank you and I hope you have a great day! ☺️🙏
Good morning Lisa. I love your thorough explanation of this scripture, and thank for sharing your personal thoughts. For me, spending so much time being told so many supposedly awful things about myself by my husband and in-laws affected how I thought about myself. I knew deep down that I was not this awful person, but sometimes I wondered if there was something actually wrong with me, because otherwise why would they treat me like this? Plus they would tell other people outright lies about me, so anyone who believed them started treating me differently as well. When I eventually started meeting other people who didn't know them, who just got to know me as I am without outside toxic influence...they were friendly, accepting, and caring. When I was being treated well, I would sometimes cry by myself later on that day because it was so wonderful and refreshing to be treated well. I started finally not feeling like an outcast. Now after almost 4 years away from my ex and his family, I feel so much better, included in society, and like who I am and what I want truly matters. The words we are told about ourselves really do make a difference.
There's a lot of grief in the picture of you crying alone because kindness felt so foreign. Four years free of all that, seen now for who you really are, and you belong. I'm so glad you made it here.
Isn’t it amazing how hard we are on ourselves? What we perceive other people see in us? Obviously I don’t know you but the way you are exposing your inner most self shows what we see, a woman who is now not afraid to say “look at me, I’m an imperfect human trying to be the best I can be while traveling this life journey!”. And though I can’t speak for others, I can say for myself that you are inspiring me to become the best I can be with whatever time I have in my own journey of life. You honestly bring me to tears every week with your honesty, as difficult as that may be for you. You are connecting, so please don’t think you aren’t. We may be individuals you’ll never meet but there was a reason you’re here and making differences that you don’t even realize you’re making. I look forward to reading your posts, they set the tone for my day!!!
Thank you, and thank you especially for telling me the connecting is happening. That's a good thing to hear from the other side of the screen. I'm glad these posts start your day well.
I'm subscribing because I just saw Geri Jewell on Patrick LabyorSheaux's show, and she talked about how kind you were to her when she was on Facts of Life with you.
Powerful. You are an amazing and insightful writer. I am proud to call you “Teacher”.
I don’t really have anything to add this week, other than feeling compelled to say how, while reading this, it saddened me to think about all the equally innocent people who are ostracized or persecuted in our current world as well. We need more people to set good examples by publicly and selflessly responding as Jesus did. There are many who do, but it feels as if they are drown out by the very people who should know better.
Thank you for the kind words. And you're right that the people responding with real compassion right now often get drowned out by louder voices. I wish it were the other way around too.
Another great Sunday read. I so look forward to reading your emails. Thank you Lisa for sharing, now I reflect on my own need to heal with the corner promise.
Lisa, this is so insightful. I’ve carried a lot of shame too, and when I’ve finally shared it with people who love me, the relief has been incredible. It made me think of the hemorrhage as all the shame, rejection, and inadequacy we hide because we’re afraid people will see us as unclean. Reaching out for healing doesn’t make us weak. It reminds us that we’re already loved and don’t have to exhaust ourselves trying to be good enough. I love this so much. Thank you for sharing it so honestly. Still hoping you can share some of Pete's coffee ☕ secrets!
I love that reframe, the hemorrhage as all the shame we hide from each other. And yes, Pete's coffee secrets are still on the list, I haven't forgotten. i'll ask him to share soon
3 friends know my struggles but we are several states apart now. For 13 yrs we’ve written, text, or called every so often just to remind each other we are not forgotten and, Jesus is there with us. I’ve never found that same connection since I met those 3 women 19yrs ago. It’s a bitter sweet truth but, I will always treasure their friendship and our sporadic check ins.
Three friends who've kept reminding you across all that distance and all those years that you're not forgotten. That's rare, and no wonder nothing since has felt quite the same. Hold them close.
Good morning, Lisa! I knew that Scripture from the time I was young….and I never really understood how she was socially outcast, and the courage it took her, to reach out for that promise. I knew that she touched His robe, and had the faith that she would be healed if she did this, but to see that as she touched the “promise” is beautiful! Thank you for sharing this, and showing a deeper depth of it. ☮️🙏
Once I learned that corner of the shawl carried the promise, I couldn't read it the old way again. Glad it struck you too.
We are always, always, our own worst critic(s).
Sad, but true!
I am very surprised to see you describing yourself as unable to connect with others at that time in your life. From here, I see lots of connections between you and friends, family, romantic partners, mentors, and so on. I take it these relationships felt somehow incomplete? (I do acknowledge what you've written about your first husband.) Regardless and as always, your courage and vulnerability in excavating and examining all of this, for public consumption no less, will always amaze and inspire me. Ironically, I suspect everyone who reads this feels some connection with you, but my hope is that God did answer/will answer "yes" to your prayer to feel more connected to others. Happy Sunday!
You've put your finger on something worth more than a quick reply, the gap between having connections and feeling connected. I want to take that into Thursday's post and give it real room. Thank you for seeing it and asking. See you then.
Lisa, good morning :) This is hitting home today because my husband just lost his job this week, due to a company acquisition and he had done nothing wrong. In fact, he's lost several jobs over our 37 years of marriage and with each one, he was one of the top people, but still expendable. I found myself this week asking "what have we done to deserve this over and over?" Logically I know it's nothing he's done, but spiritually I have to wonder why God continually allows this. Is there a lesson we're missing? Are we counting on a paycheck too much? What could it possibly be, that this God who loves us, doesn't stand in the gap when injustice comes knocking? We do mental flips just to try and figure it all out, only to come up with nothing. Sometimes I feel like just throwing my hands up to the whole "faith" thing and living like those who just go about life without a 2nd thought about anything. They seem to be doing just fine. Of course, then I remember all the times I've seen God's hand in the past, but still...why is it always a battle? Do you ever get tired of all of these comments? :) It's a lot. Thanks for always supplying the thought-provoking content.
I'm so sorry. Losing a job with no warning is scary, and having it happen again after 37 years has to shake something loose. That "what did we do to deserve this" question is exhausting, and usually the truest answer is nothing. Be easy on yourselves this week. I'm thinking of you both.
Good morning Lisa. You know the more I read your post I came to realized I’m more of the person who stays. Reading that story reminded me that belonging isn’t something I have to earn by fixing the “problem” in order to be reached, I just have to receive and show up. I have a close friend who was adopted, and we’ve been friends since grade school. (She is the one I talked about in this past Thursday’s post) When she’s in hard seasons, she turns to me because she know i am her safe place and that I’ll be there for her.
You've been your friend's safe place since grade school. Most people never have someone that steady, and she gets to. She's lucky to have you.
That was beautiful. I had never looked at her story that way before... I sit mourning and feeling bad for a woman who has been in heaven probably close to 2,000 years now.... But everybody has their time, their situation, for feeling like that....
I think of Job and his friends- they told him he had sinned and that's why God was punishing him.... I am certainly not saying we don't cause harm when we do something wrong, but- and this is more a rhetorical question out into the air, but feel free to answer if you'd like 🙂-- why do so many people feel they are going through something because of a secret sin? When I almost lost my life when my daughter was born- when that was over and I was home, I kept telling my husband God used my story to reveal Himself to somebody- somebody was struggling with faith, looking for answers and my miraculous healing was the answer to that searching.... I'm a sinner saved by a very gracious God, but I never questioned if God was punishing me..
Just saddens me that people are digging through their lives trying to find sin that doesn't exist to explain problems when there are other explanations..... When Tom was in the hospital I was getting mad... His wife was weary, he was, another woman at our church was getting mad at doctors for not figuring out his problem.... And whether I am right or not, I laid the blame for his repeated illness on Satan. God allowed it, but he doesn't bring sickness on us, and so I was furious with Satan himself and told him that he couldn't have Tom and his health anymore. My son and I love the song "Get Behind Me" by Emerson Day.... For anybody who hasn't heard it, go look it up :-)
A line from the chorus says, "In case you forgot, let me tell you the truth, you're stuck under my blood bought boots," and I was using that song as a mandate to evict Satan from Tom's hospital room... The fact he kept getting sicker was making me angry, and in a way- while I cry for me- I'm so glad that God finally ended that battle and his suffering.... Tom is away from the grasp of Satan because of those blood bought boots.
So many of us were taught young that suffering must be a punishment, so we go hunting for the sin behind it. It usually isn't there. And I can hear Tom's loss still sitting under all of this. However you needed to fight for him, and however you're getting through losing him, I'm glad his suffering has ended.
That is sad, but maybe just because I wasn't raised the same.
It hurts and it stinks- but I know he's better than he's ever been. I bawled Friday, I cried today- but my heart will one day catch up with my brain knowing that he's better than okay and we will be together again one day :)
When something bad happens, we all have to blame somebody and I don't want that person to be God.
Wow. Just wow. I help guide people through the Spiritual Exercises in daily life and have absolutely *loved* reading about your experience each week. I often find myself quoting Trevor Hudson as he shares about his experience with a Jesuit Priest saying, “Insight is the consolation prize; *encounter* takes first place.” Your story invites us to enter in and encounter Jesus. Thank you!!!!
Coming from someone who leads others through the Exercises, this means a lot. And that Trevor Hudson line about encounter over insight is new to me, I'll be carrying it around. Thank you for reading along.
Good morning Lisa. Such a good article today. The question got me still thinking of my ex. There were times that I wished he would have stayed, but I knew we were going to divorce. My parents even told me. My dad told my mom to get a bigger trailer because my son and I would be moving in. I was the only one to move in. This is off the subject, but the photo of you and your family, you look like your mom. Such a lovely photo. May your Sunday be blessed. Blessings and keep smiling from Bolivar Missouri 💐.
It's hard to wish someone would stay while already knowing how it ends. I'm glad your parents made room for you and your son when it came to that. And thank you for the kind words about the photo. Blessings back to you in Bolivar.
Thank you Lisa for your kind words. May your day be blessed.
Well this is a bit personal, and it may get deleted soon. The time I was most afraid people would leave was when I told my family the extent of my drinking. I had so much shame and I was sure they would be disgusted and angry but instead I was met with so much love and concern.
Nothing here needs deleting. You told the hardest truth you had and got love instead of the disgust you were bracing for. I'm glad your family showed up for you.
For me, it wasn’t just admitting that I couldn’t quit drinking, it was admitting that nature overtook nurture. My biological mom is an addict, my adopted parents don’t drink. Nature won and I could not stand it!
Happy Sunday! Oh wow, I have heard the story about the woman many times but never once did I stop and think of her past. How she would have been treated and felt like an outcast. Thank you for sharing that today, I really resonated with it.
I don’t want to keep setting your questions aside. You ask great ones and while I know there are no expectations I still feel I need to share in some way the same. The question today, is there a time I expected someone not to stay and they did? Excluding marriage b/c that’s a different story. No not really, I don’t really put expectations on people either though if that makes sense. I think it goes back to my earliest memories. I just wrote about this so it’s fresh in my mind. The few times my mother would come around I would beg her to stay. When that didn’t work I would beg to go with her. She figured out if she told me yes and to pack a bag that would buy her time to sneak out while I was distracted. I would get back ready to go only to find her already gone or seeing her taillights in the driveway. Of course, I would cry and then get in trouble for crying. I learned a lesson that has always stayed with me: don’t expect people to stay and don’t show emotion. Now whether that lesson was healthy, I doubt it but I carried it with me.
I also recently had a conversation with someone and it drifted into this. I told them “I know this sounds negative, but I don’t mean it that way.” I try not to engage in negative self-talk, but if I’m honest, I’ve always had this underlying belief of “Why would anyone want me?” I don’t say that as self-pity or that I feel worthless as I know God made me for a reason but more of I guess I expect rejection before anyone can prove otherwise. I accepted it first to prevent the hurt of what comes later. So I’m not trying to put myself down it’s just the lens I’ve always looked t through.
To wrap this up and please feel no rush to read or respond as others have things they want to share and I know I got wordy here lol. Writing has helped me learn those feelings don’t appear out of nowhere, I learned it somewhere along the way. Maybe just maybe I don’t have to carry that forever but for now, like that country song “ I never let my heart go all the way, every time I try I just pump the brakes.” Different reason he’s singing about but that’s kind of where I am in my journey. I jokingly say I have this tiny little piece of my metaphorical heart left and i’m holding on to it for dear life. Sure, anything is possible though, God opens doors no one can and makes the impossible…possible. So if someone by chance comes along and proves me wrong, then I guess it’s theirs to take. Until then, I'll just sip sweet tea with folks on the front porch of my metaphorical house and watch the hummingbirds. And if one does well, may the odds be ever in their favor. Lol! I hope you have a great week! Great post today!
No wonder you learned not to expect people to stay, watching those taillights and then getting punished for crying about it. That was survival for a little girl. You're allowed to outgrow it now. And I hope the person who finally gets that last guarded piece of your heart knows what they've been handed.
As a mother, hearing about you packing your bag only to find your mom pulling out of the driveway each time — you deserved so much more than that and it’s ok to feel it. I want to say, too, that you may still find it spiritually. Feel everything, but don’t despair 💕
Thank you so much, I greatly appreciate that. I am gonna try my very best and reminding myself of that especially the times when my mind likes to say out of nowhere “Hey you remember that time when you were little and ……” 😒lol again thank you and I hope you have a great day! ☺️🙏
Good morning Lisa. I love your thorough explanation of this scripture, and thank for sharing your personal thoughts. For me, spending so much time being told so many supposedly awful things about myself by my husband and in-laws affected how I thought about myself. I knew deep down that I was not this awful person, but sometimes I wondered if there was something actually wrong with me, because otherwise why would they treat me like this? Plus they would tell other people outright lies about me, so anyone who believed them started treating me differently as well. When I eventually started meeting other people who didn't know them, who just got to know me as I am without outside toxic influence...they were friendly, accepting, and caring. When I was being treated well, I would sometimes cry by myself later on that day because it was so wonderful and refreshing to be treated well. I started finally not feeling like an outcast. Now after almost 4 years away from my ex and his family, I feel so much better, included in society, and like who I am and what I want truly matters. The words we are told about ourselves really do make a difference.
There's a lot of grief in the picture of you crying alone because kindness felt so foreign. Four years free of all that, seen now for who you really are, and you belong. I'm so glad you made it here.
Thank you so much, Lisa. I am as well.
Isn’t it amazing how hard we are on ourselves? What we perceive other people see in us? Obviously I don’t know you but the way you are exposing your inner most self shows what we see, a woman who is now not afraid to say “look at me, I’m an imperfect human trying to be the best I can be while traveling this life journey!”. And though I can’t speak for others, I can say for myself that you are inspiring me to become the best I can be with whatever time I have in my own journey of life. You honestly bring me to tears every week with your honesty, as difficult as that may be for you. You are connecting, so please don’t think you aren’t. We may be individuals you’ll never meet but there was a reason you’re here and making differences that you don’t even realize you’re making. I look forward to reading your posts, they set the tone for my day!!!
Thank you, and thank you especially for telling me the connecting is happening. That's a good thing to hear from the other side of the screen. I'm glad these posts start your day well.
I'm subscribing because I just saw Geri Jewell on Patrick LabyorSheaux's show, and she talked about how kind you were to her when she was on Facts of Life with you.
Welcome! Geri's the best!!! I'm glad you're here.
Powerful. You are an amazing and insightful writer. I am proud to call you “Teacher”.
I don’t really have anything to add this week, other than feeling compelled to say how, while reading this, it saddened me to think about all the equally innocent people who are ostracized or persecuted in our current world as well. We need more people to set good examples by publicly and selflessly responding as Jesus did. There are many who do, but it feels as if they are drown out by the very people who should know better.
Have a wonderful week.
Thank you for the kind words. And you're right that the people responding with real compassion right now often get drowned out by louder voices. I wish it were the other way around too.
Another great Sunday read. I so look forward to reading your emails. Thank you Lisa for sharing, now I reflect on my own need to heal with the corner promise.
And know that Jesus loves me.
Bless you always Lisa.
Thank you for reading every week. I hope reaching for that corner brings you what it you are longing for. Bless you too.
Lisa, this is so insightful. I’ve carried a lot of shame too, and when I’ve finally shared it with people who love me, the relief has been incredible. It made me think of the hemorrhage as all the shame, rejection, and inadequacy we hide because we’re afraid people will see us as unclean. Reaching out for healing doesn’t make us weak. It reminds us that we’re already loved and don’t have to exhaust ourselves trying to be good enough. I love this so much. Thank you for sharing it so honestly. Still hoping you can share some of Pete's coffee ☕ secrets!
I love that reframe, the hemorrhage as all the shame we hide from each other. And yes, Pete's coffee secrets are still on the list, I haven't forgotten. i'll ask him to share soon
3 friends know my struggles but we are several states apart now. For 13 yrs we’ve written, text, or called every so often just to remind each other we are not forgotten and, Jesus is there with us. I’ve never found that same connection since I met those 3 women 19yrs ago. It’s a bitter sweet truth but, I will always treasure their friendship and our sporadic check ins.
Three friends who've kept reminding you across all that distance and all those years that you're not forgotten. That's rare, and no wonder nothing since has felt quite the same. Hold them close.