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It’s more like wanting to know where I fit, which is, if you can believe it, super different from wanting to fit in.
The trouble comes when I’m not sure if being like me is good enough, acceptable, or approved of by you.
your self-definition is about as incongruent as mine.
When we are comparing, we cannot connect. It’s just not possible.
Don’t we all work hard to protect the lingering child that still crouches within us and longs for security, worth, and love?
You may want to say no to something because you are afraid you won’t measure up.
I’m discovering that my understanding of spirituality, how I practice my life and how I move into the world around me, does not just inform my ministry but is the ministry.
if my role is undefined, or if it’s a social situation where I don’t know people well, or if I attend a gathering where someone else in the room shares my role and the lines are unclear, I have a tendency to fly far from my center both during and after.
thinking, Here I am, so what are they thinking of me? rather than, There you are, welcome. I
We bring what we believe about ourselves and what we believe about God into every situation, gathering, and decision.
The truth is, I don’t have to let the uncertainty of my place in a room be the only voice that gets a say.
how might my own willingness to be vulnerable with the group be a gift, regardless of their response to me?
If I walk into the room knowing who I am—beloved, abiding with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit—then people are not bound to respond a certain way in order to make me feel safe.
“What would it look like to trust Jesus, to be patient, to be loving, or to be content just for the next ten minutes?”
holding on for dear life because you don’t know what will happen next, and that can be the worst part, the not knowing.
Instead of insisting on clear plans, may we be willing to settle in and take the next right step even though it may lead someplace we didn’t quite pack for.
Let’s be men and women who keep our ears pressed gently against the heart of God, willing to respond to faint whispers and small nudges, and even have an openness to be the wink of God for someone else.
Am I allowing light to do what light does best—to warm, fill, and lift?
Am I allowing the darkness to do what the darkness does best—cover, protect, and grow? God declares
Our next right thing will often be to wait. Give time to allow the clutter to clear. Create space for your soul to breathe. Make room for your desire to show up at the table. Begin to name the unnamed things. Wait. Listen. Repeat.
decisions are rarely right or wrong. It doesn’t always matter which road you choose. What matters is God is with you.
You never promise clarity. But you always give a hopeful vision. And you always promise presence. I will go with you wherever you go. Do not be afraid.
