Thank You For Holding My Heart and Story

PINIT

My dearest Bravehearted Beauties, you are absolutely STUNNING! Your kindness, encouragement and tender holding of my heart and story after such a vulnerable post are both stunning and humbling. Your responses to hard things cured me of my vulnerability hangover almost as quickly as it came. And my goodness, knowing you’re still out there reading and responding to my words after almost a year and a half of blog silence…is just…WOW. And to all of you who prayed for me during the silence, without me even knowing, a sincere thank you. I know I don’t rise up each day and stand through hard things by my own strength! There are days when I know your prayers are carrying me.

Friends, I’m convinced, today more than ever, that our stories matter. My story matters. And it needs to be told. Even this broken, not what I wanted to live or tell story will be used for good. And right here in these broken, not yet beautiful parts of our story, we are still part of God’s GOOD story. We don’t have to wait for our stories to look better to declare they are beautiful. We can join in with Joseph and declare over our story what he declares over his: what was intended to harm, God will use for good! {Genesis 50:20}

I mean…if we just knew the stories that surround us each day. Your stories. And the stories of everyone you encounter. Stories are SACRED, my friends. I know some of your stories because you’ve chosen to share pieces with me through a screen, but I know this is true of all of you: every single one of you have sacred stories. And they don’t have to look big, brave or beautiful right here in this moment for that to be true. There is a sacredness in the brokenness. And in the hiddenness…until it’s time to share. And only you and God know when it’s time.

We are all walking on holy ground when we share and hold each other’s stories. Both the sharing and the reading or listening are brave. I am HONORED that you choose to enter into this sacred space with me each time you read. And honored every single time you bravely choose to reach out, respond, share back or just let me know you’re out there. I honor you, Bravehearted Beauties.

There’s so much I want to write. I know every word that will bring glory to God, healing to me, and healing to others will be written in it’s right time. There’s no rush. I look forward to seeing what rises to the surface each time I write. I also look forward to sharing some brave new offerings God is stirring in my heart. As I shared in this recent Instagram post, I received some unexpected creative inspiration and strong nudges from God through heart rocks in Maine earlier this month. And though my story still needs a lot of healing and redemption, I know it’s time to step into the calling that has come out of my broken places: a calling to partner with God in creative ways to bind up the brokenhearted.

So much more I want to say, but in these last days of summer, I’m setting my laptop aside as much as possible and savoring every last moment with my girls. I’ll be back when school starts. {Or when I recover from the fact that I have a SENIOR in high school! Don’t even get me started!}

Sending all my love and thanks to you, dear hearts!