Something has changed; I changed. Fear lost its power within me; unleashed truth reigns in its place. Truth statements such as; ‘It’s not your fault,’ ‘that is not who you are,’ ‘God is bigger than that,’ and ‘you have been created to choose’ poured into my soul, offering an opportunity to heal. This healing happened over time as I chose to believe these truths in place of the lies that were planted once upon a time.
I look back on the image of my broken-self, and I ponder the step by step process I took to conquer. Speaking the above truths and Scripture out loud gave truth permission to reign in lies’ absence. Upon that foundation, the step to follow required additional voices to speak truth and Scripture in my ear. In addition to refueling my mind with truth via preaching and worship, I needed Laughter.
Fear never overtook me when I was with my husband or my son. They were/are my safe places, my happy places. When they walked out the door on their first camping trip, I became vulnerable to the loneliness of fear.
I realized I had to be intentional about laughter, about friendship.
I was intentional when my husband told me I needed to find a friend. (LOL! That sentence sounds so strange; nother story, nother time). So, every time I went to church I approached a woman and asked her if they wanted to meet me at the mall. I had many shopping dates! I met many women. I learned so much about each one of them; I learned so much about me.
I had to get intentional in regards to these camping trips. So, I text out messages to my “shopping date” friends. The text was simple, Friday night? 7? My place? My boys will be gone we will have the house to ourselves for girl time. Something like that. I don’t remember how many friends showed up for that first campout girl night, but I remember how my heart was full, my house was filled with laughter, and I how I did not have to cook a thing. That’s the best thing about women. They are talented. And they love to demonstrate their talent. From cooking to baking, from bringing flowers to cleaning up afterward, talent just pours out of women. It’s what they/you/me/we do.
Six years ago, I was given the pleasure of being intentional all over again. There I was in a new town, in new churches, in new shoes;). Smiling faces throughout this Treasure Valley are soaring through my heart as I think through these last six years. Such amazing sisters that make up the body of Christ! How spoiled are we to be a member of such a vast family?!
Intentional friendship. It has to start somewhere. How about a simple, Hi. I never knew how powerful that little word could be; Oh, how I have fallen in love with its Beautiful Simplicity!
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