Understanding of Home.

I shared last a few days ago on my instagram how there's something about the red dirt in central Africa. While you are there it's frustrating and you feel like its always on your shoes, feet and getting into everything. Kind of like the sand was when we lived in the Middle East. Now I find myself dreaming of that red dirt roads lined with precious children who want to just be with you, always ready to greet you with a smile. 


The concept of home is a strange one to both me and my hubby. Both having grown up away from our home countries and in other cultures it's always a weird thing to be asked where home is. It's such a loaded question that I'm never really sure how I'm supposed to answer.
It usually has many different answers depending on how I gauge the person asking it.
The simple answer would be wherever I currently reside, which is with my hubby in the Midwest in our home together. That is home.
Yet my family are scattered, my parents live in England on the coast. In a farm area where it takes 20 mins to drive to the nearest McDonalds and all the local stores start closing around 4pm and the average age is probably 60 something. That was home for a while too.
Then there's my university town, the dreaming spires, the history, the people who left prints on my heart during the 4 years I wrestled with life in my early 20s. I went to school there, wrestled out my faith and convictions there, started my career there and also ended it there (but that's a whole other story). That is home too.
The desert town which no longer exists in reality because everyone I knew back then now lives in another part of the world and is in a different stage of life. That's home too.


I think the complicated answer is that every place I called home, took a piece of my heart.
Every time we unpacked boxes and I had a room to call my own, it really became mine for a season. I did life in every single one of those empty shells known as houses, they became homes because of the people in them and the events that took place in them. Home is so many different places to me.


I have never known a building where you come home from the hospital and spend 18 years of life in the small four walls growing and maturing along the way. Redecorating your room every time you outgrew the colors or designs. (For the record a lot of my walls have been white, a luxury of  rental houses)
To me every place you go has the possibility of becoming a home.
Maybe that's why I feel like visiting Kenya took another piece of my heart in the same way. I got off the plane and felt a familiarity, a homecoming to a place where I had never been before. A comfort. I have really only visited central Africa twice. Twice. That's it.
Yet it seems to be permanently etched on my heart. On my mind.


Who knows what the Lord will do with that.

What Kenya Taught me about Fear.

What I have probably never shared before, as I tend not to speak it out loud very often, is that I have a fear. A very irrational fear, one that started just before I got married & seems to keep growing in size. A fear of flying. 

I know. I know. I've heard all the answers for how to get rid of it. But its seriously like being afraid of heights (which I think may be related as tall buildings now terrify me too) you can't simply just explain it away or pretend it doesn't exist. 

Several things help, but really its something that I have to pray through many time throughout the entire duration of any flight. The frequency of flying may make a difference as well. Before we got married and were travelling back and forth across the Atlantic frequently I had less of a fear of flying, then it increased with no bad experience to provoke it, just like I suddenly woke up and realized just how strange it sounds to travel in a metal tube with wings up in the air.

So with our decision to go to Kenya last month, there was a huge understanding for me that this meant getting on a plane. Several planes. 5 different flights to be exact. 35 hrs of being in the air. It was a stretch for me.

Especially when we seemed to encounter problem after problem with our flights on the way to Kenya. Our first flight departed 6 hours late due to mechanical problems with the plane (that information really made me feel so much better!). Then another flight was delayed due to a medical emergency, which really wasn't an emergency at all thankfully. One went through a storm and of course turbulence (which actually has a calming effect on me, I did say it was irrational).

The drive that kept me going of course, was the fact that I really wanted to go to Kenya. We both felt strongly that we were being called to go together & serve for the brief time we were there. And that meant being obedient and getting on that plane. 

It requires putting my trust in God and His plans for my life. Just putting one foot in front of the other and believing that He has good plans for me. Sometimes it feels beyond me to be able to do that. Especially in a fear this real.

But the one motivator I had in all this, was something that I shared during our daily devotionals as a group on our trip. As much as I am afraid of things in this life, it doesn't outweigh the fear I have of missing out on what God has for me because I was afraid. The fear of not doing something out of fear. 
Missing what He has called me to do. Missing out on being a part of what He is doing on this earth. 

So I keep battling & praying that He removes this fear someday! Battling my fears so that I can be a part of something bigger than them and bigger than me. 
Glorifying Him, even when its hard and brings me tears of fear. 
Knowing that He comforts me and protects me. I am never really in control ever in this life, this is all Him. 

And the glimpse it gives me of His creation is pretty incredible. 

I loved reading Nicole's perspective on fear today.

Passion in Brokenness.

Honestly, its been a hard season year over here. Lots of tears, battles fought, with some won and some taking every ounce of strength I have and then some. Thankfully through it all there has been a lot of refining, growth and holding onto the Lord with everything I have. So I can't really complain about the process. Anything which brings me closer to Him with a daily drive to be in His presence is worth all the pain. 

Being married has been a blessing in so many ways, yet in others I have found it extremely hard. I have this bad habit of caring deeply what other people think of me. Often allowing their opinions to define who I think I am and not the Lord. And its been a hard year for learning to let go of approval from others. From not being ashamed of where the Lord has taken me in life, how He has orchestrated certain things and how I met my husband young. 

I started sharing our love story here. Then I stopped, to be honest I almost completely dropped out of the blogging community all together not long after. Many things factored into this happening. But one of which was feeling the desire to hide. You see, I grew up with a deep heart for purity and waiting. For waiting on the Lord's timing for romance and wanting to encourage single young women to fall in love with Him and trust Him to work out the rest. I had a lot of friendships formed with that common ground. 

It was a beautiful season in my life. 

Then I got married.

 And I was ashamed to talk about this beautiful story the Lord had written in my life. I didn't want to make other girls feel bad about where the Lord had them. I wanted to still encourage them to keep waiting and trusting, now knowing that what He had whispered to my young heart about trusting Him was completely true! 

But I began to allow this to rob me of the joy He has given me with where I am now.

It has been a hard few years understanding why the Lord gave me a passion for Waiting and Purity, then bringing my husband to me at a young age. I can't begin to understand what it feels to be a late-20 something single girl who is struggling with loneliness and longing for an earthly prince. Yet my heart breaks, because my heart is minister to you, friend. To reach out and assure you that it will be ok. That the Lord does have beautiful plans for each one of us, we are just never sure what those plans are until we are the other side.

{Via}

I am still not sure how He will continue to use me with this passion. Whether it will change into a passion for something else completely or if He will continue to use me in small ways in this area. I have no idea what the Lord is doing to be honest. 

Something I would appreciate your prayer for, friends!

I had started writing here sharing thoughts on purity, waiting and loving the Lord. I still think these are totally relevant. I also feel at a crossroads of Him doing something bigger and moving forward, I just can't yet see what that is. So maybe there are big changes ahead for this little space as I pray, listen and hope to follow His leading.

In the meantime, I am resting in the assurance that God is good. 

He is gracious and loving. 

Understanding the longings of my heart even I can seem to understand 

(or explain). 

I am so thankful to sit in His presence when my poor husband is not sure how to help because I don't understand how this passion is still so present in my current life situation.

And my heavenly prince gets it. He understands what I'm feeling and probably smiles knowing what is on the other side of the crossroad. 

In the meantime I hope to continue encouraging you ladies, sweet friends. Even in all the rambling and brokenness from this girl. Thankyou for being gracious with me as I have not replied to emails or taken forever to do things. 

You show me Christ daily and I am so thankful. 

Much Love!

L

Girl Behind The Blog-iversary.

TheGirlBehindTheBlog-iversary Prompt

Time limit: Vlogs should be 2-3 minutes long

Introduce yourself and your blog

How many of these linkups have you participated in (and if this is your first one, GREAT!)

Whats something that's been on your heart lately or that you feel like sharing with us?

Link to the Mocha Club for more info :) 

Loneliness.

You know those times in life when we feel things just aren't going the way we want.
We feel left out of friendship circles,
we don't have the romantic relationship we desire and God seems silent.
We enter into this constant battle once again.
The battle of loneliness.


It plagues every single one of us.
From our single days when we are waiting on God to bring us that romantic relationship we are looking for.
The days of long distance relationships, where we miss that significant other so much it hurts.
The days of engagement where we feel as though our wedding day can't come fast enough
because then we won't have to do life alone anymore.
To the early days of marriage when life has completely changed,
the honeymoon is over and hubby goes back to work.
The days of being a mommy to small children,
where even though there is perhaps never quiet. It can still be oh so ever lonely.
Or even those days when our children grow up and leave the nest, the loneliness of an empty house.
It affects us all. Wherever we find ourselves. 


I definitely didn't set out this morning to share these thoughts, but as I was reading my devotional this morning, the Lord laid this topic on my heart.
No matter where we find ourselves, we battle loneliness.
It doesn't go away as our life circumstances change.
But God can really use these times of loneliness if we let Him.


Jesus often went away to seek His father.
To spend time alone with Him, being refreshed and ready to do what His father asked of Him (see Luke 5).
When we're alone with God, we hear His voice more clearly.
Moments of loneliness may in fact not be a bad thing.
They could be gifts from the Lord,
times when we are able to get away from the distractions of the world and seek him without hindrances.

'Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.'

{1 Peter 4:10-11}

Even when we are lonely, God calls us to serve others.
Everyday we encounter people who are hurting and need to hear of the Lord's love for them.
By serving others we even take our eyes of our own situation and instead focus on others. 
The best way to battle loneliness, serving. 


But its also important to remember that no matter where we find ourselves in life friends! Whether we have broken dreams or feel we don't have anyone to turn to in life. We have Him, who promises to meet all our emotional and social needs. He is dependable and will do exactly as He promises!
So as we change our attitude from looking inward and feeling sorry for ourselves, to being grateful we have time to spend with God and looking to reach out to others in need.....there we find the way to battle loneliness.

And honestly, I'm beginning to think life is all about those little moments where we struggle and grow. Not about the moments which we always long for.

{Image from google, edited by me}

I'm clinging to this beautiful truth today friends, would you like to join me? 

Much Love,

L

Life on God's Timing.

I am a list person.

I like to write things down so they won't be forgotten. 

I stay up late to list the things that need doing the next day. 

Then I have the immense satisfaction of being able to cross out tasks as I accomplish them.

It brings me great feelings of achievement.

I have even been known to add things done prior to writing my 'to-do' list, just so I can cross them off already. 

Yeah, I'm one of those. 

Whenever I have a 'day off' or 'day when I don't officially work' I like to write lists so I feel I accomplished something with my day.

The problem with my list days is that I find I'm pretty clingy when interruptions try and take away what I planned to do that day. 

See having the list usually leaves no room in my day for doing things on God's timing.

For seeing people and interactions through His eyes.

I'm all about trying to maximize my precious free-time to get as much done as possible during my 'day-off.' 

Sometimes I have even managed to be so into a task on my list, that I feel needs doing, that I have not answered my phone because I felt I was too busy. 

This kind of thinking has been leaving no time in my precious days to accomplish the Lord's plan for my day.

(Don't get me wrong, I totally think there is a time and place for my lists. A lot of time the tasks on them are honoring to the Lord. But I hold to my own plan of how my time should look too tightly.)

For instance, instead of feeling the bathroom had to be scrubbed from floor to ceiling because the mess was becoming embarrassing (or just driving me crazy), I could have done something more meaningful. I could have perhaps taken a call from a sweet friend who needed to talk about something and encouraged her in her walk with the Lord. 

There is nothing wrong with keeping a clean house, in fact I feel it is a very good thing.

But perhaps not to the point where that task is interfering with more important things.

Lately, I've been even more demotivated than when I started after a 'List day,' as I climb into bed exhausted from the number of tasks I tried to accomplish in my 'rest day.' I may have written five items on a list that morning and only accomplished two because life got in the way a little. 

a friend called to have lunch.

my parents called from across the world to say hi.

I received an urgent email that needed replying to.

I realized I forgot to pay the heat bill.

Then I was on my computer already so I checked my email.

Interruptions are a part of life.

I'm trying to learn that before we have kids too. Because as I have heard & learned from some experiences it will only get harder to try and get some things done.

As I was reading a section similar to this topic in Grace for the Good girl by Emily Freeman, I came across this:

'To accept the lovely, the messy, and the unexpected things in our days, knowing that God sees them and has an eternal perspective, is to say with confidence I receive your timing. I accept that you know so I don't have to. Even when it all goes wrong.'

I'm learning that in this rapid-paced, always-in-a-hurry culture that I have adopted some of its tendencies to feel the need to be on the go all the time. 

It's no wonder I feel tired a lot.

I'm (trying) to learn that it's honestly ok when (often what seems to me) like an essential task gets put off for a few days, like cleaning the bathroom.

I hope I will learn to have an eternal perspective someday where I will regularly take time out of the busyness of emails, social media and just lie in the grass staring at the stars praying. Knowing that this is a far better way to spend a free hour. 

Learn to do what matters most.

Time with the Lord matters most. 

Writing tomorrow's blog post is less important.

Relationships matter most.

A clean bathroom is less important.

Learn to see that sometimes good things get in the way of great things.

God's timing is a much better pace for my life.

Even if at first it feels weird & uncomfortable.

I hope someday I get to the place where I can wake up on a 'day off' and start the day without a schedule by saying 'Lord, show me what you want me to do today.'

Wouldn't that be an exciting adventure? Who knows where He might lead.

earrings: charlotte russe

dress: target

shoes: payless

Much Love,

A recovering List-addict

[Letters on the Power of Words: Part 4] The Heart of the Issue.

Dearest Little L,

I'm so glad you are at least reading these letters and continue to wish that you knew their content years beforehand. This is the last letter I will be writing to you girl on the topic of the power of words. You can find the others HERE, HERE & HERE.

I have probably saved the most important issue for this last one as it deals with the root of the issue around your words.

Ever been sitting having a conversation with someone and before you have a chance to think, you say something you wish you hadn't. That inappropriate comment which was just a thought in your head is suddenly out in the open. You've said something you didn't really mean and now you can't take it back. 

Ever been in the middle of an argument and in the heat of the moment you've said something you promised yourself you would never bring up again. You've said things in anger to try and hurt the person in front of you, whom you love dearly.  

Your speech reflects your heart about a topic, girl. As a person talks you can hear in their tone, actions, facial expressions and words how they truly feel about something or someone.

'When you examine your words, you'll discover your heart.'

~ C.J. Mahaney, Humility

While reading his book, Humility, it stuck with me the fact that destructive words tend to reveal pride within a person. Your words show how you feel towards an issue or person and reveal more than perhaps you would want revealed.
Do you tear someone down because you think you are better or wiser that them? Are you jealous of them for whatever reason? 


Edifying words show evidence that a person has been truly changed by the Gospel and has a deep relationship with Jesus.

'Only the humble are genuinely concerned about edifying and encouraging others.'

~ C.J. Mahaney 

What a challenging thought, right girl? The opposite of humility is pride. So if you aren't seeking to encourage others, which would be clear from your words....maybe its because your heart is full of pride or selfishness (self-focus). Are you seeking what others need because you are self-righteous? Do you genuinely want to help them or do you just want to be liked and needed by them? Do you consider yourself better than someone else?

Your words reveal a lot about your heart.

We may be able to hide behind a mask of doing all the right things in life like Emily Freeman talks about in her book, Grace for the Good girl. But our words can give us away.....Even if we never slip in front of others and our words are never spoken out loud, our thoughts can tell us a lot about ourselves.

In the near future Little L, you will do a study on Proverbs and the many times it mentions the connections between the tongue and the heart. 

What you learn will be so valuable.

'One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.'

~ Proverbs 17:20

'Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully. With their mouths they all speak cordially to their neighbors, but in their hearts they set traps for them.'

~ Jeremiah 9:8

'Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope...'

~ Acts 2:26  

Being careful with our words is so important and as these verses show, we can start change by examining our hearts. 

All is possible through Christ who gives us strength girl! 
You can't do it alone.


Much Love,

An Older L

[Letters on the Power of Words: Part 3] Appropriate Words.

Dear Younger Version of Myself,

I know you are probably beginning to feel like you've heard enough about the power of words HERE and HERE. But I really wish you had grasped all of this a while ago, it would have saved you a lot of drama with some friends. Plus it is all so important to relating to others, encouraging and truly loving others.

I mentioned before the use of appropriate words in a situation.

Imagine in the near future you are meeting up with a friend in starbucks.

You see her through the window, waiting for you, you walk in and give her a big hug 

(after all this is a girl you genuinely care for). 

After you both catch up a little and order your drinks (you may even surprise yourself and order an iced vanilla latte someday, hey these things happen). You sit down to have a heart-to-heart conversation, the type of conversation you love.

After she spills out one of the many situations in her life (just like all of us) she waits for your response.

Currently, I am sure you haven't thought much about what you would say, L. 

After all you probably just respond with whatever has come to your head while she has been talking or whatever seems most appropriate or like common sense.

Did you ever think that our words need to be appropriate in these situations.

I'll explain it more.

'Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.'

{Ephesians 4:29} 

What are these words which are to 'fit the occasion'??

After reading C.J. Mahaney's book Humility, I totally agree that in order to know how to encourage a friend we need to truly know them. Only when we are aware of where someone is at in life, what they struggle with will we be able to respond in a way that is appropriate for the occassion. 

We don't want to discourage someone who is feeling weak at this point in life, by preaching at them making them feel worse with themselves. Never feeling as though they will measure up. 

We don't want to financially offer to help someone when the real issue is that they are lazy and won't help themselves. We don't want to just nod and be silent when someone really needs to hear truth and possibly offer them correction (with lots of humility). 

Sometimes being silent is the best response also...

I sat with some girls I know recently. We had a great lunch together, laughing & just doing life. When one of the girls shared her heart about a relationship she had been struggling with. She asked advice about what we thought she should do. These were the early days of learning to pray before responding....I prayed for wisdom, but felt the Lord saying, be silent. So I offered to pray for her, but didn't give advice. 

...sometimes just listening is what we can offer someone. Sometimes listening is all that is needed. I am one of those people that often processes things by talking it out with someone. I find my thoughts to be clearer this way. Being the listener in this situation can be awkward though. In the lunch with the girls, I found myself feeling frustrated that the Lord had not given me amazing words of advice to share so she might be encouraged by my wisdom. I worried about what she would think of me if I failed to give such impressive advice. He did not give them to me, and impressed the need to remain silent on advice and offer to pray. This hurts when you value the opinion of others quite highly.

I am learning, this focus is all wrong.

I am learning how to seek to really know others, to want to know their heart and about their lives. To truly listen to things they tell me, and not spend a conversation thinking of what I want to say next. Because only when I learn to do this will I know how best to encourage them or what is appropriate to say when asked for input or advice. 

  

The words we give others may not always seem polite and they definitely won't always be flattery. As nice as words such as these are to give and receive, we should freely do so when a situation calls for them.

But there are situations where correction may be needed. 

Sometimes we are edifying another believer when we correct them.

'Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.'

{Galatians 6:1}

 Hear me correctly on this one though, L. You always need to have a teachable attitude yourself. This scripture does not give you license to correct by being rude or unloving. It is such a difficult thing to do well. 

I am not a fan of these situations, being in either position is just no fun. As much as I am not a fan of these, I feel perhaps it is something which is not done enough in the modern church. We aren't trained to speak correction well to others or to hear it well from others. 

We automatically call it 'unloving' when in fact that person might be doing the most loving thing they can. 

(C.J. Mahaney also mentions in 'Humility' how he never offers correction without mentioning our need for the cross & God's grace to give hope and encouragement in the situation.) 

There is a book you will read girl, called The Peacemaker by Ken Sande. You will discover it sitting on a bookcase in your living room once you are married. How I wish someone had given it to you years beforehand. Because the content is incredible! It is challenging but also wise advice on how to deal with conflict. You will find it so helpful in several situations coming up in your life. 

So remember L to be super careful with you words and try to learn your words need to be appropriate. I can't stress how important this is. Learn to care about how God is asking you to respond in a situation rather than worrying about what someone thinks of you. And remember that sometimes flattery can do more harm than saying nothing if said in the wrong place.

Much Love,

'An Older' L

[Letters on the Power of Words: Part 2] Venting.

 

Dear Younger Version of Myself,

In light of the content of the first part of this series on the power of words,

I wanted to take a moment to look at venting. 

(If you haven’t yet read part one about being an encourager with words....read it here.)

Venting is such a funny concept. 

I feel it is one that in the past I have used as an excuse for saying exactly what I what 

about a situation or a person, 

unfiltered and totally raw left open for the other person to process and interpret. 

I am beginning to feel the Lord changing my heart on this. 

Because the way I abused it in the past was far from how He would want me to use my words.

Speech is incredibly important, 

as I discussed in the last letter. 

And as much as we should seek to encourage others with our words, 

we do also get frustrated with things in life. 

So should we bottle this up and pretent it doesn’t exsist?

Over time the Lord has been revealing to me that the answer is No. 

He always longs to hear the things on my heart, 

to hear what I am struggling with.

He knows me better than anyone else, for He made me. 

He knows my thoughts already and still chooses to love me.

 Read that again slowly....crazy isn’t it!

'You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.'

(psalm 139:1-3)

How can we discern He wants to hear what is on our heart or what we are struggling with when He already knows those thoughts? We can discern this from verses which talk about His character and those which show His interest in us.

'For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth 

to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.'

(2 Chronicles 16:9)

By praying and sharing things with the Lord, 

we involve Him in what is occurring in our everyday life. 

We invite Him to become involved. 

Prayer changes us, not God. 

We need Him, not the other way around.

'God does not change. God is a perfect God, and does not need to change.'

(Malachi 3:6)

 

When we seek Him, He changes us. 

He changes our heart and therefore we are able to graciously love others and speak kind words about others. 

Even in hard situations. 

For a few years now (yes, I have struggled to learn this concept) the Lord has been impressing in my heart that He should be the first place I go when I am frustrated or hurt or just feel the need to vent.

Also to remember that feeling a need to vent is not ungodly.

Hurt and anger are not sinful emotions.

How we then act determines whether they have lead to sin or been used to refine our character.

‘For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven....... A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace.’

(Ecclesiastes 3:1,7-8)

While we are called to Him first, 

we are also commanded by the bible to live in community with others.

This involves being genuine, sharing struggles and areas of weakness. 

This is where I feel ‘venting’ comes in.

 But with it a caution to talk with the purpose of useful discussion of situations and not just complaining to other people. 

‘Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, 

you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently.

 But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 

 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.’ 

(Galatians 6:1-2)

‘Only as I depend on and trust in and fully disclose to the One who knows 

anyway will I be able to discern when I’m fine-ing someone who deserves genuine. 

We don’t have to tell everyone how we are doing.

 In fact, that would be a problem all by itself,

 trying to be intimate and vulnerable with everyone. 

But it is important that we tell someone. 

A lot of my own heartache and struggles with the fake fine mask could be overcome 

if I simple allowed myself to be honest with God and trust Him to lead me in being vulnerable with people.’

~Emily Freeman, Grace for the Good girl, p.56

Personally I totally agree it would be inappropriate, and not encouraging to others, 

if I told everyone I met when I have an issue with someone. 

When I am struggling...I feel it is totally appropriate to share what is going on with a few wise trusted friends so that we can avoid the pitfalls of pride in conflict. 

Pretending everything is fine can also give us a false sense of self-righteousness.....

we feel our side of a conflict is the correct side and don’t have anyone else to correct or show us otherwise if we never share our struggles. 

These few trusted individuals in my life have been carefully selected. 

There is no point in going to someone who will always tell me what I want to hear, 

as nice as that can be. 

The ladies currently in my life are precious!! 

They are totally invaluable at praying for me, 

correcting my attitude when necessary, encouraging me and pointing me to Jesus. 

A would also like to add that tone is important in this kind of conversation, 

as it shares whether you are complaining about someone or sharing struggles and situations for the purpose of prayer, encouragement or correction/advice. 

(You should listen to him L, he is often the one you turn to for these conversations)

I realise giving someone that kind of access to your feelings and heart is very scary. 

It has definitely meant I have had to share some ugly sin about myself with someone else. 

But it has also corrected my view of myself and weakened my pride, 

which although painful is good.

It also continues to show me that I am never without need of my Saviour.

My sin highlights my need for grace.

For that, I am thankful.

Much Love,

L

hairband: SweetnessItself
earrings: f21 (a few seasons ago)
top: Plato's Closet
Belt: Aeropostale
Jeans: Aeropostale
Earrings: Birthday gift
flip-flops: Payless Shoes
Bag: American Eagle Outfitters