REFLECTING WITHOUT REGRESSING
Within the confines of my thirty two years on planet Earth I have had most likely many more experiences, good and bad, than most people my age. Some memories are due to my disability…some are related to very unwise and even dangerous decisions. Looking back on my life evokes both immense pride and unbearable shame. For the sake of my mental health and peace of mind, I shall choose here and now to reflect on only the good memories and good decisions. Ever since I was a little girl I have been taught to be kind and to help others. It was engrained in me at a very young age. As a result, I am most content when I am speaking out on behalf of the less fortunate and …show more content…
It was a life changing bond that helped me discover one of God’s reasons for creating me: I was put on this
Earth to love, help, minister to and encourage other women who have been treated so poorly by the world that they have lost grip of who they are, or that they are even their own person. Too many women are demeaning themselves down so far just to please men that they feel as if they no longer have an identity. Because I have been there and done that, although my most painful memory involves floundering about this way and that, desperately wondering when someone would love me enough to make me human in my own eyes. Now that I think of it I think my favorite reflection if my past was the day I learned to rest my identity in Jesus. I knew that day that I would never again yearn for approval of men…because I had chosen to accept the love of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I of course cannot say that that principle has never waivered with in me, or that I have never again yearned for a human male to tell me I am beautiful, but because God brought that one hurting friend into my life, as I began to preach dignity to her I realized I was also preaching it to myself. I became undone. I have never been the same. I do …show more content…
Unfortunately over the years she and I lost touch, but I pray for and think of her often. I loved her very much so investing in her came naturally. It was painful at first to reflect on things she shared with me about why she did not love herself. But once she began to see herself like Jesus does, every tear, every frustration, everything was suddenly so very worth it. Reflecting on my past I did a lot of damage to myself and a lot of people I love. But I know Jesus says to forget what lies behind and continue on…so I am.
Reflection is the only thing that inspires me to be thankful I am not who I was and helps me remember that God has given me the gift of using my past to minister to other women in that same trap. And it fills me with joy
Within the confines of my thirty two years on planet Earth I have had most likely many more experiences, good and bad, than most people my age. Some memories are due to my disability…some are related to very unwise and even dangerous decisions. Looking back on my life evokes both immense pride and unbearable shame. For the sake of my mental health and peace of mind, I shall choose here and now to reflect on only the good memories and good decisions. Ever since I was a little girl I have been taught to be kind and to help others. It was engrained in me at a very young age. As a result, I am most content when I am speaking out on behalf of the less fortunate and …show more content…
It was a life changing bond that helped me discover one of God’s reasons for creating me: I was put on this
Earth to love, help, minister to and encourage other women who have been treated so poorly by the world that they have lost grip of who they are, or that they are even their own person. Too many women are demeaning themselves down so far just to please men that they feel as if they no longer have an identity. Because I have been there and done that, although my most painful memory involves floundering about this way and that, desperately wondering when someone would love me enough to make me human in my own eyes. Now that I think of it I think my favorite reflection if my past was the day I learned to rest my identity in Jesus. I knew that day that I would never again yearn for approval of men…because I had chosen to accept the love of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. I of course cannot say that that principle has never waivered with in me, or that I have never again yearned for a human male to tell me I am beautiful, but because God brought that one hurting friend into my life, as I began to preach dignity to her I realized I was also preaching it to myself. I became undone. I have never been the same. I do …show more content…
Unfortunately over the years she and I lost touch, but I pray for and think of her often. I loved her very much so investing in her came naturally. It was painful at first to reflect on things she shared with me about why she did not love herself. But once she began to see herself like Jesus does, every tear, every frustration, everything was suddenly so very worth it. Reflecting on my past I did a lot of damage to myself and a lot of people I love. But I know Jesus says to forget what lies behind and continue on…so I am.
Reflection is the only thing that inspires me to be thankful I am not who I was and helps me remember that God has given me the gift of using my past to minister to other women in that same trap. And it fills me with joy