Today I took a short trip back to my High School thoughts. So many times I sat alone or kept silent because I was afraid the other person wouldn't like me. What a selfish and immature thought!
My journey of faith, walking with Jesus through so many ups and downs over these last 40 some years, has changed my thoughts from "They might not like me," to "They might need a friend." It has been a long road and I have often snuggled back into my fear hoping it would protect me from being hurt. Alas, I found that I hurt myself and others so much more by that selfish fearful thought!
A good neighbor (Mr. Fred Rogers of TV fame) once said that the best thing you can give is your honest self. Being vulnerable is honest. Allowing myself to be a friend, giving all the good and not so good in me, is the best I have to give.
Father God, You ask Your children to be good neighbors. You also sent Your Son to teach us how to be an honest friend. Teach me and lead me each day to be open and free with giving myself to You first and then to others! Because You are good, I know that I will find good things in doing what I find so difficult to do. Thank You for giving me Your honest self every day!
1 comment:
Your blog this morning takes me back to another time too. To a sermon Joel gave, well not exactly a sermon more of a call to action, he began to list the ways in which we could serve. As he presented each one I thought “I want to do that,” I quickly figured out that I could not do everything, but I wanted to. Then he came to the one that I was reminded of by your posting, the one that causes my heart to leap within me. I knew it would be a task that would cause me to stretch and grow outside myself, one that only God could help me with. Liaison, a wonderful old French word [a connecting of the parts of a whole, intended to bring about proper co-ordination of activities; esp. intercommunication between groups Websters]
Joel described it this way, a liaison would be able to identify with each person, see through their eyes. I thought of how we all lose when only one side of the proverbial coin is seen. I might be afraid you will reject me and you might believe that I don’t care enough to reach out to you. I have always been surprised when people liked me, I could never see what they saw in me still don’t for that matter. Maybe that’s because I can only see one side of this particular coin. Perhaps Paul said it best “For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. I Cor. 13:12
connie
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