Making Our Lives Available to OthersThat is why I write here. I believe that these God stories are not meant for my own encouragement alone but that they are meant to touch the lives of others. So I put them out here in an effort to encourage and hopefully not to be committed. ha! God is brilliant! He is Good! He is here! He desperately wants us to take the time to hear Him. When we do, our lives will inevitably be changed. Seriously, how could we not come away from an encounter with the Most High God unchanged?
One of the arguments we often use for not writing is this: "I have nothing original to say. Whatever I might say, someone else has already said it, and better than I will ever be able to." This, however, is not a good argument for not writing. Each human person is unique and original, and nobody has lived what we have lived. Furthermore, what we have lived, we have lived not just for ourselves but for others as well. Writing can be a very creative and invigorating way to make our lives available to ourselves and to others.
We have to trust that our stories deserve to be told. We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them.
There you have it. Last night I encountered Him again in a powerful way at Soaking. I had asked God earlier in the day to show me a picture of each person that would be there last night. We were all women, which sometimes happens but mostly we have a token male or two or three. There were 13 of us. He showed me very clearly a picture of a flower for each one, along with a description of what that flower signified. It was amazing. I saw each of these: roses, iris, grape hyacinth, lilac, gladiola, calla lily, daisy, lavender, bleeding heart, orange blossoms, Easter lily and snapdragon.
I distinctly saw a different flower for each woman there. And then I kept envisioning this snapdragon. I told God that was it, that we had one for each person there and He told me this one was for me. I love that. Did you ever play with snapdragons when you were a kid? I did. I loved to squeeze the sides and make them open up. That is what God has done for me. He has gently squeezed me and opened me up. Typing that just then made it even more alive, more real, more awe-invoking. I literally tremble when I think of Who God is and what He can do for each of us and in each of us if we only surrender and believe He is good.
Don't be afraid, go ahead, open up.
3 comments:
Thank you for the reminder to just write. Often I don't write (whether on my blog, in my baby's journal or in my own journal) because I don't think I have anything significant to write about. (Case in point, I wrote in my journal last night for the first time in about eight months!) But, I need to just write so my insight on my current world can be shared with others, as you do with us.
Nouwen's quote is so encouraging, as is this post, Candy. Thank you for sharing your stories with us; we learn from you. I will try to challenge myself to remain open--it is what I want to do, but there are certainly times I feel like closing up.
I love it-I love everything you write and share-it is always inspiring and encouraging :) God has given you a gift.
I have often thought the same thing-who in the world would want to read what I have to say? ;) But, it is true-there may be similarities on our journeys, but they are still unique because each one of us is unique. I will have so much running through my mind during the day I want to share on my blog, and then once I sit down-it often disappears!
I especially like it when he said "We may discover that the better we tell our stories the better we will want to live them"...so much truth in that!!
Thank you for sharing-love you, friend! :)
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