It’s nice to see you…
After a conversation with two amazing ladies on our core team, I was boldly reminded of the courage that it takes and what can happen as a result. Have I mentioned how grateful I am for this team?!
Being vulnerable, can at times seem lost. Please know, I’m not talking about being whiny or living in state of non-clinical depression.
I will never ever forget a moment when I saw the power of it. It was beautiful. It was a room full of teenage girls and a few of us leaders. It was getting really late but we wanted to hear what the girls had to say. Everything stopped and shift happened when one young leader opened her mouth and confessed a deep struggle. Next thing I knew, it was 3am and the room was weeping. What had begun as a bunch of girls not wanting to say anything (that sentence doesn’t even make sense), turned into a move of God so powerful, it marked me forever. A few of us still reminisce about that night…it was 6 years ago. I can hardly believe what God has done since then. Eventually, we all got slap happy (we still laugh about that too) but first…vulnerable.
Was that moment easy? Nope! It all came about when one girl got real honest. It was as if the whole room was set free to say what was burning inside them. Author, Jon Acuff calls this “the gift of going second”. It’s true. It’s so very real that it is no wonder it doesn’t happen as often as it should…it’s uncomfortable, it’s ugly and it’s risky. It is our masks thrown away, the struggle or pain for all to see.
Then, something happens…
Someone else realizes that someone has gone before them, they are indeed not alone. Someone else gets the chance to be vulnerable. Someone else needs to know that they are not going crazy. Someone needs a safe place of confession. Someone needs to know that silence is not the answer. Someone….well, someone needs you. Someone needs Christ in you…
Silence is not the answer…there is a world out there, broken and in need.
I will never forget that room full of teenage girls and what I encountered that night. My prayer is that I never do…