Wednesday, July 11, 2012

The day you became Great

Yesterday  I heard my own voice saying, "You'll never amount to anything," and I thought, would you say that to your friend?  Of course I wouldn't. So I gave myself the challenge of writing a letter to myself, as if I were writing it to a friend. Sometimes, you have to practice speaking kindly to yourself...

I'm sharing this, in case you need to hear it, in case you need to be reminded of how wonderful you already are!
_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Friend,

I know you’re scared. I can feel the trembling in your words, the anxiety hovering between syllables. You’re scared that you’ll never accomplish anything or be proud of yourself.

You’re afraid you’ll never be anything “Great”.
I understand, but at the same time, I can’t believe you don’t already know.

You became great the day you said good-bye, stood strong as they left your heart beating a little slower. You watched them go, a melting mess of salty tears and tired skin, and refused to crumble.

And after, when Grief and Emptiness pounded at your doors, held their hands up to the windows in offering –you shook your head and covered your ears, fought their friendship even as your felt alone.

You became great when you accepted your identity as a beautiful child of God, instead of defining yourself by the scars that littered your life. You scrubbed the lies off of your heart and clothed yourself in Truth: “you are treasured, you are loved, you are Enough.”

Or what about when you finally gave your dreams up to God? You, so full of control, for once trusted someone other than yourself. Remember the awesomeness of seeing what He could do when you just let go??

You became great when you realized it’s not about the amount of perfection you can offer, but rather, about the gift of grace God extends to you. You learned to breathe without guilt and shame again. What a wonderful thing…

Everyday, I watch you take a step forward instead of staying still. No matter how slow the progress, you have changed, grown, and matured. And I am so proud.

You, my friend, are already something “Great”.
It’s only a matter of opening your eyes and seeing it.



3 comments: