Day 6: Belong #write31days2018

Ever since I was a little girl, I have struggled with finding where I belong. It’s not that I didn’t have a loving family or good friends. But I have always felt like I was a little different and didn’t quite belong to my peer group. Even as an adult l struggle to find a place where I feel like I am really more than just a curious outsider that the “in crowd” tolerates having around. 

The difference is that now I know that I am not alone in feeling this way. Especially in this age of online comparison in which people see carefully curated images of others’ lives, I know that many moms like myself feel like they are missing in-person community to which they can really belong and be truly themselves.

So this month I finally decided to do something that is way out of my comfort zone. I am starting a little book study group of homeschooling mom to study through some of Charlotte Mason’s 20 Principles together.

I am hoping that this group will become more than just a book club, that it will become a little tribe of likeminded women who belong together, who support each other and lift each other up when we fall. I want this to be a welcome place for other moms to be honest with each other and to encourage one another, because we all need to belong somewhere.

This post is part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and Write 31 Days blogging challenges. Find all my posts in this series under the tag “write31days2018.”

Day 5: Share #write31days2018

When I first saw today’s prompt of “share” I thought I would go in the obvious direction of community, friendship, etc. Thus the photo I chose to today’s graphic. But this morning my devotional contemplations led me in a different vein of thought, so here goes nothing! Timer on…

This morning my devotional meditation was about feeling pain but not acting out of pain. As I meditated on that idea, I was also thinking about why we are supposed to feel pain and suffering. The Bible says that we are to share Christ’s sufferings so that we may rejoice all the more when His glory is revealed.

But if I am honest, I don’t like suffering. I run from pain. I try to numb it. Don’t we all shy away from that which causes us discomfort? Of course. But are we really supposed to? Or are we supposed to let the pain and hurt of living in this fallen world point us to something greater?

Sharing in Christ’s suffering allows me to understand his sacrifice more deeply. It allows me to empathize with the pain of those hurting around me in the world. It allows me to see the deeper cause of my discomfort, the sin hidden deep within, if I will let it.

Pain has a purpose. If I run from it or try to soothe it with a temporary fix, I only delay the healing. But if I lean into Christ, sharing His grief for a hurting, sin-sick world, then I can also experience His healing more deeply. Then I can rejoice all the more when the final healing and restoration come, when His glory is fully revealed! Hallelujah!

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:13

This post is part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and Write 31 Days blogging challenges. Find all my posts in this series under the tag “write31days2018.”

I am also linking up with the Five Minute Friday community today. To read more posts by bloggers on this prompt “share” visit the link-up.

Day 3: Believe #write31days2018

Something I’ve been contemplating lately is how I live out what I believe in specific areas of my life. I have particularly been considering how my identity in Christ shapes my behavior.

If I believe, truly deep down, not just on a cerebral level, that I am a Daughter of the King of Kings, I will behave differently than if I believe I am still an orphan without a home.

If I believe that I am redeemed and saved by grace, I will stop striving to achieve and earn God’s love, living instead in the rest and peace of being fully His, even as I am fully known.

If I believe that my home is heaven and that my life on earth is short, I will be more intentional about how I spend my time and steward my temporary resources.

If I believe that my children are a gift and blessing, I will be glad to serve and train them up in the Lord, rather than often wishing they would not be such a “burden.”

My beliefs cannot remain only head knowledge. They must be fully rooted in my heart. They must make a difference in how I think, feel, act and speak. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may believe more fully and walk in the Light of Truth. Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!

P.S.–If you are a regular reader wondering what happened to the Wellness Wednesday Link-up this week, I am taking a break from hosting it for this month due to the Write 31 Days challenge. Wellness Wednesdays will resume again in November!

This post is part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and Write 31 Days blogging challenges. Find all my posts in this series under the tag “write31days2018.”

Day 2: Afraid #write31days2018

Maybe it sounds strange to some, but when I think of trying to build community locally, I am afraid about a lot of things. I am afraid I won’t know what to say when I first meet someone (which is actually true…I’m notoriously horrible at making small talk and asking questions!) I am afraid people won’t like me once they really get to know me. I am afraid I won’t be able to keep up the energy required to sustain friendship. I am afraid our kids or our husbands won’t like each other. I’m afraid I will be judged for the choices I have made.

You get the idea…

Even though I have these fears, I can’t let them stop me from trying. In this age of digital everything where even “friendship” takes place in a virtual online reality, I must take the steps to try and forge real life community. I need flesh and blood friends, women who will sit with me over a cup of steaming hot tea and look into my eyes and ask me how I’m really doing. And I want to be able to do the same for them. We need each other. We were meant for real, messy, human relationships. 

Am I still afraid? Yes, but I have to take that next step and reach out. Because I know I’m not the only one who has these fears. And I know that in the end, it will be worth it.

This post is part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and Write 31 Days blogging challenges. Find all my posts in this series under the tag “write31days2018.”

Day 1: Story #write31days2018

Why do we as humans feel compelled to tell our story? What is it about story that makes us come alive? What is so powerful about hearing the stories of others?

I think it is because we are people of story created by a God of story. The God who created us is the same God who gave us His story in the form of Scripture. He has been telling the story of His love, grace and salvation from day one. And we, as being created in His image, also need to tell our stories, and His.

As a Christian, the Biblical account is more than a child’s story or fairytale. It is the very truth upon which I base my life. And yet, the Lord, in His creativity and glory gave us a book that is not just a collection of laws or dry facts and figures. He gave us a terrible tale of treason, and a romance of redemption. He is a master of the the craft, and as such, His epic poem is the most glorious that has ever been written.

And I am part of that story. So I must tell it!

This post is part of the 31 Days of Five Minute Free Writes and Write 31 Days blogging challenges. Find all my posts in this series under the tag “write31days2018.”