Years ago, I prayed to be transparent, authentic and bold. And I believe that God has answered my prayer, and is continuing to do a work in me to make me more of these things- and other things, besides.

I am thankful.

And broken.

The process of ripping off the masks and pretensions, is an excruciating process.  Letting go of "who I want to be" and "who the world says I should be" and "what I want everyone to believe" is not easy.

It's vulnerable.  And it's uncertain.

Yet it's amazingly beautiful. 

May you experience the beauty of letting go, - M
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To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. - Isaiah 61:3 

photo credit: https://www.cmalliance.org/​ 
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Everyone has a season of sadness; a time of grieving; a journey through darkness. Some of us travel through the valley of the shadow of death more than once in our lives.  

Then the light dawns.  The warm sun shines on us.  We breathe without reminding ourselves to.  We smile again- naturally, freely. We feel lighter, unencumbered.

We realize that while painful, the wilderness experience brought many gifts.  Wisdom. Strength. Enlightenment. Peace.

And now, it's time to be happy again.

Be blessed in all circumstances, my friends - M

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5: 3-5

There are times in life - seasons, if you will- where we must step back from people we have embraced in the past.  People who make decisions that hurt us or have the potential to hurt us.

Abuse. Drugs. Alcohol. Betrayal. Denial. Justification. Rationalization. Voluntary blindness to suffering caused.

Yes, even if those people happen to be children, parents, a spouse, family or friends- the very people we have been taught to embrace at all times, regardless of their behavior.  'Love the sinner; hate the sin' and all of that nonsense.

The truth is, embracing a person or concept or behavior that is harmful only serves to condone evil. And where evil is condoned, it grows.  

And all of our sacrificial embracing won't chase it away.

To be sure, that person, concept, or behavior has already stopped embracing us.  They are (or it is) holding on to something (or someone) else: an addiction, sin, habit and/or "side partner" that puts us second or third or tenth on the list of "important things in life" from their perspective. 

To continue embracing would be like trying to catch the wind. And tripping. And falling.

To continue embracing also means we are robbing them of a chance to learn and grow. They may actually need the sting of consequence for their ultimate good.

Yes, even more than they need an embrace.

Hold, accept, and support wisely my friends. And above all else, guard your heart, -M 

There is a season for everything under the sun... a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. Ecc. 3

Photo credit: This is poor journalism, but I don't remember where I found this beautiful artwork. The artist may not want to embrace the fact that I used it without proper credit, so if you find the source / link, please let me know!