As we wrap up this blog weeks topic on WE ARE NOT ALONE, I just want to remind you all that there is never a time in this life that you are alone…NEVER! Although you may feel isolated in your circumstance He is ALWAYS near. It doesn’t matter what you have done or what you are being faced with…He is right beside, you and He is within you.
Sometimes He shows up as a complete stranger in a common area with a smile &/or kind word. Other times, it will be through your loved one who embraces you with a hug or a song playing on the radio. I’ve even experienced his touch through the eyes of our precious little dog, Pistach prior to his passing. And I have felt His presence in the stillness of a quite room.
My prayer for you all this week is for you to look around and notice Him in the smallest of things. Then, dig deep within your own heart and you will discover Him there. Before long you will find that He is surrounding you with grace and love.
Thank you all for being here this week. I hope that you have a wonderful weekend with those that you love and that you get some rest. Make it count, my friends! I’ll see you here on Monday! Take care!
Can you think of time when you have judged someone due to what they were wearing, saying, doing? Perhaps it was a stranger that you have never met and knew nothing about. Or, maybe it was a loved one that you see each & every day and know everything about . If we’re honest, it is likely that we have all done it at one time or another and more times than we care to admit.
With a daughter who is physically disabled due to neurotoxicity from a chemotherapy that she took in 2010, I can certainly attest to being judged when we are out and about, on occasion. Although our daughter,Morgan looks like a healthy individual from the outside, she has issues with mobility, speech, hand coordination, and she has been battling leukemia for a 2nd time since June 2018.
That said, at first glance, if she is not walking, talking or using her hands, someone who doesn’t know her and her story may not pick up on her disability. An example of this would be when she rides in a scooter at the grocery store due to her inability to walk long distances. Or when we were in Destin, Florida at the beginning of the summer and we loaded her up in a grocery cart, yes….a grocery cart each day to bring her to the beach. Let’s just say that we received a few stares & heard a few whispers from strangers who knew nothing about her story.
My point? How will we come to understand that we are truly not alone when we are faced with challenges, if we are fearful of being judged by the world who is constantly judging us . I mean, wouldn’t you agree that the reason we feel isolated in our situations and do not open up to others is because we are fearful of the opinions that they may form about us? It’s a vicious cycle.
My friends, I believe that in order for us to understand that we are not alone in whatever situation we find ourselves in, we must first refrain from judging others and instead love & accept them just as the Lord has done for each of us. This will allow space for them to be transparent, which will give others permission to do the same. The result will be authenticity amongst us all. I just know it!
So, can you think of a time when you felt alone and did not want to open up to others out of fear of what they may think? What did you do instead? If you are willing and able to share, I would love to hear from you. Perhaps we can all learn from your experience.
Thank you guys for being here tonight. I’ll meet you here again tomorrow as we wrap up the blog week. Take care!
Have you ever considered that the people we live with and come in contact with each day are a reflection of ourselves? At some point in our lives, we have all experienced pain, joy, judgement, loss, excitement, suffering, etc. . Although each of those things may have looked different from one person to the next, the fact remains that we have experienced them.
Take my husband, John and my daughter, Morgan above, for instance. As the majority of you already know, Morgan has been battling leukemia for a second time since June 2018. While Morgan has suffered physically and emotionally from her disease and the treatment associated with it, John has suffered emotionally from watching her walk through it. Another example would be joy. While Morgan enjoys spending time with her father, the man who has helped raise her, John enjoys time with his daughter, whom he helped raise.
So, what does all of this have to do with this blog weeks topic, WE ARE NOT ALONE? Well, it has everything to do with it. See, as we go through life and experience hardship, we generally don’t want to share it with others due to fear of judgement. But the truth is, we have all experienced it. Yes… it likely looks different for me than it does you, but it’s the same regardless.
As we begin to look at others as though we are looking at our own reflection, I think we will begin to notice that we are one in the same. The Word says, “God created man in his own image”. That means all of us, not a select few. Not only are we not alone , but we are in good company with others just like ourselves.
So has there been a time in your life when you have felt alone? Having experienced that, have you noticed when others isolate themselves? If so, what do you do to help them? I’d love to hear about your experience. Please message me below, if you feel led to do so.
Thank you guys for being here today. I’ll plan on visiting with you all tomorrow. Make it a great Tuesday night! Take care!
Good Monday morning, my friends! How’s everyone doing? Hopefully you are refreshed from your weekend and ready to get this new week started. I know I am. After attending the RISE conference with my oldest daughter last Thursday- Saturday, I am ready to take on the world. Well, maybe not the world, but I think you know where I am going with that. So, let’s get started!
Have you ever experienced something in your life and felt all alone in the process of it? You know like no one else has experienced that “thing” or felt like you did in that moment. I certainly have. The good news YOU ARE NOT ALONE…NONE OF US ARE. I am certain of this , because I witnessed it first hand at the conference during an exercise that we were asked to participate in.
During this particular exercise we were given a sheet of paper that had a list of 20+ I HAVE’s . Let me explain. They were things like… I have lost a partner, I have been physically abused, I have abused alcohol or drugs to cope. Our assignment was to check off all of the things that applied to us without identifying ourselves on the paper. Once completed we folded them up, placed them in boxes, volunteers picked them up and redistributed them around the room. Afterwards, our host asked that we stand if the ” I have” was checked on our neighbors form as she read them each out loud.
Tears filled the room as women all across the arena stood up for each other as each “I have” was read. The realization of how much pain and suffering we have all experienced was honestly overwhelming. Although I have come to understand that everyone has gone through something in their life, seeing it unfold amongst 7,500 women made it so real for me.
Perhaps you’ve never attended a large conference, can you think of a time when you have been surrounded by thousands of people. Maybe it was a major league baseball game, NFL football game, concert, etc. Can you imagine more than half of the attendees standing for an “I have” like I have considered taking my life? The truth is at least half of us at the conference stood up for a woman whose reality was such.
My point? WE ARE NOT ALONE. Although the enemy tries to convince us otherwise by making us feel isolated in our circumstances, there are many who have or who are experiencing the same things that we have. There is no shame &/or guilt to be had in this, my friends. Instead, we should find strength in it, which is exactly my goal for each of us this week. As we dive deeper into this topic and unpack truth, I pray that you will begin to understand that you are surrounded by others who have walked down similar paths as yourself and that you will find strength in this. Will you join me? I sure hope so!
The Faith Filled Traveler 