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Thursday, February 2, 2012

I Need You

coffee conversation
Courtesy of Flickr: here

Somewhere along my walk through life I learned walls are safe. Walls protect from pain. Even so, is that safe?

Is it safe to keep people out?

Yes.

No.

Oh the conundrums of life.

Okay, maybe it's "safer" (at times) to keep people out, but is it beneficial?

When I look at my life, I see ways I have hurt myself by building walls of "safety" around my broken heart. Let's call it being cautious. I mean, I never set out to build walls. A fence was what I was aiming for. Fences provided privacy with a little safety. Nothing wrong with that, right? You know, a girl needs her privacy.

Wrong.

I'm not advocating holding your heart out for people to have their way with. There were times that it was best for my healing to place protective walls around my heart (in the same way you would wear a cast over a broken arm to allow it to heal). Proverbs 4:23 says to "guard {our} hearts". (Joy Eggerichs has an awesome video about "guarding your heart". I will post a link at the bottom of this post) And privacy is not a bad thing- nobody wants to see your dirty laundry flying everywhere. What I'm saying folks is we need each other, and that involves sharing our lives (within proper boundaries).

We need accountability. We need friendship. We need fellow sojourners.

So, the question is do we protect our hearts or share our hearts, and what does that have to do with community?

Ahem, my humble opinion says give people a chance- a chance to love you, to pray for you, to challenge you, and to encourage you. But forget what I think, let's go to a better source.

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work (Eph 4:16).

As the body of Christ, it stands to reason that we need each other.

Another. One of my favorites:

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:12).

To all my fellow cautious friends, will you be brave with me? It will require vulnerability. (oh that word) I think we will all be surprised how God will work through our openness. There is something special in sharing our "stories" with people. It's healing for both parties- the story teller and the listener. Some of best lessons I have learned in my life came through other people's stories. (I'm a sucker for a good story)

Put on wisdom and surround yourself with "safe" people (people you trust), but ultimately trust your heart to its creator.

Share your lives, ladies and gents, I need you!



In His Name,
Jennifer

As I promised, here is the link to Joy Eggerich's wise video on guarding your heart. (Please watch- it's amazing)

4 comments:

Courtney said...

Oh, indeed! Thank you so much for not only being vulnerable with me and entrusting your heart and story with me, but also being a refuge for my heart. You are incredible, my dear.

Jennifer said...

Thank you! You've always made opening "the fence" easy. I'm so grateful to you for being a safe place for my heart. You are the incredible one. Love you!

Unknown said...

Wonderful post! I can relate to every word you shared.

Jennifer said...

Thanks, Kristine! I struggle so much with this, but I'm starting to realize I'm not the only one, which is comforting. I was beginning to think I was crazy. :)