"Bare Your Scars. Share Your Story." ~ By Shelley Hendrix @ShelleyHendrix

Love mixed with faith be yours from God the Father and from the Master, 
Jesus Christ.  Pure grace and nothing but grace be with all who love our Master, Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 6:23-24 MSG

Not too long ago, while at the lake with my sister and our children, I had a moment I didn't anticipate.  As I watched my very pregnant younger sister play and interact with her four children while carrying baby #5 in her 8th month of pregnancy, her beauty took my breath away.  In fact, it was her "scars" ~ those marks left by motherhood ~ that made her look so beautiful to me.  I told Stephen about this later and said, "Why is it that I can see "scars" on another person and find them beautiful, but hate my own and wish they could be removed?" 

My family and I love it when we're able to vacation at the beach. (Sand and Sea Therapy, anyone?)  At the beach, you see a whole lotta' skin whether you want to or not.  While our society defines beauty as skin deep (young, perfect, without scars or wrinkles), I felt connection most with folks who looked like real, everyday people..,People like me.  I approached one older woman carrying her small dog, and because I love dogs, I struck up a conversation with her.  She was a bit of a mess, had unusual tattoos in unusual places, and looked a little strange how she was carrying her dog.  I found myself making a little crack about her in my head, when she said, "This dog helps me so much.  I was in a car accident and suffered brain damage.  I don't know what I would do without his help."  That confession changed my perception completely.  She shared a part of her story as I became aware of some of her scars. 

No matter how much of a story we know, we don't know the whole story. 

Your scars tell your story.  Who would be able to read a book containing only empty pages?  Even new, fresh, inexpensive journals become priceless possessions once they've been marked up a bit with our experiences and our thoughts and opinions.  And yet, our culture tells us ~ especially women ~ that our scars, wrinkles, stretch marks, and other signs of real life, make us less valuable or attractive.  Don't let culture dictate beauty for you.  Culture is a fickle judge anyways.  Your body was designed to reveal where life has happened, so bare your scars and share your story.  May God's love and pure grace give you the courage to be who you really are, to share your true self with others, and to be a safe, sacred place for others as well. 

•What scars do you tend to hide?

•How do you feel about your scars?

•How might a change of perception change your opinion about your own scars?

Bare your scars.  Share your story. 

***************************************************

This post was updated from a post previously shared at ShelleyHendrix.com 

Shelley Hendrix is the founder of Church 4 Chicks as well as Shelley Hendrix Ministries and the co-founder of a new ministry collaboration called Team Redeemed (a ministry to those whose lives have been impacted by infidelity). 

You can find Shelley's website, social media links and more at www.ShelleyHendrix.com but you'll typically find her sipping coffee, scrounging for chocolate, and petting her dog while hovered over her laptop. 

Jabez

Photo By Amelia Grace Photography 

Jabez

by Lori Kennedy

“Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain."  Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request.” (1 Chronicles 4:9, 10)

 

Historically, the prayer of Jabez has been equated with financial blessing.  However, there are some powerful “non” financial truths that apply to this prayer.  There are 149 verses of genealogy before and 261 verses afterward.  This prayer was hidden in scriptures.  It makes sense to ask why. 

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers.  During this time in history, people were recognized by their family genealogy.  The culture rules were that the conduct and honor of your family line directly indicated what was to be anticipated from your own conduct and honor.  If there were scoundrels in your past, then it was assumed you could not be trusted.  If you had heroes in your past, then you were automatically thought to be a hero. 

The name Jabez means I gave birth to him in pain.  Parents expressed their aspirations in their children’s names.  Names were significant in these times and in this culture.  A person was considered to be marked for life by their name.  It reflected their expected destiny.  It was customary to step into the role of your name and to play out the role you had been given.  Jabez did not want to live up to his name.  Instead, Jabez wanted a dynamic encounter with a great God that would change his life forever.  He wanted to break free from the dysfunction and circumstances and transform his future. 

First, Jabez asked for a blessing. James 1:17 (NIV) “Every good and perfect gift is from above.”  God WANTS to bless his children!  He then asked God to enlarge his territory.  Or for us, increase our sphere of influence.  Next Jabez asked that God keep his hand with him. This is a practical request not to step back into the dysfunction.  Jabez asked to be kept from harm.  In other words, may I trust You and follow You and not become dependant on myself, knowing all blessing is from you and not of myself.  Finally, Jabez asked to be free from pain.  This is powerful as this was his name and he was asking to be freed from his name and the destiny that man had assigned to him.  How many times in the bible was a person given a new name?  II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) states “For you are a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come.” 

Jabez had great faith.  God responds to Jabez’s faith and answers his prayer.  Jabez took the remarkable step to put faith in God to fulfill his destiny in a different way which was totally unacceptable in this time and culture.  Something about this average person touched the God of the Universe.  In a world where everyone becomes what was expected and lived out their predetermined path, Jabez had the courage to take a different road.  He was set apart because he was truly seeking God’s will for his life. 

I challenge you today to be a Jabez!  Get out of your dysfunction and into God’s will by overcoming and having the faith to fulfill His purpose and destiny for your life!

 

Friends

Graphics by Lori Kennedy

Friends

byLori Kennedy

“Don’t fool yourselves.  Bad friends will destroy you.”1 Corinthians 15:33(CEV) 

“Don't hang out with angry people; don't keep company with hotheads.  Bad temper is contagious— don't get infected.”Proverbs 22:24-25 (MSG) 

I remember hearing as I was growing up that my friends would influence me and that I would become like them, so I had better choose my friends wisely.  I don’t think I ever believed this for myself.  Now as a mother, I have seen the impact that my children’s friends have on their thought processes, their decision making, and literally their whole world view.  Although I wholeheartedly believe that my children’s friends are part of their life compass, as an adult and mother, I hadn’t really thought of how this concept might apply to me as well. 

I began to think back a few years in my life when I was working in the business world.  I was around the influence of many non-believers and half hearted believers daily.  I found it much more difficult to keep my relationship with the Lord on track.  My priorities were things like people pleasing, perfectionism and overachieving in an attempt to keep my boss happy and to keep up with my co-workers.  I found that many of those with whom I spent a lot of time with were emptying me out instead of filling me up.  I would leave encounters feeling overwhelmed, under equipped, and very spent. 

When I compare those daily interactions to those with my friends today, I find that my cup overflows as my friends encourage me and fill me up.  My relationship with the Lord is growing.  I know this has to do, at least on some level, with the love and support of my friends.  When I think of my friends, I think of a strong foundation, wise counsel, and love through all things.  1700’s English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge once wrote that friends are like sheltering trees.   

How are your friends shaping you?  How are you choosing your friends?  Do your friends hold you accountable?  Friends can either raise you up or bring you down; they can wear you out or fill you up.  It’s important for you to have friends that will hold you accountable to God’s Word and plan for your life.  Yes, YOUR friends, not just your children’s friends affect your thought processes, your decision making, and your whole world view. 

Here are some things God says about your friends in His Holy Word.  

·         Just as iron sharpens iron, friends sharpen the minds of each other. Proverbs 27:17 (CEV)

·         There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18:24 (NLT)

·         A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need. Proverbs 17:17 (NLT) 

My friends are instrumental in helping me overcome the shroud of shame that sometimes covers me.  They raise me up out of any pit I find myself entrenched in.  They pray with me; they share scripture with me; they laugh with me and cry with me too.  I challenge you today to do a mental check of your friends and make a specific effort to stick closest to the ones that want God’s plan for your life.  I also encourage you to intentionally be a sheltering tree for your friends; sowing seeds of hope and a message that God has a purpose for them into their lives.

Dog Daze

Photo by Amelia Grace Photography

  Dog Daze

by 

Lucille Zimmerman

“You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5 ESV

It was two a.m. and pulled a pillow over my head, trying to quiet the low-pitched cadence of the dog barking in my dream. I woke up and realized the bark was real. Lying still and concentrating, I tried to will the dog’s owner into bringing his pup indoors.

What’s wrong with people? Are they so oblivious that they let their dog stay out in the cold all night?

After several minutes, I realized the rude interruption was not going to stop. Sleep was out of the question, so I considered several possible scenarios: I could drive my car around the block and ring the neighbor’s doorbell. No. That would mean I’d have to get dressed and go out in the cold. I could call the sheriff’s department, but a barking dog is no way to burn my currency with the law; I’d save a call for something more important.

Coming up with no ideas, but getting further and further from a decent night’s sleep, I dragged my body into the bathroom and opened the window. From my upstairs bedroom I looked way down onto the neighbor’s back yard and hollered, “Shut up!”

There.

I glanced down to where the neighbor’s dog should have been, but didn’t see any movement. Nor did I see any porch lights flick on. The fog in my brain lifted and I recognized the bark. That was my dog’s bark. But my dog was sound asleep in her bed outside my room. Suddenly, the reality of my mistake entered my brain as I felt my thoughts screech out of judgment and into chagrin.

It was my dog downstairs looking out the sliding glass door and barking wildly at a cat or a fox. Her bark was so loud that even though she was indoors, all the neighbors could hear her. I put her in my son’s room where she wouldn’t be distracted by critters. Back in bed, I reflected on the lesson God had once again brought to mind. Before judging, first consider grace, for you might be the recipient of whatever you deliver.

Released from Captivity by Dawn Owens #WildAndFree

Released from Captivity

by Dawn Owens

Tears were welling up in my eyes as I sat in a circle with women I had never met before. It was my first time attending a small group at this church. I was completely overwhelmed by what the leader was sharing with us about God’s desire for us to be free.  Now, I have been a Christian for 10 years, following Christ faithfully, but I thought I had been “set free” from this specific matter on my heart years ago when I took a Beth Moore, “Breaking Free” Bible study.

Apparently not.

I fought back the tears until it was time to pray. We bowed our heads and our leader asked God to reveal to us a word that came to mind that God wanted to set us free from.  She named some off one by one. But her first word rested on me like a heavy yoke. 

“Shame.”

Tears fell heavily down my cheeks, there was nothing to hold them back now, not even my eyelids. As she ended her prayer and dismissed us, I quickly wiped the tears away, put my smile back on and said my good-byes, which were few since I knew no one but the leader. I just wanted to get to my own home and sit before the Lord to tell him what I wasn’t going to do.

I knew I had to deal with my past, but not now. Not this way and not with them.

I got to my kitchen table, where I meet with God to consume the Word regularly, to argue with Him. 

“I don’t know them and they don’t know me.” Was my first argument.

“I can’t tell them about that, what would they think of me?”

“I can deal with it on my own, no one else has to know.”

His words fell on me like cleansing rain that day.

“If you will deal with this with Me, others will also be set free.”

Then it hit me.  I probably wasn’t alone and more than likely there are others who also deal with the shame I do. God called me a long time ago to live authentically and with transparency.  I know that when I share my shortcomings and what God has done to overcome them others have received help and healing.

Isaiah 61:1 rang in my ears:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners

As I allow God to teach me about the areas of my life where I feel shame, God reminds me of the testimony I have of that journey; it is not mine to keep but His for me to share.

Bio:

Dawn Owens is a wife to Chris, mother to Sawyer and daughter of the Most High God.  As founder of The Link of Cullman County, Inc. Dawn spends her days fostering community to maximize their resources and transform lives through the love of Jesus Christ for the specific purpose of eliminating generational poverty, situational poverty and homelessness.  Dawn is an occasional (read should do it more, but don’t hold it against her) blogger at lifeincullman.wordpress.com. In her spare time, Dawn loves to read, chase her two year old and go on dates with her husband. Preferably not all at the same time.