The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3: 21-23
Thankful for second chances.
Somehow the snow day seemed fitting.
You see, the previous day I had experienced a series of humbling events...
On that particular Thursday, I somehow had managed to delete 2 1/2 years worth of photos from my Macbook (amazingly, a friend was able to retrieve them). Not too long after that, as I was still recovering from the whirlwind that had sent me into, I bumped and cracked my back fender of my car. A couple of hours after that I wiped out on the ice.
I was in rough shape. The fact that I have a tendency in moments like that to overreact and blow things out of proportion sure didn't help. Did I mention that Steve was out during all of this? I was at risk for a serious meltdown.
That night, I had to talk myself through, what Brene Brown, in her latest book Daring Greatly calls "shame resilience".
On page 80 of that book, she talks about three steps to moving through feelings of shame. She tells her readers to trust the process. I chose to practice those three steps that evening and into the next day.
1 Be courageous and reach out to someone. Share your experience "with someone who has earned the right to hear it - with someone who loves us, no despite our vulnerabilities, but because of them".
2. Practice self compassion. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to a friend in the same situation - with love and respect.
3. Own your part in all of it. "If you own this story you get to write the ending".
Today it's Monday and once again I'm resting in the mercies of a new morning.
Fridays snow storm was shouting out to me of mercy, of fresh beginnings, second chances and a clean state.
In my brokenness, it covered me. Covered me with grace.
At Vision Night last night, the band led us in a song called 10 000 Reasons . It followed with a time where people could get up and share why they were thanking God in their particular season of life. I'm kicking myself for not getting up there last night. What I wanted to say was that I am thanking God because his mercies are new every morning. Because he is faithful. My new little nephew, born Thursday is fresh evidence of such goodness, beauty and grace. Precious. This weekend I have experienced and received God's mercy through people, especially my husband. Because of that, I am grateful, humbled and restored.
