It’s World Adoption Day, and although I haven’t yet been able to adopt as a parent, I was adopted as a child. So today is a happy day for me.
I’ve written a blog before telling my whole adoption story, so that’s not what this is about.
This is just a quick thank you to the parents that have chosen to adopt.
When this silly little blog of mine lead a friend to ask me to speak at her church’s women’s conference nearly 11 months ago, I decided to say yes because it was so far away it almost felt more like an idea than a plan. Well that day came and went this past weekend and sure enough, I spoke at my first woman’s conference on the subject of Embracing the Awkward.
so when I was coughing like a chain smoker and barely had a voice just a few days before the event I wondered if this wasn’t a complete mistake. And not even because of the bronchitis – but because even if my physical voice did come back I wasn’t sure I had much of anything to say.
The last few months have been peculiar for me.
It’s almost as if someone else’s mind has been implanted in your skull. Most of my life I’ve been the girl who loves hanging out in groups, being the center of attention and meeting new people…but for many weeks now that hasn’t been my desire at all.
To be honest, for the last few months I’ve caught myself avoiding eye contact with people so I don’t have to small talk, dreading being around friends who may expect my usual outgoing personality, and not even considering blogging because nothing seemed pressing enough to write about it. I just haven’t had the energy. And insecurity has been screaming in my head, telling me just how worthless and embarrassing it is when I open that dumb mouth of mine. Have you ever been there?
My body didn’t necessarily feel all that horrible, I was just tired and couldn’t use my voice without an embarrassing coughing fit. And lately, I haven’t been able to pinpoint anything insanely wrong spiritually, but I’ve been tired and using my voice has felt embarrassing for some reason.
But God knew it would be.
As I began speaking to the women who gathered to hear what it meant to “Embrace the Awkward” I was reminded what embracing the awkward was really all about. It’s about going towards what is uncomfortable, not away from it. It’s about feeling the fear, and doing it anyways. It’s about choosing to walk towards the truth that our identity in Christ is untouched, even when our hearts don’t quite believe it.
And it was so much easier to talk about the concept when I was doing it myself.
Not only did the Lord miraculously allow my physical voice to get stronger as I spoke Saturday but all of the sudden I found the voice I’ve been missing for months before bronchitis. The voice that speaks confidently because she knows she is awkward and that’s okay. The voice that knows she is fully loved. Fully accepted. Fully beautiful to Him.
And today I find myself thankful. Thankful for a Father that calls us to the things we want to run away from. Thankful that He doesn’t wait for us to get to the other side of those dark alleys, but holds our hands through them. Thankful that He uses our weaknesses to show His strength. Thankful for the reminder that He is the only reason I have a voice at all, and my voice matters. My story matters.
God is good. How awesome is it that I went to speak about the freedom embracing the awkward can bring and I left yesterday feeling more free than I have in months? Today at church, I was excited to talk to friends, introduce myself to someone new and even raise my hands in worship as I sang at the top of my lungs.
For the women who listed to my session, thank you for enduring through my awkward. Here are the slides I promised I would provide. Subscribe here for the workbook- The Secret to Embracing the Awkward. I’m praying for you this week, that you would begin the amazing, scary journey of walking towards your awkward.
My entire life abortion has been a topic I’ve worked hard to avoid. Because my entire life abortions have happened, people have argued, and abortions just keep happening.
I distinctly remember being in debate class my junior year of high school when the topic of abortion was announced. I sat and listened as the “right wing” and “left wing” of the classroom yelled back and forth about women’s rights and the definition of life.
Usually a very outspoken member of the class, I didn’t say one word that day. I put my head down to join the “sleepers” in the classroom, giving me an automatic zero.
Today marks Part 3 of our series centered on pornography and how it affects women, particularly in the church (go here for Part 1, here for Part 2). I want to make it clear that my dear husband is fighting the good fight and is finding victory in this area. I also want to make it clear that I’m not writing anything that has not been approved, and even encouraged by him. We both agree there seems to be a lack of understanding and help for women that are affected by pornography and we hope that together we can begin talking about the issues of porn and lust in a way that isn’t often talked about. Our prayer is that it begins conversations that need to be had and offers help to women who feel like they are barely hanging on
I’ll never forget that horrific line I read in that popular, Christian marriage book that Brandon and I were told to read during our pre-marital counseling. It went something like this,
”The wife lacking in spontaneity may unknowingly be driving her husband into the arms of another woman.”
Ugh. What bull.
It has taken a long time to reverse the damage that one line made on my heart during those fragile months of engagement. I read that line over and over again, internalizing the idea that if I was not “enough” for my husband sexually then I would lead him to an affair.
Don’t get me wrong, that book had a lot of great points. And the author was trying to show wives the importance of loving their husbands physically, but the notion that a woman is ever responsible for her husband staying faithful to her is a lie from the pit of hell.
This blog was not an original part of the series I had in mind, but after hearing from so many women via private messages or emails, I decided we couldn’t have this series without making this one truth clear for a wife struggling with a husband’s lust issue. So let’s go on and throw it out there.
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