celebrate the beauty around you
I want to sort of add a PS to the post my friends helped me write last night.
One of the things that was so incredibly beautiful about that post was the fact that we took some time to build each other up. We wrote words that the others needed desperately to hear. They were words of life, hope and encouragement. They were words that we should probably say to one another more and words that each of us find hard to believe.
As I worked today and watched my clients interact with each other, my mind drifted back to those words. There were two things that jumped out to me as I pondered this.
The first is this:
Whether I am jumping in between two people fighting, or listening to a client pour out how much another client or even staff hate them. It may be sitting two clients down to hear both sides of the story or salming someone down before they can escalate and approach their intended target.
A common thread in almost every conflict is that someone is assuming they know how someone else is feeling.
What I have learned to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt is that even is someone can relate, or has similar circumstances in their life, it is virtually impossible to know what is going on in someone elses heart. We are all different. We react differently, think differently, feel differenly about things. It doesn't matter how well you know a person, there may be deep aches in their heart that you know nothing about.
One of the cries of my heart after our little exercise yesterday is to see women speak words of life to one another on a regular basis.
I have struggled a lot through all one my youth and adult life with jealousy because I felt I didn't measure up. I made assumptions about people who were cool and stylish and wrote them off without a thought. I judged them becasyse I assumed I knew who they were and what they were feeling.
I mentioned yesterday that I was immediately intimidated by Michelle because she was so beautiful and seemed so put together. I knew nothing about her and without realizing it I could have almost closed the door on a friendship I will cherish my entire life.
We have to let go of assumptions.
Something the Lord has been working on me about so much in the last little while is praying that I will have His eyes to see people. I want to stop filtering my vision of people through the Linda lense and see as my Father sees.
This means letting go of my assumptions and preconcieved notions of people and digging deep until I know their heart.
This means trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to lead me in how to love, serve and encourage people when they wont let me see into their heart.
The second thing that I have been thinking since last night goes hand in hand with what I just said.
It's this:
Two weeks ago when I was in Chicago Laura and Michelle were laughing at me because I kept pointing people out and saying, "I celebrate her beauty because of...." and stated a reason some stranger was beautiful. I was doing this because I have held back at celebrating other people because of my own insecurities.
Comparison is the enemy of JOY!
Just because Michelle has beautiful huge eyes does not mean that mine are not beautiful in their own right. Just because Laura has great hair doesnt mean mine isn't healthy and shiny. Just because Emily has and incredible smile doesn't mean that my smile is incapable of cheering someone up.
We have to stop this.
Stop the assumptions.
Stop the insecurity.
We have to stop and start to celebrate.
Celebrate the beauty around us and as we do speak the words of lfe to people that they desperately need to hear.
You never know what those words will mean to someone who may look fine on the outside but is broken to their core.
If we have to assume, lets assume that everyone feels as insecure and in need of encouragement as we are and then blow their minds as we celebrate their beauty with genuine, overflowing hearts!
One of the things that was so incredibly beautiful about that post was the fact that we took some time to build each other up. We wrote words that the others needed desperately to hear. They were words of life, hope and encouragement. They were words that we should probably say to one another more and words that each of us find hard to believe.
As I worked today and watched my clients interact with each other, my mind drifted back to those words. There were two things that jumped out to me as I pondered this.
The first is this:
We HAVE to stop assuming we know what is really going on with people.Something that I find myself doing a lot at my job is assuming the role of peacemaker.
Whether I am jumping in between two people fighting, or listening to a client pour out how much another client or even staff hate them. It may be sitting two clients down to hear both sides of the story or salming someone down before they can escalate and approach their intended target.
A common thread in almost every conflict is that someone is assuming they know how someone else is feeling.
What I have learned to be true beyond a shadow of a doubt is that even is someone can relate, or has similar circumstances in their life, it is virtually impossible to know what is going on in someone elses heart. We are all different. We react differently, think differently, feel differenly about things. It doesn't matter how well you know a person, there may be deep aches in their heart that you know nothing about.
One of the cries of my heart after our little exercise yesterday is to see women speak words of life to one another on a regular basis.
I have struggled a lot through all one my youth and adult life with jealousy because I felt I didn't measure up. I made assumptions about people who were cool and stylish and wrote them off without a thought. I judged them becasyse I assumed I knew who they were and what they were feeling.
I mentioned yesterday that I was immediately intimidated by Michelle because she was so beautiful and seemed so put together. I knew nothing about her and without realizing it I could have almost closed the door on a friendship I will cherish my entire life.
We have to let go of assumptions.
Something the Lord has been working on me about so much in the last little while is praying that I will have His eyes to see people. I want to stop filtering my vision of people through the Linda lense and see as my Father sees.
This means letting go of my assumptions and preconcieved notions of people and digging deep until I know their heart.
This means trusting the power of the Holy Spirit to lead me in how to love, serve and encourage people when they wont let me see into their heart.
The second thing that I have been thinking since last night goes hand in hand with what I just said.
It's this:
We need to be quicker to pour love out on others no matter who we think they are and what we think their story is.As society but specifically as women we have to stop letting our assumptions and insecurities stop us from really encouraging and speaking life to the people around us.
Two weeks ago when I was in Chicago Laura and Michelle were laughing at me because I kept pointing people out and saying, "I celebrate her beauty because of...." and stated a reason some stranger was beautiful. I was doing this because I have held back at celebrating other people because of my own insecurities.
Comparison is the enemy of JOY!
Just because Michelle has beautiful huge eyes does not mean that mine are not beautiful in their own right. Just because Laura has great hair doesnt mean mine isn't healthy and shiny. Just because Emily has and incredible smile doesn't mean that my smile is incapable of cheering someone up.
We have to stop this.
Stop the assumptions.
Stop the insecurity.
We have to stop and start to celebrate.
Celebrate the beauty around us and as we do speak the words of lfe to people that they desperately need to hear.
You never know what those words will mean to someone who may look fine on the outside but is broken to their core.
If we have to assume, lets assume that everyone feels as insecure and in need of encouragement as we are and then blow their minds as we celebrate their beauty with genuine, overflowing hearts!
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