Today was no different. I loved the words she connected with the prompt, so take time to visit her today to read her thoughts regarding the community writing prompt this week @www.lisajobaker.com.
Today's Word is: MESS
GO:
MESS… it is a four-letter word. Just the thought of that prhase brings to mind a feeling of anxiety. You know you begin to think of other 4- letter words that make you squirm. Yesterday, it was OREO. Oh.. but those delectable little creations were not a blessing to me yesterday. They aptly fit the phrase, ” you can’t have just one.”
I am reminded that I am often apologizing, repeatedly, for my MESS. When a visitor comes to the house, sometimes I fail to really great them with a ” Hello, I am glad you are here!”, but instead I say, ” Oh, Hi! Sorry about the mess!”
The fact is that my mess is connected to another four letter word… LIFE. I try live life as it is, fully and completely, sometimes leaving a bit of MESS trailing behind.
The image of mess usually creates a bad feeling in my stomach, but as I connect the word with the hope of LIFE I am starting to see it a bit differently, and here is why. My MESS opens the door for me to be real and transparent with someone else who may be afraid to share their MESS for fear of judgment and rejection.
Sometimes when my life looks perfect, which has never been the case, at least on this side of the finish line, or I look like I have it all together, ( also the same viewpoint), I become unapproachable. It isn’t the fact that the MESS is a good thing, but it makes it so much easier to be real and to be true when others are in need of grace.
My ability to be real in my MESS, to be human and to be faulty, affords the transparency for GRACE to dwell and for Life to bend towards Life. It opens the door to the only hope for the MESSes in our lives by creating the atmosphere for another four-letter word to bloom… LOVE.
LOVE is at the root of HOPE, yes, another 4-letter word, that leads us to the final,yet most important word, CROSS.
It is here at the CROSS, where my MESS, can be laid …abandonded to GRACE and embracing HOPE so that LOVE is met and LIFE is changed eternally.
I have never been more thankful for my MESS.
STOP.
Praying for God to enlarge your opportunities to
share grace, love, hope, and the Cross
in your Messy Moments today!
~Blessings,
Linking up with Lisa Jo at FiveMinuteFriday.
*All content is the work of Dawn Boyer unless otherwise noted. You may share images as long as you link back to my website and attach my name to the photo credit, please. Thanks so much!
What a great post.
The same feelings resonate with me.
What is our need for perfection, really at its most real root, other than to steal ourselves in a tough shell that we got this, we worked and achieved IT. That indeed leaves no room for grace to extend to ourselves, or to give to others.
Loved your thread of 4-letter-words
{that’s not a comment I bet you hear very often}
Cheers,
Leah
Love this. So true. Thank you for the encouragement.
Dawn, this is so beautiful. And so timely this is an area of my life where the Lord has been working lately. He is turning the mess that is my life into His message.
I used to do her prompts. I wonder why I stopped. Hmmm. I totally resonate with the greeting people with sorry about the mess instead of glad you’re here. Sigh.
Such a lovely post. Thank you for these words. Found you through Lisa-Jo’s link up
Thank you! I am so glad you stopped by for a visit!
Blessings,
Dawn