Unveiled

I am writing a blog. Me. The one who thinks this whole posting your whole life on a computer is stupid and asking for drama. Please feel free to judge me for it later, but I think God is doing something here.  Something bigger than me and my pride and my stubborn opinions... we'll see!

A friend of mine, who has challenged and inspired me more than he knows, recently told me that I need to let people know me.  I thought, wow, that's silly... I haven't been hiding!  Recently, though, I've begun to see just how right he was.  I have a lot of thoughts, dreams, fears, etc. that I don't let most (if any) people see, and in some way I have been robbing God of the opportunity to show off his creativity and work in my life.  A great friend of mine, Melissa, is about to head out on this amazing adventure called the World Race in which she will be doing missions work in 11 different countries in 11 months (amazing, right???) and she has been sharing with me just how terrifying it is to be completely transparent with others, but also how mightily God can use such honesty to bring people to Him.  And that's what my life is all about, right? So, that's what I'm going to attempt to do: allow myself to be "known," as best as that can be done via the internet.

Last Sunday, the pastor spoke on the passage: 2 Corinthians 3:18, which shockingly was right along the lines of what God has been calling me and several other friends out on recently.  It says: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."  Now, I want nothing more than to be exactly like Jesus.  I want to look like him, sound like him, love like him, and in a lot of ways I've been working really hard in my own strength to "perfect" myself.  So, first of all, God completely convicted me of that: it's by his grace alone and through the work of the Holy Spirit that that happens.  However, the part that really hit me was the "unveiled faces" part. To remove a veil from a woman's face is to remove her protection and her security.  It is to make her completely vulnerable, showing herself as she is: broken and flawed.  It is stripping back everything that we hide behind and coming before our Father completely vulnerable.  Recently I realized that up until this year, I have never been truly vulnerable before. I have never laid down the shield that keeps my heart safe, and that by doing that I have held back from God the opportunity to use my brokenness, struggles, and thoughts to touch other people.  Abba, please forgive me.

So, this is it.  This is me being obedient.  On New Years, a friend from my home church gave us the challenge of picking one word for the year and to make it our theme in our spiritual lives.  My word, which I'm sure by now you have all guessed, is....(drum roll, please....) Unveiled.  I'm going to attempt to be diligent in sharing the things that God is laying on my heart in the best way that I know how.  Yeah.

So... keep reading and hold me accountable to the promise that I've made.

Love you all!