God's Eye View...

"From were I was sitting I could see all of their words along with everyone else's, but they didn't have the benefit of that viewpoint.  Just their own keyboard and the hope that they wouldn't be judged by the contents of the message they wrote.  It's a microcosm of what the Lord must see every day as He watches His daughters walk through life without seeing the hearts of the women around them."
What Women Fear by Angie Smith

Angie is talking here about women who have communicated to her their fear of being "found out."  Their marriage is a wreck, they have a prodigal child, they harbor anger, they aren't sure of their salvation, etc. Things they can't imagine other people being able to love and support them through.

The quote above created this image in my mind:  The women of this world wandering, lonely, keeping to themselves, eyes to the ground.  And God seeing us all at the same time with a sorrow-filled face.

This is not what we were created for.  We were created for love.  For relationship.  For community.  For growth.  For victory.

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God...In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him...Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
1 John 4:7, 9, 11, 12 

And when we wander around keeping to ourselves pretending we are something we aren't, Satan wins.  When we think about how others might see us and become trapped in fear so that our sin, our shame, our sorrow is hidden deeper and deeper, he wins.  And we aren't living.

When my sweet baby girl came home with us, the sweet seemed to stay at the hospital.  I thought she may be the end of me.  My imagination had created this peaceful picture of motherhood and what it would be like to feed her and rock her during the quiet snowy first months of her life.  It was a shockingly difficult transition for me full of shame and feeling like a failure.  Hiding it worked for a while from everyone but my husband, but eventually I broke.  Emotion and frustration got the best of me and I began sharing my experience with other newer mom friends.  It turned out many had a similar story!  Why didn't anyone tell me how hard it might be?!  Since then I have decided to share those dark moments honestly.  When friends are heading toward the journey of motherhood they know what it was like for me.  My desire is to simply let them know that if they end up in that difficult place, they are not alone.

Love among women in community is a choice resulting in healing and victory. You may not want to share your story with me, but if I share mine you might be a little less ashamed, a bit relieved, and you may find freedom in knowing you are not alone.  You're not alone anyway.  God is there in the struggle with you always.  But sometimes it's nice to have a hand to hold.  A heart to weep with.  A listening love-filled face across from you.

So when you think of the woman sitting three rows ahead of you in church and she looks like she has it all together and you think you could never be together enough to be her friend...what if everyone thinks that and she has no close friends at all?  How lonely.  Maybe you could be the first to volunteer?  To love?

When your super bubbly and outgoing friend is crazy busy and you feel like she has no time for you, maybe it's time to grab a cup of cocoa, slow her down and ask her how she's doing...really.

And when YOU are overflowing with _____________________ maybe it's time for you to initiate a conversation, let someone listen, pray with you, and love you through it.  Wouldn't you do that for someone else?  They'll do it for you too.

Be love today and be loved today.  It's what we're here for.  What we're made for.  Not to compete.  Not to present ourselves well.  But to love and to be loved.  Because He loves you, me, and all the other wandering women in this world here and now.

I pray every day that my daughter would be someone who recognizes needs in other people and shows compassion.  She's almost two and my husband and I see it in her already.  She's not afraid of looking silly as she walks around Target with a hat from a shelf saying, "Hat!  I like it!"  And people laugh and smile and chat with her.  She walks up to folks, smiles at them, waves, says hi.  For someone that might be the first time today they were even acknowledged and to her they are the most important person in the world in that moment.  Maybe we should all be praying to do that more.

Oh Lord, I pray that we would recognize those women around us in need.  That we would remember none of us have it all together.  That we wouldn't be driven to compete with each other.  That we wouldn't let Satan win by thinking that no one would love us if they really knew us.  Teach us how to love, for this is your will...