Beauty.

".....her mouth speaks from that which fills her heart." Luke 6:45

ImAGiNe living in a community of people who are beautiful. No. I mean TRULY BEAUTIFUL. People who are transparent.  Women who don't gossip.  Have no time to judge or CriTiciZE.  Girls who have a generous & kind spirit. Ones who are so busy doing good things that they don't have time for nonsense.  A place where I am SAFE to tell my secrets & sins & fears & hopes & dreams...laid out...open for all to see. And then sense a collective sigh of relief. Whisperings of me too. me too. yes. meee tooooo.   I KNOW.  THIS is where true BEAUTY lives.  In...honesty. transparency. humility. brokenness. love.

 You see. WE ALL have them. Secrets. Sins. Fears. Hopes. Dreams. We do. They're smushed together deep inside. Sometimes smothered by a bunch of other stuff.  Hard to get to. Tough to See.  Speak. Understand. A little overwhelming. Scary. And so we PREtEND.  Hoping they resolve themselves. Go away quietly. Holding our breath. Really really really..hoping....NO ONE finds out. Because you know.....good christian girls are..supposed to be..well.....GOOD.   It FEELS as if I'm the only one carrying this load. All this not-so-good. And then..... something unexpected happens. Surprising. Out of the blue. A GOOd christian GiRL shares her secrets. Her sins. Her crap.  Her deep down scary stuff.  Huh. She's brave. Honest. Open. And BEAUTIFUL. Her story feels a little like mine. Yet. Her HEART speaks LOVE. Healing. Hope. something true. I hear it. I feel it. Her heart is filled with GrAcE. The light ShINeS through her brokenness. aahh. I get it.  Grace. It's all GRaCE. beautiful grace.

listen to this. "FRiEndSHiP is born that moment when one person says to another: 'WHAT?  you too? i thought i was the OnLy one.'"  c.s. lewis.         (yep. it's grace;)