All truth. Yes, for sure truth.
All difficult to hear when we are in the
hole of grief.
It takes courage to sit beside someone
with their pain; it takes even more
courage to not have the simple answers
and quick fixes for them.
What about allowing them to also sit
beside us?
This all requires courage, which means
it requires vulnerability.
It feels uncomfortable and we don’t
like it, which means we are doing it
right.
So instead of leaning into the
discomfort with our courage and His
truths in Hand, we try to fix their pain
or hide ours which only leaves us all
feeling even more alone.
And, healing will never take place in
disconnection.
H e a l i n g c a n o n l y t a ke p l a c e i n
connection.
Remember, it is both, sitting beside
someone with their pain and allowing
them to sit beside us with ours, the
latter can definitely feel harder.
Especially as leaders.
We put on this armor as if we don’t
have permission to struggle when in
reality it is that very same struggle,
and humanness, that helps people feel
connected to us.
Don’t for one second think this is
misery loves company either.
This is connection. This is vulnerability.
This is relationship.
This is healing.
And, I can’t think of a space where His
Spirit is more powerful, lives more, or
heals more.
Jesus sat at the well with the woman
and saw all of her - her struggles,
doubts, fears, and mistakes.
He sat beside her and loved her well.
He created a safe space with His love
for her to own her truth and to speak
the unspoken.
Before I left my private practice after
20 years in traditional mental health
to write, teach, and do more ministry
I found my practice changing those
last five years. After surviving, and
eventually doing the work to thrive a
failed infertility journey I published
my first book, Ever Upward. It was a
memoir and spoke my truth, and many
clients read it.
Of course, vulnerability must have
Solutions • 7