Joy in Vulnerability

          I have to say that the word vulnerability has always been scary to me. It is not easy to be vulnerable....to be transparent. It is not easy to lay out all of our junk for the world to see. It is not easy to admit how helpless we feel. It is not easy to admit our weaknesses. Of course there is wisdom in knowing how much to share and when this is appropriate of course, but when we take a chance we never know how the Lord will use it.
                  I have a very dear friend named Catherine who has taught me that. She has a blog called Choosing Joy Daily (hope you don’t mind the plug Catherine :) ) that has ministered to me in so many ways. She has had to face many trials in her life. If we were faced with some of her trials we might not choose joy....but she does. She has taught me that we can have joy in our trials and still be honest about our feelings. We can have joy when our minds are focused on Him. Philippians 4:8 "Finally brethren, whatever things are TRUE, whatever things are NOBLE, whatever things are JUST, whatever things are PURE, whatever things are LOVELY, whatever things are of GOOD REPORT, if there is any VIRTUE and if there is anything PRAISEWORTHY meditate on THESE THINGS!" We can share how much of a struggle we are going through with honesty and still say BUT JESUS is good, faithful, sovereign and is my Light and my Strength and I praise Him because He will not let me go! We can choose to say we will not focus on the why but instead on the WHO....... JESUS!!! He is true to His Word! She has taught me that when our focus is on glorifying Jesus in our vulnerability and transparency He can do wonderful things. It is Him who we glorify in our weaknesses. It is through my friendship with Catherine that I have received courage from the Lord to share my heart. Her loving advice to me when I told her I wanted to write this blog was..."just write from your heart that loves Him and you will be amazed at how He uses our vulnerabilities to reach others through what He is teaching us in the midst of trials or blessings". Thank you Catherine!
                    For me at the beginning I thought that I would just be writing a blog as a means for me to just process all that was happening...to allow myself to communicate my thoughts. Yes, my desire was so that others would be encouraged but I am truly humbled by the many ways the Lord has used it within these last few weeks since I have started the blog. With each word I pray that the Lord would be glorified and my true desire is that others would see how good Jesus is. I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for sharing this journey with me......in both the trials and the blessings along the way!  God bless you all!

Continuing the journey........