Faith, family, and forgiveness acceptance…

When Christianity is reduced mainly to a get-out-of-hell-free card, it is almost entirely missing the point. If instead it is the opportunity to walk in sync with the creative force behind our extraordinary world, it is wonderfully appealing. When the focus is on behaving well and being submissive, one misses so much of the potential joy and beauty of growing a relationship with the divine. The results may look similar, but in the deepest part of one’s heart, the difference is incomparable. Certainty is the enemy of faith as it makes faith about being right rather than about revelling and trusting in what cannot be seen.

Families are the building blocks of human life and relationship. They connect people that would never choose to be friends and bind them together in interesting and challenging ways. Once one thinks they’ve figured out how things work, something changes and one must begin the figuring again. One can choose to opt out of active relationship, but one can never break the ties of blood.

Acceptance brings healing, but acceptance doesn’t equate with agreement. There are times when one accepts and also agrees, and there are times when one accepts but agrees to disagree. Acceptance nurtures freedom and responsibility.

My year of blogging has come to an end. I have learned so much and grown in unexpected ways. Though I engaged with the concept of gender from many different perspectives, and gained knowledge about it from varying points of view, I didn’t discover a singular result that transcends people’s diverse opinions. The journey turned from understanding to figuring out how to move forward, find personal healing, and prioritize values.

In this year’s journey of faith, family, and forgiveness acceptance, my personal revelation is that when love wins in each of them, the ensuing results surpass imagination.

• Love as the cornerstone of faith. That is not a unique idea, but is often not practiced as well as it is preached.
• Love as the glue to hold together family relationships when the ties of blood aren’t enough. Though the ties of blood cannot be broken, relationships can, and love is the liquid gold that repairs the brokenness in a beautiful way.
• Love as the foundation for acceptance. What could be a better starting point upon which to build acceptance and freedom?

The famous love chapter of the Bible, I Corinthians 13, describes the amazing qualities of love. It used to seem a laundry list of requirements for behaving in love, but upon further inspection it is descriptive rather than prescriptive. It just details what it looks like when love exists and grows. My favorite part is verse seven, “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

As I looked back over the past year, I wanted to retrace my steps and feelings along the way, so I reread all of my posts starting with Valentine’s Day 2018. What a ride! I had no idea the twists and turns it would take. I was pretty sure I would end with love, but I didn’t know how I’d get there and what it would look like when I arrived. It’s pretty cool, and there is a new beginning waiting as this one comes to its conclusion. Thanks for walking beside me on the path. I couldn’t have done it without you.

LOVE WINS

 

A love story

Feeling unloved, but always loved

Blinded by striving and guilt

 

Resilient

Solitary tree

Calm and weathered

 

Putting it out there

Loving people

Digging for truth

 

Defending them

Challenging them

Mama Bear

 

Questioning but faithful

Studying my book list

To figure out

What if?

 

Attempting to see

Sadness and doubt

Through rose-colored glasses

 

East coast travels

Discouragement

Insistent, consistent, persistent

 

The emperor’s new clothes

Veiling causes and correlations

Making conclusions scarce

 

The truth is always true

Genes, evolution, chance

Profound, enigmatic, peaceful, incomplete

 

Choices

Heredity and history

Freedom

 

Me, not you

Birds singing

Ever widening circles of grace and truth

 

Everything matters, nothing matters

I do want you to be happy

I will wait my turn

 

Gender diversity

Questioning the narrative

Relationships defining existence

 

Church

Safe place?

Moral gatekeeper?

 

Stories, questions, action

Safety net

Welcome

 

Broken heart

Repaired with gold

Highlighting beautiful brokenness

Childbirth, college

Nine months

New beginnings

 

What-not-to-do list

Everything just happens

But you can be a Tuesday’s child

 

Bittersweet memories

Curiosity without judgement

Precarious middle position

 

I will be okay

Living and letting others live

Free to see nuance in expression

 

A mother’s heart

Feeling the intensity

Of all and nothing

 

Surprised again

All of us damaged

Pain triggered unexpectedly

 

Achieving the midpoint

Complexity in a social media world

Using my whole self to pursue love

 

Complicated relationships

Permission to tell my story not required

Reminiscing about simpler times

 

Recovering

Finding new hope

Revealing unhealthy source beliefs

 

Maturity?

Names and photo albums

Stories of change

 

Lessons from the story

Finding emotional sobriety

Smoothing paths

 

Respecting identity

Unapologetically anticipating

Hope on the horizon

 

Snapshots of

Moving forward in

Parenting

 

Faith, family, forgiveness

Lost and found

And in the end

 

Love wins