How’d the introvert get a friend?
Sounds like the opening to a good joke, doesn't it?
But it’s something that this introvert has had weighing
heavily on her heart these past few days.
It’s a topic that seems to have popped up in multiple
places: Bible study, Sunday’s sermon, so I know it’s something that God wants
me to dwell on, pray about. And I must
admit that it’s a topic that I've struggled with for far longer than just this
week. I've even written about it before.
Don’t misunderstand.
I am blessed with a myriad of friends.
Homeschooling friends, parenting friends, church friends, parents of my
kids’ friends friends. For an introvert
like me, those are the easy friends.
Those are the ones that come from simply being alive. From being a church going, homeschooling
parent.
The hard one, the one that always seems to allude me, the
one I struggle with, the one that God is constantly placing the desire on my
heart for is “that” friend. Sunday my
pastor called it, “the friend that knows everything there is to know about
you.”
That’s a hard one for someone like me. The combination of introvert plus nomadic youth plus self-esteem struggles make it difficult to be willing to put yourself out there, emotionally bare and naked, for others to see and judge.
But it is so important. So vital.
Without such transparency, it becomes easy to hide. It’s easy to hide our sin, avoid accountability. And it’s also easy to hide our hurt, our struggles, our lows.
And we begin to stumble in darkness. Maybe not that dark at first. But it gradually gets darker until we find ourselves stumbling into a pit. And pits are hard things to crawl out of.
But by allowing ourselves to be transparent, to allow the light to shine through, if only for a moment, we can avoid the darkness.
Find that someone you can be transparent with. Or someones.
The process can be so scary, so difficult, so messy. But the alternative is so much worse.
(Side note: I occasionally write on another blog: He's Holding My Right Hand where I tend to muse more about more personal and transparent issues. In other words - more me and less family. However, I felt very convicted to post this here this week. Maybe someone other than me needed the reminder. At any rate, feel free to visit me at HHMRH as well. - Blessed by you! ~ Tina)
Linking up today at Walking Redeemed
(Side note: I occasionally write on another blog: He's Holding My Right Hand where I tend to muse more about more personal and transparent issues. In other words - more me and less family. However, I felt very convicted to post this here this week. Maybe someone other than me needed the reminder. At any rate, feel free to visit me at HHMRH as well. - Blessed by you! ~ Tina)
Linking up today at Walking Redeemed
