Don’t Decorate the Pit

Have you ever come across photos of weddings taken in the 70s and early 80s? Characterized by big poufy hair, bright colored bridesmaid dresses, white tuxes, and over the top accessories, it is usually pretty easy to pick out what decade wedding pictures were taken!

In this age of social media, I think we will look back and characterize certain "themes" based on what was popular at the time. And right now, it's so common to come across the "you are doing great Mama/Friend/Girl" kind of posts. We read these and feel better about our failures, because someone else out there is failing too. We read that everyone has a bad day once in a while, everyone yells occasionally and we almost all have a day or two where we just want a do over.

It's nice to know we aren't alone.

Can I tell you what "you are not alone" doesn't mean? It doesn't mean we have an excuse to sit in our junk just because someone else has made the same mistake. It doesn't mean we get to give ourselves excuse after excuse instead of figuring out the root of our issues. It doesn't give us an reason to ignore our sin. We need friends to be willing to climb down in the pit with us. But they are there to help lift us out, not to help us decorate.

So when I tell you, you are not alone, I mean it. You aren't. There is someone out there who has experienced your same struggles. Someone else feels not good enough. Someone else can't keep their house clean. Someone else feels like their kids never obey Someone else has gained and lost that same 5 pounds for years. Someone else feels broken today. Lost. Maybe even hopeless. And in these feelings you are not alone. But recognizing you aren't alone isn't enough. You have to take the next step!

Solidarity doesn't make us less accountable. Solidarity gives you courage. Courage to face what is difficult. Courage to call sin what it is in our lives. And then courage to face it. To struggle through it instead of living in it. Courage to pursue truth.

It's so easy to come alongside a friend and encourage them. And I hope you do that. We need people to meet us where we are. We need people to come alongside us. We need people to remind us that are not alone.

But more importantly? We need friends who are willing to speak truth to us. To gently and lovingly push us towards grace. To encourage us to, pray for us and stick with us through tough times.

If you don't have a friend like this, pray for one! Friendships come in the most unexpected ways. In fact, one of my "you aren't decorating this pit" friends and I met on instagram! We've been friends for years now and still haven't met in person. God meets our needs in ways we would never anticipate.

Need someone to chat with today? Please please feel free to message me! You can email me on the contact page. I would be honored to pray for you and with you as you courageously seek truth!!

You are not