I am part of an amazing Bible study. I look forward to Wednesday evenings all week. Studying the Bible with women has to be one of my most favorite things to do. Three special girls joined our group this winter and they are like a "breath of fresh air." Let me explain. We have been together for several years and know each other very well. We have all been Christians for many years and have probably forgotten what it feels like to not know the Lord. It is always so exciting to hear the young girls ask such pure and basic questions about Jesus. Then to see their excitement and sometimes emotional response reminds me of meeting "my first love...Jesus."
Last week we found ourselves in a discussion and one of them commented that they were not "church ladies" like us. This was not a slam against us...it was her humble way of saying "you know such much more than we do and your lives are not like mine." My heart began to feel heavy as I realized what she was saying. She saw us "older" women as better than her. She saw us as being "above" her. Afterwards we chatted and made a date for coffee.
That was the best cup of coffee that I had ever had. It wasn't really the coffee...it was the moment. Over coffee (and pie) I shared with them my past. I shared with them mistakes that I had made. I shared with them my struggles as a wife and mother. I hopefully shared my "authentic" self. By the end of the night one of the girls said "looking at you I would have never realized you went through all of that."
How do we be authentic women everyday? It is so easy to pretend that we always have it all together. If you walked in my home right now you might think that it is organized...but you are only seeing the surface. You're not seeing what is crammed in closets, what it shoved under the bed and what is hiding in the basement.
I am a work in progress...and a woman who needs to clean her basement.
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