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An Audience of one
Whether in person, online, or on social media, we spend a lot of time performing for other people. If we center our lives on pleasing others, living out each day gets harder and harder. It can feel impossible to create a new life script.
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Shame, Jesus, and Me
This month I’m honored to invite my friend and teammate Christian Williams as my guest blogger. I love being in Christian’s company because one minute she’s making me laugh so hard I’m crying and the next she has stopped me in my tracks with a thought-provoking reflection. Christian is a Dallas transplant (Native Arkansan) and DTS student who loves communicating truth and building safe, authentic, purposeful communities. She feels God’s pleasure most when using her imagination, storytelling, teaching, and living in intentional relationships which yield growth and transformation. Dub: (verb) to give an unofficial name or nickname to (someone or something). I dub everything. From my period- I call her…
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Shame-Based Families, Grace-Based Families
The messages of a shame-based family (NOT the one shown here!): “Don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel.” “Everybody has to put their needs aside so we can tiptoe around _____ and not make them mad.” “Why did you do that, you dumb b*tt?” “If you disappoint me this much, how much more are you disappointing God?” “Oh please, you’re not wearing that, are you?” “Loser . . . stupid . . . such an embarrassment . . . I hope nobody knows you’re my daughter . . . You’ll never amount to anything . . . I wish I’d never had you . . . You’re so fat. And ugly.”…
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My Shirley Temple Moment
Almost everyone I know has a Shirley Temple moment in his or her life. Whether it happened forcefully or unexpected, many of us have a story to tell that includes a Shirley Temple movie or song. I think that’s why most of us feel a sense of loss in her passing. My Shirley Temple moment lasted for just a little while, but the lesson I learned from it has persevered. I performed On the Good Ship Lollipop in a church talent show to raise money for something—I can’t remember what, but I know it involved a high-school trip. Anyway, right before taking the stage, I got sick and…
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Performance Not Required
In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic runner Harold Abrahams says, “I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my whole existence. But WILL I?” Abrahams justification of worth was based upon his performance. His worth was based on what he did and the titles he was given. He sought validation, approval and applause. If we are honest with ourselves, we do the same. We base our worth, and some of us even our existence upon performance, upon titles and achievements. Our hearts search for validation and we don’t even realize it. We base our sense…
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Of Rich Food, Julie and Julia and the Lord of Hosts
Hello readers! I’m new to Tapestry and quite honored to join such a thinking, articulate group. I look forward to exploring the wonder of our God and the richness of what he is up to with other women of influence who are running hard after Jesus. A friend who saw the summer hit movie Julie and Julia just posted on her blog: “Does it have deep and significant eternal implication? I don’t believe so. Was it entertaining and a sneak peek into the inner sanctum of the writer’s life? Absolutely!”
