Encouragement

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"She reminds me of me. Or at least the me I imagine myself to be."-myself

It was probably one of the kindest things I'd heard all day. It made me happy to hear it, put an extra "bounce" in my steps.
Smiling, encouraged, I listened as an old friend told me that I reminded her of the speaker she just heard...

We were at a conference-a Christian wonen's conference that was hosted by Women's Ministries. It was a fun day, with opportunities to be around other people of like faith, other women that shared in similiar ups and downs, yet more importantly, to hear the featured speaker, and hopefully be blessed by her lecture.

And we were. Or I was. She talked about having faith in God's Word, about spending time alone with God and not letting things get too much in the way of that. She talked about her life, how she had made mistakes, yet her trust so often had been in God, and she knew first hand that God could see her through.

What drew me in though, wasn't so much her words-(though they were fantastic), but the genuiness of her accounts. The way she spoke, with such honesty, the way she shared her mistakes, yet with a smile-the kindness in which she dealt with her audience....it wasn't cheap, but elegant, almost. She reached us where we were, but didn't get so low that she lost respect in our eyes-she referred to her past, but didn't glorify them, but with a beautiful, almost child-like smile and friendly tone, spoke about how God, her "Father", guided her through it all.

My friend surprised me later by that comment, saying she reminded her of me. I was somewhat taken aback, and asked her who I reminded her of, just to be sure we were on the same page. It was flattering...and encouraging. Encouraging, not because I could see myself as this lady...but because it gave me hope, that despite who I really know myself to be, that one day, as I trust in God, I can be seen like that too maybe...at least some.

Sometimes you don't see what other people do, when something good is going on inside of you. You don't see how, when you show love, when you give, when you act kindly, how the other person, at that time, is seeing something so beautiful. I wonder if that speaker realized how beautifully she appeared to all of us there..

Sometimes I just see in myself-myself. I see myself hunched down in a dark corner, all of my mistakes and failures making me realize I'm not as strong as I hoped I was. Sometimes I see all the dark and bad parts, and I'm scared of the world-because I see how much like it I am. I see myself as small, simple, unable to lift up a stone when I boast of being able to move mountains...
But then there are times, when it seems someone steps into that darkness, and shows me that better way. Points me to the hand of the one who I can trust in, with who's strength I can do anything. The one who can make me strong, can make me kind, can make me as He is-though I am so far from it now. And as I see more of a picture of what that looks like, when I see that even though I can't that *He* can, and when I look at people like that guest speaker and hear things like how she reminded a dear friend of me, it makes me see that I can be something other than what I have seen myself as...I can be like her, even like Him, if I let Him, and His love,work in me.

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