While watching a program that was featuring one of my favorite writers I was amazed at the story she began to tell. What an amazing journey she has been on. As I listened she reached a point in her story that spoke of the love she had had in her life. She had many life experiences that could have caused her to stay down but with the love and incredible encouragement of the powerful people around her, their love lifted her up...It...as she said...liberated her. I began to reflect on some of the powerful moments in my life where love liberated me. What amazes me is the sudden realization that many of these moments were probably not even realized by the individual as a life changing moment in my life. A compliment, a word of encouragement and simple positive reinforcement is all it has taken to continue to liberate me through out my life.
Of course amongst the many to love me this way were that of my devoted parents. Through every fall down, strike out, failed test, and heart ache they were there...picking me up...and giving me the courage to try again. Their liberating love however didn't just stop there. Growing up in a family of four girls you could imagine the difficulty there might be to find your own voice and to become your own person. Constantly people would try to lump me in with all of my older sisters many incredible accomplishments expecting me to be the same. Out of a bit of rebellion and the fear of failure I often would run as far as I could in the opposite direction. My parents patience throughout this period in my life was more than amazing. They saw in me something that I at the time did not yet want to see....potential. It was their belief and high expectations of the person that I could become that liberated me from my disbeliefs and low expectations of just who that person was...and was to be. Because they believed...and they told me so...over and over and over again...so then did I...It was as simple as that.
There is I believe one potential down side to the constant celebration of the "individual". For most families I believe there is a tendency to want to put each child into there own category based on the child's greatest talent or most obvious personality trait. I realize just how important it is for our children to hear what it is that makes them unique and different from their siblings but I believe that the constant reminder of which "one" they are can limit them to just remaining in the box that we may have unintentionally put them in. They need to see that their lives will not just be defined by what others may see on the surface but what they see within themselves. It is important for them to also know that we should always continue to challenge ourselves...to grow....to think outside of the box;) We should not be just simply satisfied with being as good as our greatest gift but should stretch ourselves into something far greater then we ever could have imagined.
Liberating them with your love is way of freeing them from the shackles of their own self doubt and allowing them to see that they can dream to be whatever it is they wish to be. It gives them the permission they need to "dare to be bigger than the condition into which she or he was born." To have the courage to try...and to try again...and again...until they find within themselves a way to "liberate" who it is they are. And when this new found self is realized to see the ways to then liberate someone else with their love...to go and have the strength to be a blessing in someones life...as they are in ours. After all what greater blessing is there then to have been that "someone" for someone else...and so I pray
Lord, I thank you for making love so simple. Lord I am afraid at times I tend to complicate much of what you have created to be simple. I forget so often how easy it is to show love through my words and my actions. I pray that you will remind me throughout my day to take the time to show my children the power of words. To show them that when used with love our words can liberate...can set a person free...can give them courage...can give them strength. Lord it is your word that I long for them to hear above all the rest. Your love is perfect Lord and it is through that love that we are truly free...amen
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