Thursday nights at Starbucks

I love Thursday nights.

I love that I have one night each week to sit in the company of two wonderful women and...

be vulnerable.

be transparent.

share my sins.

pray for our marriages.

give each other godly council.

love one another.

It is something I do not take for granted.

And God is always so good to be present at our meetings. Even if we have been unfaithful in our lesson, He still shows up in huge ways.

Like tonight.

After spending the day "listening" to the voices in my head, He again destroyed the lies I was listening to and replaced them with His truth.

Not my truth, but His absolute truth.

A few months ago, I read that we as women far too often "listen to ourselves" instead of "talk to ourselves." We listen to the voices that say...

we aren't good enough wives.

we aren't good enough mothers.

we are overweight.

we are unloveable.

we aren't good at anything.

we are overlooked.

we are unappreciated.

we deserve better.

...instead of talking to ourselves and filling our minds with God's truth...

we are made in God's image.

we are beautiful in His eyes.

we are His beloved.

we don't have to earn His love.

when He sees us He sees Christ's righteousness.

we don't have to be perfect, just faithful.

Christina shared tonight that someone told her that we would NEVER allow someone to talk to us the way we sometimes talk to ourselves.

Are you with me?

I would NEVER allow anyone to come into my home and tell me...

"you are fat."

"you don't do enough school with Sammy."

"you serve your kids too many processed meals."

"your house isn't clean enough."

Yet I hear these things every day...but the person who is speaking is me.

But tonight, I faced myself. I openly shared about the battle that was being waged in my head. I shared my pain, and I replaced my shame and guilt with God's love and grace.

Do I fully see myself as Christ sees me? No.

But tonight I know that He is completely taken by me. I am His beloved. I am pure and radiant. I am a love offering to Him from His Father.

And I pray that when I look in the mirror tomorrow morning, I see a little more of what He sees.