Open

"When you can step into openness and stop pretending, you find yourself coming alive. Hiddenness and pretense are always the enemy of flourishing." Ortberg

This morning I read about the importance of having authentic realtionships...the kind that you can let your guard down and be real. The kind that you can confess and conquer fears, past, and failures. I loved the quote Ortberg wrote above. When you find a person whom you can stop pretending and become relevant with....you can flourish. Jesus is always aware...he is all knowing, always present and knows every thought and fear. From experience, when I sit down with someone and become real, there is something that happens inside of me....I feel free, I feel new, I don't feel so bad anymore. Someone has listened to me and they still love me. They don't see that ugly confession or struggle, they see growth they see the real me.

"I can only be loved to the extent that I am known. I cannot be fully loved unless I am fully known. To be fully known and fullyloved is the most healing gift one human being can give another." Ortberg

I am so blessed to have friends in my life (including a husband) who can hear me out and still love me. I am never going to be perfect, I am always going to sin....and I will turn around and confess that to my friends. I struggle, but it is so encouraging to know that I have people in my life that will listen to my imperfections and challenge me. They will cry with me, they won't judge me, they will LOVE me.

"Go ahead and stumble. Failure isn't falling down; failure is refusing to try. We ought to celebrate failure." Ortberg

Ecclesiastes 4:10 (New Living Translation)
10 If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble.