What feels like suddenly, we’re at our thirteenth and final week of our series, Hidden Identities. We have acknowledged that living in this world and in our own bodies can confuse us. We can wander the earth, wondering who we are and why we’re here. All that the world values, all that the flesh desires,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Fully Formed”
Tag Archives: Hidden Identities
Hidden Identities: New Name
Madeleine L’Engle once wrote that “to be named is to be loved”1 – which causes me to pause. And ponder. I think of taking on Larry’s name on our wedding day, a sign of enduring love. I remember all the love that went into naming each of our babies. I recall how loved I feelContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: New Name”
Hidden Identities: New Creation
At some point or other, we all wear masks. We might don a disguise in order to appear stronger or more capable than we feel. We might put on our humor so that people won’t see our pain. We might even paste a smile on our face, hoping that no one will notice our mess. ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: New Creation”
Hidden Identities: Intimate
Have you ever caught yourself making lists in your mind? Maybe I do it so subconsciously because I’m a natural list-maker. For the two weeks in Italy, however, I forced myself not to think about all the things back home. In many ways, I laid down my list-making. What I didn’t understand till now, however,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Intimate”
Hidden Identities: Safe
Decades ago some of my college training to be an educator introduced me to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” This triangular-shaped, psychological device gives us insight into our needs as human beings. Our basic necessities, illustrated by the base of the pyramid, are our physiological needs – things like air, food, and water. These must beContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Safe”
Hidden Identities: Secure
I can’t tell you how many times I watched Pretty Woman throughout the nineties, but it was a lot. I didn’t think much about why I loved it, but as I reflect on it now, I believe it had a lot to do with transformation. Both main characters, Vivian and Edward, changed right before ourContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Secure”
Hidden Identities: Known and Sharpened
We knew each other just well enough to say yes to do a book study together, but in reality, none of us were truly known. So, as the six of us sat around the table the first day, smiling nervously, we recognized we had set ourselves up for vulnerability. We had said ‘yes’ to aContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Known and Sharpened”
Hidden Identities: Known by Others
A friend recently said something so profound that I’ve been pondering it ever since. If we only, ever talk to God by ourselves, pretty soon our God will start to sound a lot like us. In other words, we need other believers in our lives – yes, to do life with but, even more so,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Known by Others”
Hidden Identities: Known By God
I made the first trip by myself, full of anticipation of all that I would learn about the Holy Spirit, excited to be in a place with others as eager as myself. Then, I walked into the room.* All I had looked forward to vanished as fear settled over me. And the negative self-talk started,ContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Known By God”
Hidden Identities: Knowing Self
I’m not ashamed to say I love the movie, Barbie. Beyond the creative context and perfect cast for such a unique story, each time I watch the movie, I’m struck anew with its depth. The plot leads Stereotypical Barbie and Ryan Gosling’s Ken on quite the quest, but it isn’t until the end of theContinueContinue reading “Hidden Identities: Knowing Self”