Attempting to “pull up my boot straps” and relying on my strength challenges everything I believe in…namely, in God, whom I know strengthens me…daily. Yet I did it. I began to pull up my boot straps and fell hard. It took a dear, wise friend to gently point it out to me. She was not confrontational; she was gentle. She did not tell me to buck up and stop crying; she comforted me. She did not give me a seven step plan to healing; she listened. She was Jesus with skin on for me at a low point to remind me what is true and good in Him.
I continue to openly share this part of me because I know too many grieving people who keep it under wraps. Anything we tend to suppress for too long will eventually over flow into other areas of our lives and cause unhealthy imbalances. To believe it is best to buck up and suck it up is an unhealthy way of processing grief…because you’re not submitting yourself to the process.
Lord, help me to continue to give this over to you as often as I need to. In His name I pray, Amen.
