Vulnerability and Relationships

Last night I did some serious thinking and came to the following conclusions: God the Father has profoundly blessed me. My life and life experiences are immense gifts from Him. And I do a horrible job at thanking God for the gift of my life and the events of last night put things in perspective for me.

I was cleaning off my desk as I pondered those thoughts and more. I had a tall pile of papers that I was filing. As I came to the end of the pile something caught my eye: my therapy journal of two years. That journal to me is a representation of tremendous pain, but also immense joy. In it, I tracked my progress of a 2 year journey of healing, it’s basically a shorter version of my book.

Then I thought of one of my favorite quotes: “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.”

I thought about all the progress I had made over the years in letting others get close to me, and I thanked God for His goodness towards me. I certainly have much to learn and more progress to make, as I am always striving to live and change for the good. But, it was refreshing to reflect on all the progress I have made and to focus on the beauty of learning, growing, healing and ultimately the love of the Father.

So what about you? Have you basked in the light of the progress you have made? Sometimes it’s hard to note your own progress and if that is the case for you, then ask someone who knows you well to verbalize your progress to you. And in all things, give thanks to the Father, for His love, mercy and healing Hands can transform a broken and wounded heart into a heart brimming with freedom: a heart that can learn to be vulnerable again in a safe way.

It’s healing to let others in, give it a try.