Journal Entry for the week of: July 29th 2010
We’re really not that different.I’m 8 months pregnant. The girls smile at me and some touch my belly as I walk into the dressing room. One girl tells me there are a lot of pregnant dancers right now. They go through miscarriages and the struggles of morning sickness and stretch marks together just like me and my friends do.I’m a mom of 3 kids under 7. Several dancer moms coo over my family picture and show me theirs. One girl is trying to decide whether to home school her 2 girls or not. Another is trying to decide on a preschool for her 3 year old. Another tells us a vivid story about recently finding out her youngest son has leukemia. They all try to be the best moms they can be, no matter what comes at them, just like me and my friends do.I’m a housewife. These girls do laundry, pay bills, feed their families, clean, try to balance their responsibilities and still have some personal time, struggle with parenting problems, have marriage and relationship issues, yearn to be loved and to feel beautiful. Just like me and my friends do.I was raised without God. And I and went through a rebellious streak as a teenager before I found what I’d been missing. Most of these girls have a similar history that just hasn’t gotten to the happy ending.Oh, I can definitely relate. But I’m having a difficult time WANTING to enter into their wave-tossed lives and love them right there, in the midst of the chaos. Maybe I’m reluctant because the memories of my own dark hopelessness before I received Christ are still too real. Maybe I’m afraid of getting tossed around with them if I get too close. Maybe I’m just not willing to sacrifice parts of the pretty American middle-class Christian lifestyle in which I currently live.Whatever the reasons, they aren’t valid. I don’t have an excuse not to love if I want to follow Jesus. I don’t get to pick and choose – I am to love my neighbor.So I will continue to walk this road, letting God teach me how to let go of my fears and love with wild abandon like He does. And I will pray that He changes my heart to be more like His – step by step.As you pray for Scarlet Hope’s ministry team and the dancers, pray that we ALL have softened hearts. And then pray for God to soften YOUR heart to love the neighbor God places in your life, too.”- Laura H. Delivery Team Member Scarlet Hope
“We’re really not that different.
I’m 8 months pregnant. The girls smile at me and some touch my belly as I walk into the dressing room. One girl tells me there are a lot of pregnant dancers right now. They go through miscarriages and the struggles of morning sickness and stretch marks together just like me and my friends do.
I’m a mom of 3 kids under 7. Several dancer moms coo over my family picture and show me theirs. One girl is trying to decide whether to home school her 2 girls or not. Another is trying to decide on a preschool for her 3 year old. Another tells us a vivid story about recently finding out her youngest son has leukemia. They all try to be the best moms they can be, no matter what comes at them, just like me and my friends do.
I’m a housewife. These girls do laundry, pay bills, feed their families, clean, try to balance their responsibilities and still have some personal time, struggle with parenting problems, have marriage and relationship issues, yearn to be loved and to feel beautiful. Just like me and my friends do.
I was raised without God. And I and went through a rebellious streak as a teenager before I found what I’d been missing. Most of these girls have a similar history that just hasn’t gotten to the happy ending.
Oh, I can definitely relate. But I’m having a difficult time WANTING to enter into their wave-tossed lives and love them right there, in the midst of the chaos. Maybe I’m reluctant because the memories of my own dark hopelessness before I received Christ are still too real. Maybe I’m afraid of getting tossed around with them if I get too close. Maybe I’m just not willing to sacrifice parts of the pretty American middle-class Christian lifestyle in which I currently live.
Whatever the reasons, they aren’t valid. I don’t have an excuse not to love if I want to follow Jesus. I don’t get to pick and choose – I am to love my neighbor.
So I will continue to walk this road, letting God teach me how to let go of my fears and love with wild abandon like He does. And I will pray that He changes my heart to be more like His – step by step.
As you pray for Scarlet Hope’s ministry team and the dancers, pray that we ALL have softened hearts. And then pray for God to soften YOUR heart to love the neighbor God places in your life, too.”
-Laura H. Â Delivery Team Member Scarlet Hope
