Beauty.

" I am finding that vulnerability gives me great strength, because you're not hiding anymore. "

~Tori Amos, rape survivor and incredibly strong and beautiful woman.

Sometimes being vulnerable is about entering into the deepest parts of who we are and letting the darkness and ugliness be discovered. Sometimes its about letting down a mask that we wear. Sometimes its about saying, yes there is something going on inside my head, heart, and soul that i don't want to let out.
All the time, it is scary. and all the time, God will bring freedom into those areas of ourselves that we keep hidden.

when we are playing hide and seek as kids there is always that nervous "what if they find me" feeling in our stomach? as kids, its with a smile, and an excited scream & giggle when they do. when it comes to our most vulnerable places, its with tears, a pit in our stomach, and the overwhelming feeling that if they find me, they will turn around and walk the other direction. It won't be my turn to count while you go hide. It will be.....
.....It will be something different for each of us.

But then there's God. God says it will be ok. God says we can uncover our darkness. We can dance in the midst of our sorrow. We can look the grunge in the face. We can look ourselves in the faces.

And we can stand redeemed.

Refreshed. In places that had dried up.
Beautiful. In places where beauty was stolen.
Alive. In places where I chose death.

When we enter the deep places...we find that along with darkness and ugliness lie beauty and life.

............And we find that its going to be ok.