To my beautiful friends

First, I don't know if I have sent this to you yet, but this is an amazing talk from Brene Brown on vulnerability... it is about 20 minutes long but worth every minute. Have a pen and paper ready, because she has so much goodness packed in :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o A lot of the things I have been reading lately are about being true to yourself TO yourself and also being willing to be fully yourself to other people. By being vulnerable we can experience the world more fully and invite others to do the same.  So often people just want to be heard, to be seen and to be loved. It is important that we are seen, heard and loved for exactly who we are... not the appearance that we put on. So, I don't know if any of that is helpful to you.. but it is what I am learning about and trying to apply because it is so easy for me to want to be the "strong" one who has everything together and is happy all of the time, when in reality I am struggling with lots of things all of the time. Thanks for being vulnerable with me, and opening up. I appreciate you so much and would love to hear your thoughts on this!! Also, this blog by Glennon Melton would be fun for you to peruse: http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/19/telling-secrets-2/

Secondly,  I found this version of Psalm 139 and I love it and thought I would remind YOU that you are a child of God, that you are loved wholly for who you are, that you are beautiful and wonderful and loved beyond all measure.

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
    you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
    you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day.
Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful!
    God, I’ll never comprehend them!
I couldn’t even begin to count them—
    any more than I could count the sand of the sea.
Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you!
    And please, God, do away with wickedness for good!