Blog by Jessica White Davis
“I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.”
I’ve heard so many people express this same sentiment this year. Christmas just felt different somehow. This picture was taken six years ago. My baby angel girl wasn’t so sure about being in the Christmas Eve children’s pageant. I wasn’t so sure about breathing anymore.
Every time I see this picture I am reminded of how I felt that night… well that season. I was sad, broken, and struggling to function. Outwardly I was making grief look good. Because that’s what we do. We put on the mask and we hide what we are really feeling. We fake it ‘til we make it. But on the inside Christmas didn’t feel like it should. *LIFE* didn’t feel like it should. This picture makes me feel like a fraud.
Today can I release you to breathe? Can I implore you to take the mask off and allow someone to see the real?Shame, grief, unforgiveness, pain and resentment…die when stories are told in safe places. Release it friend. Open your hands and let it go. It’s your turn to be authentically free. No more mask. No more hiding. Free.
Prayer
Follow this prayer:
Father, I come before you in complete surrender laying down all of my masks of guilt and shame, I bring my pain before you, Jesus, and ask you to bring complete freedom, comfort and peace. Heal my heart Lord and fill me with hope again. Thank you. In Jesus name. AMEN.
