Paint. Drops.

I have been painting my girls' rooms with the help of my daughter's. There were several times where I had to leave the room to tend to my youngest leaving my daughter alone with a gallon of paint. We were finishing up and happened to see some spots on the carpet. It appeared as though she had tried to clean them up herself. Then afraid to get in trouble she covered them with the drop cloth and acted like nothing happened. How many times in your life have you done this very thing? Ok, maybe not with paint, but how about with some sin pattern in your life? That one that constantly plagues you. You try to clean it up yourself but you can't quite make it go away. It's smears and seems to enlarge no matter how hard you scrub. Or maybe it is a heartbreak that you can't fix. Or a dream so big that fear constantly tries to tell you it will never come true. God never intended for us to do life alone. He wants us to be in relation with other people, to heal us, to help us up after we fall, to remind us of our dreams when we close our eyes out of fear, to clean up our messes, and sometimes just to hold our hands in the dark reminding us we are not alone.  Truth is, all that was needed was a warm, soapy rag and the paint drops washed out of the carpet but left untreated would have ruined the carpet. Find people that you can share your messes with. Seek out those that are willing to help you clean it up. Expose the darkest parts of your heart, those parts you where you act like nothing happened. The parts that are broken beyond repair.  Then let them wash you with the goodness and grace of God.  You just might be surprised by how easily they clean up. And if the heartbreak is too great they will help you make it a beautiful part of you.  #community #mytribe #DarkHallwaysSteadyGrip