Choosing Authentic Means Choosing Brave

Her eyes widened as she moved her chair closer to the table.

The crowded coffee shop had not deterred her from being open and honest. Now, it was my turn.

This young girl in her twenties tried to conceal her surprised expression. “I thought you wouldn’t understand, Karen. I imagined your childhood and life near perfect.”

Oh, how wrong her sentiments. Truth is, we held much in common. We both experienced a troubling upbringing, one affecting our life as adults.

When a parent abandons a child physically or emotionally, they leave behind a broken life and heart.

As I opened up to my coffee-shop friend, pain from my past spilled out as tears. In the most vulnerable way, I conveyed how I spent part of my childhood with one parent absent and the other present, but just in the physical sense.

The emotional support a child so desperately needs to give health and wholeness to her soul, remained at zero.

My friend and I shared a similar story. Since Christ is our common denominator, He used our story to spur one another on in the faith. Not only through “me too,” but also through “here is how Jesus helped me overcome and gain the victory.”

An authentic voice helps others and holds the power to heal us.

When we authentically share our story, our dreams, our soul-wounds, our heart-cries, and even our faith-struggles, something powerful happens.

Authenticity makes us comfort ambassadors.

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