Tuesday, June 28, 2016

The Power of Me Too!

A couple of nights ago, some girlfriends and I enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal and some long overdue chatter. We talked about everything, conversations intertwining, absolutely no conversation etiquette whatsoever. We cut each other off, everybody eager to get their two cents in. I’m sure you have those girlfriends that when you get together, you let your hair down and just be you. In those moments, you’re not concerned with how well kept you are. You’re not trying to outshine the other. You’re just there in the moment, soaking it all up. That’s just what we did. We laughed and laughed harder. We slapped each other high fives. We gasped. We went back and forth. A bunch of “ooh girrrrrlllll” remarks (you know, the reaction when something juicy is said). Every so often, one of my friends would talk and someone else would holler out, “girl, me too!”
In those two words, we all connected. There was a common ground that brought us closer together, allowing us to either fully receive or release something. It’s in those words “me too” where we give others the opportunity to free ourselves. “Me too” can act like a releasing agent. It can be the catalyst towards restoration and healing. Here’s how and why.
Many times when women come together, the first thing we do is scan other women. Though we may be cordial and actively engaged in conversation, we’re making sure to stay on the same tempo as everyone else. We try our best to maintain the upkeep of a well put together woman. Because that’s what all the other women around us are, so we think anyway. We maintain this image, as if we are the only ones hiding horrible secrets or embarrassing pasts. But it’s when a willing woman comes forth and starts to share her truth that we have the opportunity to share in it with her with “me too.”
I remember a time when I was among a group of women and we all took turns sharing our stories. We had to go deep. I remember my heart raced a thousand miles a second. My hands became clammy blocks of ice and my throat started to tighten. It was my turn. I knew I had been forgiven of my past but I still found myself ashamed to talk about it. So at first, I only talked about the stuff that wasn’t as harsh…how I lived in a dysfunctional environment, was verbally, mentally, emotionally, and physically abused. Though that was a relief to get out, that wasn’t all. I felt God pressing me to go deeper. Because what was deep was what was keeping me hostage and preventing any kind of healing from happening.
After a few minutes, I said that I had something else to say. Slowly, I started talking about how I had developed a sexual addiction at a very young age and it carried over into my adult years and how I was a cheater/adulterer. I could barely get the words out through deep heaves of sobs and snot was running everywhere. My head was pounding from the pressure of my heart pumping blood through my body. And I heard a “me too.” It was that response that allowed me to breathe and fully receive God’s healing and restoration. The woman who responded, she was healed and restored also!
My beautiful sister, please understand this. We all have skeletons in our closets. Some, God presses us to release, others go to the grave with us. The ones He presses us to release are the ones that are useful for another woman’s restoration process. Proverbs 31:8-9 says “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice.” Some women are completely crippled from their pasts and are so bound down that they can’t even begin to bring themselves to confessing. That’s where we come in, especially when we feel the pressing of the Holy Spirit to share something from our own life. Revelation 12:11 says that we defeat the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. It’s in the power of transparency that we give women the power in “me too.” When we choose to reveal our hurts, though we may not know the impact of our decision, we set the stage for other women to gain the courage and say “me too.

Dear sisters, God loves us so much. He wants nothing more than for us to be made whole and healed. My hope and prayer is that you can come to a place that you are courageous enough to act on the pressing and give someone else the gift of “me too. Blessings!!

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