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Have you ever been in the situation where through the way someone else behaved you got confirmation of a decision you made.

I decided to forgive.

I didn't know why I chose, I had enough ammunition to walk away, to not engage, to run.

I knew there was a bigger reason in the choosing, that was brought home in some backsliding, sharing, honesty and truth.

BUT

I think I still had the ticket, I don't think I tore up the ticket out of the situation.

And then I talked, it started in June and has been rolling ever since. I talked again last week.

A normally highly verbose group reduced to silence, sharp intakes of breath at the description of a wound. Empathy oozed. 

When you see that smiley person, unless they tell you, you cannot know what is underneath. We are like icebergs.

BUT

when we talk, share, real raw "warts and all" honesty, when we bear our inner core, when we become vulnerable to people, then we see palpable signs of God's amazing grace, his bottomless mercy and overwhelming love.

We see it in others.

There was a time when I baulked at the sight of human judgement. When people told me I wasn't Christian because ...When people made assumptions based on what they thought the "backstory" was. When I avoided sharing so people would like me. When I got things pear-shaped.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to us all. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. (1Corinthians 10:13)

As a child of God I am not immune to temptation but I try really hard to walk away from it. There are images floating in my head I would rather weren't there. There is a default coping mechanism I'd rather it wasn't my first thought when facing crises.

BUT

When I saw one of the listeners from my talk hug a person they only knew through my talk I began to grin. I have been grinning ever since. 

God's unconditional love expressed by his children.

 How can I not share no matter how difficult?