{we are vessels}

The truth sometimes looks like this...

Its scary. And we hide from it. 

But we all desperately need it.

Last weekend I taught my first Discovering Your Truth workshop, and I was surprised to find myself feeling both humbled and fulfilled at the same time...with a bit more weight on the humbled side. 

I shared on my vlog the other day about the idea that we often want to teach others the same lessons we ourselves need to learn...a concept I picked up from this lovely blog. And maybe it was because my workshop fell during a time period when I was already feeling particularly raw because of how hectic life had been, but I found myself falling into the role of student right along with everyone else. 

It was surprising to me that after the workshop, and even still lingering today, I feel more vulnerable and self-conscious than I feel empowered. I feel a sense of joy that the women who came left our shared space with encouraged hearts and something that they made with their own two hands to remind them of that. But at the same time I felt like, "How am I qualified to be teaching this?" and "What the heck am I doing here?"

Maybe this is the way it is supposed to be. When we feel so led to teach others something that is burning in our hearts, that desire isn't solely our own. This creativity that flows inside of me isn't something of my own making. I have to remind myself of that. And that realization comes with a healthy does of humility.

I'm simply a vessel for the work that God wants me to do in the world. 

I honestly believe it is our deep responsibility to cultivate our gifts...to honor God by sharing them with others. 

That doesn't mean it will come easy to us...I think if it does then maybe we aren't digging deep enough. This also brings me back to my vlog and the idea of stretching ourselves. I truly feel that the only way we are going to grow is if we take a few steps, or even a giant leap, outside of our comfort zone to cultivate the talents we've been entrusted with. 

Am I good at that? Not even close. In fact, I'll be the first to admit that my default tends to be the path most traveled, instead of the least. 

But I know I owe it to Him to give it a shot.

We are the vessels but we also have to do the work to bring our talents out of hiding. 

My friend Hannah talked here about how we all go through seasons of our talents being hidden...for one reason or another they need to lie dormant...but to have hope and believe that when the time is right we will be given the opportunity to let them come up through the surface like a plant breaking through the soil. {Go read her post...it is wonderful.}

I feel like it is my time to break through that ground, and that is both exciting and scary at the same time. I wonder if I will be able to do my talents justice, or if I'll fall flat on my face. But all any of us can do is have hope in His plan for us, listen to that small voice leading us in the right direction, and surround ourselves with people that encourage and want the best for us. 

Whew! So if you've made it through all that, here is a little photo recap of my workshop. It was such a fun time with some great ladies {including my Mom!}

That lady up there....that's Amy, and she is AMAZING, for lack of a better word. She helped me lead the workshop and has been my biggest encourager throughout this process. 

I am already planning my next class and find myself actually looking forward to feeling vulnerable, to being a student, to even being scared...because those are the times we grow the most.

Linking up with...

{discovering your truth}

I'm a perfectionist.

There is no hiding it.

I was reminded of that fact at work today. I had one of my big conferences that takes up a lot of my time and energy. I make sure that everything goes...well...perfectly of course.

So when one of the attendee's name tags was spelled wrong, I started verbally bashing myself in the head. Until one of my volunteers stopped me, told me to take a deep breath, and let it go. It wasn't the end of the world for goodness sake. Right?

So she had to use a sharpie to make herself a new name tag. Did it ruin her experience at the conference? I should hope not.

We all have times when we sabotage ourselves, don't we? We can be our own worst critic.

For me, the two main areas so far in my life that I tend to be the hardest on myself have been my work performance {or school when I was younger}, and my physical appearance.

The physical appearance part began around junior high. I was tall, super skinny, had glasses AND braces. Oh boy it was a bit of a mess.

As I grew up I grew into my body and I was happy with what I saw. And then...many years later...I became pregnant with twins. And the last 4 1/2 years have provided more body image anxiety than I ever thought I would have. There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not self-consious about my stomach. Not an hour to be honest. It is almost always on my mind. Some days I try to celebrate it's wrinkles and stretch marks. Other days I curse them. It has gotten easier but it is still a struggle for me.

But one thing I have learned over the past few years is how powerful the words we speak to ourselves can be. They can literally change the person we are. How we treat ourselves and even more powerfully, how we treat others. And women can be the WORST at this. We judge each other like nobody's business. We point out each other's flaws and faults, and I believe this is only done as a way of making ourselves feel better about ours.

Maybe I'm weird but I've always actually felt better about myself when I see a women with a stomach like mine. But I'm not judging her for it...instead I feel like we have a strange sort of bond. It is comforting to know that we all have "flaws"...imperfections that make us unique. That make us HUMAN. And that is how we should relate to each other. Seeing others with all of their quirks and loving them because of those things that make them, well, THEM.

We should be encouraging ourselves to accept...even embrace...our imperfections. And when we do that we can start to do the same for others, right?

What am I getting at with all of this rambling?

It has been on my mind and in my heart for the past few years to share my creative talents in a way that can be encouraging and supportive to others. I love creating. I love people. And I love helping others  feel good about themselves.

And so this was born...

I'm teaching my first workshop in April and I couldn't be more excited!

It will be a mix of guided journaling prompts and art collage, with the goal of creating a set of "your truth" cards to be a visual reminder of what an awesome person you are.

We all need that reminder, right?

Here are some sample cards I created...

All of the supplies will be provided for participants to make their own set of cards using fun patterned paper and magazine images and text. These cards are such a great reminder when you are having a bad day or need a little extra encouragement.

You can get all of the details on the workshop HERE. 

If you are near the Richmond, Indiana area I would love to have you join me!

And let's be kind to ourselves and to others, OK?

I truly believe everything good in the world begins there.