As we move about in life, there are times when we are not our best selves.  Moments when your wounds are more in control of your responses than your true heart.  Flashes when the surroundings are too similar to a prior scary moment, and you are triggered.  When the shouting is directed at you, and you hurt as if you were a powerless five-year-old getting beaten with a leather belt.

The following blessing is for the moments that disclose where we need the Great Healer.  Allow Jesus to gently move into those incredible tender areas of your mind, heart, soul, and body.  He comes in love and with healing.

And may you find strength and grace to be that which is not extended to you.  May you be what you do not receive, and may you know this is the best way to live.  May your responses and actions be more to you than approval of parents, siblings, and employer. May your life be lived with the vast understanding that a compulsively loving God is the only approval you need.   And may you find a deeper sense of you, the true you, in the actions of a loving response.

Illustration used by permission from artist Wayne Pascall. View his collection at www.waynepascallart.com.