Words have power. Sometimes when we can’t speak the words out loud, we can still harness their power by writing them. Sometimes just reading the words of Scripture can speak their power into our souls.
Words reveal truth. My writer-daughter says she often doesn’t know what her characters will say or do until the words are already written. Me? I like to plan out every word. I start with an idea, then move to an outline, and then begin the actual drafting.
My journal, however, is a different story (pun intended!). I sit down with a cup of hot tea, my Bible, a pen, and my well-worn journal. Occasionally I know that I need to vent my feelings about a particular event or conversation, but often I just know that I need to release my bound emotions. And out come all sorts of emotions and thoughts that I didn’t even realize I had. Writing–and then reading over my own writing–enables me to process my emotions more effectively.
My journal also has the power to reveal wrong thinking patterns. When brought to light, I can pray more specifically for healing from these damaging emotions. I’m currently participating in an online Bible study utilizing a new book, When a Woman Finds Her Voice, by JoAnn Fore. JoAnn leads by example and encourages readers to release their emotions appropriately in order to find healing.
For so long, I’ve kept so many emotions and details of my life hidden because of shame and fear. I’ve been told, in fact, that it was difficult to be my friend in the past because I seemed too perfect. I wasn’t trying to be perfect; I was just trying to be liked. I was hurt by that comment, but I needed to hear it. It validates my longing for a like-minded community where I can safely, without judgment, unburden my soul to find healing.
I’m tired of being perfect. I’m ready to journey toward emotional freedom. What about you? Are you ready to join me in unbinding my emotional mess? Are you ready to release your own emotional baggage?
Bethany LaShell 
Well, I finally found the comment button. Anyway, this is a good post, daughter. I love you. Dad
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Drop the bags and run free! I love your post, and I’m ready for that freedom. Glad you are on this journey with us! Bless you!
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Writing out thoughts and prayers is a powerful tool that helps to clarify the mind and cleanse the soul. Thank you so much for sharing this part of your story as it brings encouragement.
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Perfection is a terrible trap to fall into. Great encouragement to escape that trap. Writing can indeed be the beginning of that journey. Blessings.
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I completely understand what you mean about trying to be liked. I found myself always performing to people’s expectations, my father’s expectation of perfection in all things as he was “a proud man who does not want to be shamed” as he would say. My mother’s expectation to be seen and not heard, external expectations to be slim, to be pretty as they would accept prettiness to be, to conform, my abusers expectations to do as they want and not say anything to anyone or fight back….the list goes on. I didn’t even know who I was as I had never had a time where I didn’t experience the above. I’m still learning to find out who I am as God walks me through this process of finding my voice. Grateful to know that you and others are walking along with me and that we are all doing this together.
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“that it was difficult to be my friend in the past because I seemed too perfect.” That is such a thought provoking statement, Bethany. For me it reflects the underlying urge to prove that I was “good”. Being good at something was a way of externalizing this inner thought, cry actually, that I had carried since childhood, when I was bewildered at being punished for doing something I never anticipated as being ‘bad’. It’s not so much about trying to be perfect as it is about avoiding be reminded that we might not be ‘good’, good enough, wouldn’t you say? Thanks for sharing, meg
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