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Where Do You Go to Fall Apart?
By Julie | April 9, 2008
Last night, one of Women of Faith buddies reminded me of one of the most powerful messages I’d heard at the conference this year. She told me, “I bawled when Sheila Walsh said, ‘where do you go to fall apart?’” I just nodded knowingly and said, “I about cried too.” That sentiment, and Sheila Walsh’s entire performance touched me the most out of everything said at the conference: Where do you go to fall apart?
Shelia Walsh, I think, is my favorite Women of Faith speaker, though I like several so it’s hard to say. At this year’s conference she told a few very humorous stories, which led to her confessing that her family had had a couple really difficult years. She didn’t go into detail. But these events led her to wonder, “Where do you go to fall apart?”
In my own life, this is a tough question for me to answer. All it takes is one time falling apart to the wrong person, then listening to them ridicule you, to never want to fall apart in the presence of another human again.
In her quest for the right answer, Shelia Walsh studied the life of Jesus. She discovered that he did fall apart. If you don’t believe that? Read about what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was so distraught that he wept tears of blood. But when Jesus really needed to lose it, he didn’t seek comfort from others. He went off to be by himself, and poured his out heart in prayer. From those moments, God gave him strength to face his next trial. After Jesus’ outpouring to his Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, God gave him enough strength to conquer the cross. Along with every insult and beating he had to endure before he got there.
I have been way too dependant on other people to help me through some of the obstacles in my life. Some of them have been wonderful to me. Others have ripped me apart, and made what I was dealing with SO MUCH WORSE. It has taught me to spend more time in prayer, giving more of myself to God. Because people may let us down, but he never will. At times someone has made me feel like everything I was facing was completely my fault, and completely pointless to rise above. But, when I spend time in prayer, I am overwhelmed by how kind, how loving, and nurturing God is. Suddenly, obstacles I had no idea how to get through don’t even seem to matter much. He doesn’t always take all your problems away, but he does love you through them.
Topics: Awesome People, Encouragement | No Comments »
