Lies Revealed

One day a student of mine came in late with a tired look on her face. As she sat staring in space for a minute, I gave her time to decompress. After a while I asked if it had been a tough morning. She smiled wearily and commented,’ Miss, you wouldn’t understand.’ Smiling, I asked why she thought I wouldn’t. She shrugged her shoulder. I thought this was a fitting moment to share some of my struggles- and I did. My students didn’t know most of my story- not just as a professional. They didn’t know my journey as a woman, a mother, and as an immigrant.

My students have never seen me sad or in pain. Even though I show up and teach in pain and sadness many times. I’ve mastered the art of ‘doing what I have to do’ with a smile. How often do we ‘mislabel’ others or have a misinformed version of their reality. In the picture above, it appears I am in a movie scene with The Rock . I am not. Our eyes can easily be fooled. Many of us who are labeled ‘strong’ are simply operating in survival mode. We do it so well, others don’t detect the fight behind our smiles.

So often we buy into the lies that people are beyond breaking when they are simply on the edge holding on for dear life, feeling like they are about to fall off. What we can see from our vantage point is often skewed or distorted. If you’ve lived on God’s green earth long enough, lies are eventually revealed. We don’t always have it together – my pillow tells the stories you can’t handle. When I see broken humanity sprawled out on the streets of our cities, I know there goes I- but for the grace of God. I’ll never fool myself. My strength has never been my own – I only found it when I found Jesus. And that’s the truth!

The Truth

The beauty struts with head held high Burdened with insecurities Every morning she takes up her accessories of fear and doubt She wears them well They have become her constant companion Her tear-stained face
Painted with colors
Masking the weariness of her soul
She longs to tell the truth
But fears lowering her guard
Everyone expects grit and fight
Today she longs to curl up like a baby
She longs to be held
Tired of the constant battles
Longing to lay her weapons down
You see strength
She knows the truth
She is stuck in survival mode
Who will release her
Freeing her to breathe
To just be

***Thanks for reading – Maybe, like me some days you just want to wave that white flag and sit.