The Story Shame is Telling…

Do you ever start to feel sad but aren’t sure what’s going on?  Or want to give up, feeling overwhelmed and discouraged but you look at the day and wonder, “Where did that come from?!”

I know for me it’s one thing when someone does something that elicits a shame response, it’s not too hard to make the connection with what’s going on and why I’m reacting now that I’m more aware of shame’s presence in my life and in the world around me.  But there are a lot of times, I’m beginning to realize, I experience shame, that feeling not being enough, wanting to pull back, feeling really down about myself and discouraged, but I can’t pinpoint what happened.   I just know my emotions have plummeted and left me not in a good place!

Has this week’s chapter ever been helping me better understand this!  It’s like discovering whole new experiences of shame, but it’s still a bit more fuzzy…

Once again there’s a ton of treasure in this week’s chapter.  If you’d like to hear what’s been helping me process it – and keep growing in this journey to understand and with Jesus’ help rise above shame, check out this video:

Read:  Chapter Five in The Soul of Shame.  I highly encourage you to take notes again using paper squares and then take time to arrange them in your journal.  I did this twice and found it off the charts helpful for digesting the material this week.

Art Journal Ideas:  Here’s a video featuring a way to make your own washi tape using masking tape and acrylic paint and use it to create neat art journal pages!

Please remember you don’t need to do this!!!  Though I really do encourage you to create an art journal page based on what the Lord’s highlighted for you!  Even if you just create a 30 second sketch it will be so helpful in processing and recalling.

And if you have more time, feel free to create more than one page!  The more I do, the more this is getting from my head into my heart and making an impact in my life!

But how can we ever hope to be known when the enemy has so effectively been using and continues to use Shame in our lives even in ways we’re not aware of to prevent this from happening?  Here’s hope…!!!

Consider:  2 Corinthians 10:4-5.  What hope does this give us?  Another verse I enjoyed in a shared quiet time this week relating to this chapter was John 10:10.  Remember to:

LOOK:  (read until one verse stands out to you then write that one verse or part of a verse down)

LISTEN:  (write down your observations about the verse and any questions you may want to ask the Lord about it – then record whatever thoughts come to mind!)

LIVE IT OUT:  (what difference does the Lord want what you’ve taken in to make in your life?  How is He leading you to respond?)

 

Create an Application Page:

I’ll be honest, when I started my application page, I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d end up doing!  The process of creating the page actually helped me refine and further think and pray through what I was going to do!

Again, you don’t need to make a fancy page!  Just writing down your application in your journal is a huge step towards making it happen!  But if you have time, I am finding there really can be great benefit creatively processing your application as you make your page!  Plus, it’s more fun to share with others so I find I get to review it a bunch more than I would if it was just written down! :0)

But please feel total freedom to do or not do whatever works best for you!  Bottom line – the most important thing of all, is to follow Jesus!

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WARNING!!!  If you do an application similar to mine where you ask the Lord to reveal the story shame is telling you, beware!  A shame storm may very well be heading your way!  At least that’s what I’m finding this week!  But am I ever getting ample opportunities to dig deep with Jesus and begin to understand the story of shame that’s at the root of this.  I’ve been finding it so helpful to write down in a notebook each time I experience a symptom – whether it’s saying something like “I can’t do this anymore!” (the ones I wrote down on my art journal page) or just finding myself suddenly feeling down.  At first these really caught me off guard and I was sinking back into reacting and being emotionally hijacked, but then it dawned on me – of course this is the answer to my prayers!  And it really has been proving an amazing way to dig deep – not just mentally but in real life!  And in that moment of recognizing this, I have the opportunity to take those thoughts captive and replace them with the true story God is telling me!!!  So it’s a hard week that is actually turning out to be amazing!!!  Please understand, I’m not warning you against doing this – I’m so glad I’m doing it!  But thought I’d issue this warning just to give you a heads up so you aren’t caught off guard like I was and instead end up able to more quickly rebound with Jesus!