PostSecret

You probably have heard of the PostSecret phenomenon, in which people anonymously confess a secret they have never told anyone on postcard and mail it to a man named Frank Warren. Frank then displays these postcards on this website
http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

Some of the secrets are funny, some are strange or scary and some are just heartbreaking. Thousands of people have mailed their secrets into a man that they don't even know, to be posted online for the world to read. Why?
My reactions to this have varied widely. When I first learned of this website I was intrigued. It was so fascinating to me to see what people would confess to total strangers. I then was annoyed that people would even do this and that someone would put all that effort into creating a website and several books that contain peoples most private confessions for what I understood to be entertainment. That was several years ago when I first learned of the project. I have recently come across the website again and this time my eyes and heart have been awakened to see it for so much more. It is a community. Isn't that what we all long for? To be in honest relationship with others? To feel like we are not alone or that different from someone else out there? I realized that this is a way to be seen and heard. A way for people to experience a sense of release from these things that they have hidden so deep within themselves. These postcards remind us to be sensitive to those around us, because we never really know what someone is going through. I also watched a video of Frank Warren speaking about the project. He now goes around and uses this as a platform to speak to people about embracing who they are. On his website he explains that through this project people's lives have been changed and even saved. People have been touched by what others have written or have found comfort in the thought that someone else understands where they have been. My heart still breaks when I read some of the postcards, but now instead of casting judgement, I pray for the person who wrote that secret, because I have a relationship with a God that can provide all this website does and so much more and I hope one day the person experiences that freedom as well.

Another Thankful Thursday Post....
Today I am thankful for this for this little guy...

Who turned into this man...

This handsome man is my older brother, whom I love more than words can express.
As you can see, he taught me how to ride a bike and has taught me so many other things throughout life thus far. We may have fought growing up, but I always knew he had my back.
I am thankful that now we are so much more than siblings...we are friends. He is kind and hardworking and so much braver than I think he realizes. He has the greatest sense of humor and a laugh that is contagious!
So today I am thankful for B (as well call him) and all that he brings to my life and to those lives around him :)

Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday again, which means another Thankful Thursday post!

Today I am thankful for:

-Absolutely beautiful weather. It's sweatshirt season, which is my favorite! The sun was shining and it was breezy...Amazing.

-Friends who I can completely be myself with...no judgement, no trying to persuade me to be one way or another, they love me if I am silly, sad, angry, cranky, sappy, happy or serious....just pure acceptance and love.

-Days off from work, to sleep in and enjoy being at home.

Thankful Thursdays...

For the last couple of months I have been following the blog of a woman who celebrates Thankful Thursdays. Each week, on Thursday she takes time out of her busy life to pause and be grateful for what God has given her. In an effort to realize the gifts that God has blessed my life with and follow the command that is laid out for us in scriptures to give thanks I am now celebrating Thankful Thursdays on my blog as well. Sometimes it may be silly little things that make me smile, or huge blessings that He has bestowed upon me, either way I have so much to be thankful for.
Today I am thankful for.....

A job that I adore and allows me to explore the passions that my Lord has placed in my heart. Even when I am stressed to the max, I can't help but be thankful for the fact that I get to watch God bring families together.

I am thankful for Co-workers who are also friends- who support me in my professional life and my personal life.

Opportunities to learn more about who God is and see him in ways that are new and fresh. Most recently for me, this has happened through reading The Shack and through hearing some of my close friends talk about their callings to the ministry.

Please feel free to join in celebrating Thankful Thursday on your blog!