When you learn to hear your story through a new narrative, you can move toward becoming the person of God who is confident in his or her identity as God’s child and lives out of that. You can begin to believe you have a good Father. When you make these moves, ruins are rebuilt, identities are shed, and the kingdom of God moves forth on the earth with the power to rebuild the ancient ruins and heal.

I do not know the structure of your scaffolding to help you make the most of your days, but I know who does. If you take the time to be alone and see what your soul wears, see what you need to do to keep walking in the desert places, He will show you. Secure scaffolding provides a safe place for good work and healing to begin.   

He doesn’t want your perfect house, or your perfect meals, or your perfect party, or your perfect Christmas card, or even your perfect family.  He wants your heart.  And as you give it to Him, He will give you Himself and help you to give His peaceful presence to others throughout Christmas. 

For many, this year may have felt like one long season of winter or loss – a loss of dreams, loss of hopes, or loss of a beloved family member.  But even though we have all experienced loss this year in one way or another, what the prophet Isaiah reminds us is that we have all been given a son.

His goal for me in this life was not for me to stop making messes; instead, I was to sit down at the table of His grace and mercy every time I made a mess. I was to sit down at a place He had already prepared for me because of the messes He knew I would make.

Earned secure attachment occurs step by step, minute by minute, and mile by mile when we tell our stories to an empathetic listener who invites us to see them through a different lens.