cling.

this semester, B and i talked about the importance of discerning who to tell your story & important parts of your life to. making sure that the receiver can not only appreciate the words and stories you offer, but also, if wanting to relate to it, to relate in a comparable way... not in a way that shares a story for the sake of pretending to know how the sharer feels.

this morning i read this "journal entry" from a little book i'm reading and it was encouraging to realize in B's and my desire to share pearls and recognize pearls, we're not alone in that desire and realization.

from cling to the promise in the inner voice of love by henri nouwen.

do not tell everyone your story. you will only end up feeling more rejected. people cannot give you what you long for in your heart. the more you expect from people's response to your experience of abandonment, the more you will feel exposed to ridicule.
you have to close yourself to the outside world so you can enter your own heart and the heart of God through your pain. God will send you to the people with whom you can share your anguish, who can lead you close to the true source of love.
God is faithful to God's promises. before you die, you will find the acceptance and the love you crave. it will not come in the way you expect. it will not follow your needs and wishes. but it will fill your heart and satisfy your deepest desire. there is nothing to hold on to but this promise. everything else has been taken away from you. cling to the naked promise of faith. your faith will heal you.

-h.n.

so although this isn't exactly what we talked about, i thought it was nice because he also had the realization of throwing pearls to swine. it took a difficult time in his life to come to some of the self-realization-entries he writes in "the inner voice of love." but the important part is, he did and i'm sure that coming to the realization of where he had invested much, expected more, and lost a lot, ultimately pushed him to cling to the faith he had in J.