When the blinds were closed it stayed dark. The darkness I knew seemed darker than the shadow that covers the night sky. When the blinds are closed no one can see in. When no one can see in, there is no way out. There is no one who steps in to save you. Everything is hidden. Your pain is hidden. Your tears are hidden. Even you are hidden. So much happens behind those closed blinds. Some of those things are even too hard to talk about. To talk about them is to walk back in the room. Some people know the freedom of exploring their pain to get to the healing. For me the process is so heartbreaking. It feels like walking across hot asphalt on your tiptoes. To go through is the only way to get to the other side. To walk through the pain, get to the root, and heal these places of fear, I have to be willing to try something different.
You see my life has been like those closed blinds. Freedom exists just on the other side. If I would open up I would experience the light. Yet I remain closed and everything inside of me stays hidden. Yet how do you open up when you are afraid? How do you let the light in, when the light just shines on all that has been dark. How do you heal when so much pain has been hidden?
Here at Acres of Hope I am seeing so many brave women open the blinds in their lives. I see their faces change. The smiles upon their faces, and it makes me have hope that in time I will be able to open the blinds of my life too. For now My hand is on the switch and I am slowly turning the dial and watching the blinds begin to reveal what it is meant to do. Shine the light in. When the blinds were fully closed, I sat in the dark relishing my pain. Today I am letting the light start to peek through. I am sure in time I will be fully open. For now little light please come in and change me.
A Woman of Hope
Please pray for the women and children of Acres of Hope that are changing their lives.