Uninvited
Let's talk about rejection.
Today I'm gonna be completely real with you. I read a book last month by Lysa Terkheurst that completely cracked my DIY protective shell. Uninvited talks about how seeds of rejection grow in our hearts and impacts our daily lives. Reading Lysa's story brought me back to the most burning moment of rejection I ever experienced:
“I don’t love you like you love me. I can’t see myself being your husband one day.”
I'd tucked those words away like a lost gift card in my purse. Forgetting they ever existed, but carrying them around with me ever where I went. That break up was such a pivotable moment in my womanhood, but I've been pretending that it was no big deal since 2011. I've had plenty of rejections in love & life before and after that particular moment, but that one stung like no other. Revisiting those words, and the feelings that accompanied them while reading this book enabled me to learn valuable lessons.
charging your present for your past
This book is for you if you've ever found yourself charging someone in your present for the mistakes of people from your past. Lysa talks about how even after being married for over 20 years, if her husband does something so simple as not immediately returning her text, she'll make up an affair in her head. That's insane! But so familiar to me because I do it all the time. No matter the foundation of trust that I've built, I still have let my previous rejections lead me to be skeptical of my present. It's such a self-sabotaging thing to do, and it always creeps up when I'm closest to getting exactly what I prayed for.
False evidence appearing real
This book is for you if you're ever created a completed alternate story in your head based on a small piece of reality. One of my favorite stories in the book is about Lysa's paranoia about a woman she'd never had a conversation with. She was convinced this woman hated her simply because she took a phone call on the treadmill one day. Later on, she discovered that this was completely untrue. I can't tell you how many times I've assumed I knew what someone thought about me and never checked with them to see if I was right. How many opportunities have we missed by believing a lie we told ourselves?
learning to live loved
This book is for you if you have ever felt like you have to work hard to earn someone's love. My favorite quote from the book is "God's love isn't based on me, it's simply placed on me." We do so much to get and maintain love from people, that we forget that no matter what we do (or don't do!) God loves us more than we can ever imagine. Fully embracing and remember this totally transforms our self-worth. Living loved means knowing that your cup is filled & refilled by God alone and rejection can't stop Him from doing that!
