Are you a modern-day woman at the well? Do you face rejection?

Jesus did.

I do. We all do.

Here is a video that’ll speak to your heart. I have somthing to say afterward. After you watch, read my P.S. Thanks.

Question: What rejection do you face now?

You are loved!

P.S. I’m combining my two blogs into one. I just can’t do both well. Within the week this blog will fold into “The Sisterhood of Beautiful Warriors.” I’ll add your names to the Beautiful Warrior blog subscription list. It is the second step of “Real Hurts, Real Hope,” focusing on your victory in Christ. Questions? Send me an email: Lucy@LucyAnnMoll.com

The other morning when I sing-songed, “Time to get dressed,” my able-bodied son groaned.

“Mom, can’t you help me?”

“Your pants are right there, John.”

“Help me put them on.”

“You’re 10 years old. Ten-year-old boys dress themselves.” I left the room. Within a few minutes, he bounded down the steps and into the kitchen. Pants on. Shirt on. Socks on. And, I presume, boxers on too.

Had I helped him dress, my unspoken message would have shouted, “You incompetent, kid! You can’t even do something as simple as pull on pants.”

When you comfort a friend — or she comforts you — do you cross a boundary and help her do what she can?

Respect her self-worth and yours: Help her only with what she cannot do.

This is an expression of real love.

You see this concept of boundary-setting all over Scripture. Among them, the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. An expert of the law asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered with this story to illustrate a biblical principle.

While a man (very likely a Jew) traveled from Jerusalem to Jericho, robbers jumped him. They took his clothes and beat him, leaving him half-dead at the side of the road. A priest passed on by, then a Levite. Finally, a Samaritan, considered scum by Jews, saw him and stopped.

Here’s a list of what the Samaritan did:

bandaged his wounds
treated his wounds with the “medicine” of the day
lifted him onto him donkey and brought him to an inn
nursed him for a day
paid for the man’s extended stay at the inn
paid the innkeeper to watch over him
promised to pay extra expenses when he returned

Here is the one thing we know he chose not to do: Halt his own travel plans. He didn’t think, “Poor guy, I better stay with him or else he may never get better, so I must stop everything for him. . .even if that means neglecting my family and my work.”

The Good Samaritan had good boundaries.

Good boundaries keep the good stuff in and let the bad stuff out.

After telling this parable, Jesus asked the expert in the Law, “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”

The expert in the Law said, “The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.”

This is what real love to is looks like.

Question: What does real love look like to you? Please leave a coment if you have a moment.

You Are Loved,

I’m taking a blogging break this week and am running some of your favorite posts. Enjoy. . .again.

Welcome to Real Hurts, Real Hope! I’ve had a place in my heart for this blog long before I thought of it. How do I know? Because you’ve been on my mind, my sweet sister in Christ.

For you I write. I understand, I’ve been there.

Real Hurts, Real Hope was born out of my own pain. Among them was the pain of loneliness and isolation. I’d go to church desiring friendship with godly women, but it seemed everyone was talking to everyone else and they knew the secret handshake or the secret password or whatever and I didn’t. I was the wallflower, just another pretty daisy lost in the lobby.

Can you relate?

Know this, my sweet sister: You are not alone in your emotional and spiritual struggles. You are not alone in the pain that tags along with your physical problems.

Here you are welcome. I encourage you to soak in God’s truth that you are valued, significant and loved. Our God is tender toward you, my sweet sister. He knows your name and has written it on the palm of his hand. He calls you – Beautiful.

Back in the early 1990s, I didn’t understand these biblical truths. . .and I was a follower of Christ. Depression had darkened my mood. Anxiety had rattled my mind too. On top of this tough stuff,  difficult memories jabbed me. Yes, there was my parents’ divorce but something even worse.

How could I tell anyone my pain? Especially women in the church who seemed to have it all together? 

Fast forward to 2000, the year of God’s specific call on my life.

A summer day. Sunny, a soft breeze. Me alone, in prayer.

God whispered to my heart: “Lucy, comfort my sheep who are hurting with the comfort you’ve received from me.”

“Who me?” I asked

“Trust me, Lucy.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Trust me.”

Like the fuzz of a dandelion, my arguments floated away and I said, “Okay, Lord.”

Since then I’ve ministered to hurting Chistian women and to the people who love them. Fearful women. Lonely women. Abused women. Women caught in addiction: shopping, alcohol, pornography. Women who’ve committed adultery. Women with hard pasts. Women like me. Like you.

And now our Lord has led me to write Real Hurts, Real Hope to reach more Chistian women with the truth that God cherishes you and wants to heal you.

Will you journey with me? You’re my dream come true.

You Are Loved!

It is a well-known fact among men that women

can,

at times,

be moody.

Men don’t get us. Even married guys don’t get their wives.

Really, how hard can it be?

If you could see me now, my mischievous smile (think: Cheshire cat) and wink would tell you I’m kidding.

But you knew that already.

Because you’ve been there.

I’m comfortable with crazy. The Hubs is not. I think he thinks I’m two Romaine leaves short of a Caesar salad. Bad joke.

He’d use other words:

All meant lovingly.

Of course.

Didya see that wink again?

“Why are you slamming cabinet doors, Lucy. You’ll break the hinges.”

So you care more about stupid hinges than my feelings.

SLAM. SLAM.  

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting.”

SLAM. SLAM.

No, I’m not overreacting.

SLAM.

I hurt. I can’t be a robot like you. Just because I feel emotions, Mr. Robot, doesn’t mean I’m weak or volatile or PMSing.

It means I’m real

and

I’m sick of stuffing emotions because stuffing emotions makes me sick

and I want to be whole

and hugged.

I need a sense of belonging.

Bad.

Question: What about you? Do you need a hug?