Children should be seen and not heard,
and that is who I was.
Moms should be seen and not heard,
and that is who I was.
Joni should be seen and not heard
and that is who I was
as I believed that I was
being a good Christian girl
and just turned the other cheek
and blamed myself for everything.
I believed that if I could
perform perfectly
for anyone who asked
then I would be SEEN and HEARD.
I have a new story
for all of those who are in hiding
thinking that they should not be SEEN and HEARD.
There is SOMEONE who SEES you and HEARS you
and LOVES you
and wants you to stop hiding
WAITING to be SEEN and HEARD.
I was called the "Girl With The Curl" (Longfellow),
meaning
that when I was good, I was really good,
but when I was bad, I was really bad,
so I grew up with a black and white mentality.
There was no grey.
So if I was called bad, then I had to be good,
therefore
I would do everything to be a better good,
yet good was never good enough
because I could always be better.
I carried this into my motherhood
trying to be the perfect mother,
but never good enough.
I carried this into all I did,
just following all the rules
yet never following them good enough.
When I would speak
TRUTH,
I was told to be SEEN and not HEARD.
When I speak TRUTH,
I am still told to be SEEN and not HEARD.
As I am a heart person,
I took and I do take everyone's words to heart,
so I believed I was not good enough
because
unless Joni does the dance of perfection and performance,
she better be unseen and unheard.
Today I look back over my life
realizing that
because I have tried to be the good girl
I have protected so many
who have abused me emotionally & verbally.
I have turned the other cheek,
to a point where I wanted to protect those who hurt me~
because isn't that what a good Christian girl does?
There is new girl in town
GOD'S beloved DAUGHTER
whose
ABBA FATHER doesn't like when HIS DAUGHTER
or any of HIS DAUGHTERS & SONS
are treated unjust.
GOD is just. It is HIS responsibility to bring TRUTH and settle all wrongdoings.
So what do we do?
We FORGIVE.
We continue to give GRACE.
Yet we don't become a doormat,
when instead we are to be a
DOORWAY
who points all to JESUS CHRIST who
stands at the door
and welcomes ALL who come,
even the abusers.
I sit here at the age of 60
and the scales are finally removed from my eyes
as I have lost much
because I have remained silent,
yet I have gained so much
because my GOD SEES me and HEARS me
and has sent HIS SON to make me
HIS DAUGHTER,
an HEIR
who
HE will welcome into eternity with a smile on HIS face
with no questions asked
because HE knows
that I am covered by the blood of the ONE who bled for me
and for everyone else,
making all of us
way better
than good and good enough
because IN HIM we are
PERFECTLY IMPERFECT.
I am sorry to all of those in my life who have chosen not to be in life
because I stand for JESUS.
I will continue to turn the other cheek.
I will continue to FORGIVE,
and I will also continue to speak HIS TRUTH
and treat you with GRACE.
So to all who are being abused.
So to all who are being slandered.
So to all who are being falsely accused,
yet are remaining silent
just because you think you are doing the right thing
by thinking that you are to be SEEN and not HEARD~
that is a lie.
Speak up & BE SEEN
by THE ONE who SEES you and HEARS you
and continue to stand for TRUTH,
and do not allow anyone
to put you in a box
because you are standing for
HIS TRUTH
because of
HIS AMAZING GRACE
that we can't contain inside
because it is HIS to be shared.
So
will you join with me and
keep
SPEAKING TRUTH
by
SPEAKING JESUS
and
MOVING FORWARD
by
WALKING IN TRUTH~
"Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me,
or seen in me—put it into practice. And the GOD of peace will be with you" (Philippians 4:9)
so that we are
PEACEFULLY REJOICING
through our LIFE JOURNEY
proclaiming the saving
GRACE of JESUS
that is to be HEARD
because
you can't contain it
&
you can't keep quiet
because
HE makes you want to
"SING" (listen to the song below)