Day 34: Speak Truth

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)