Spring oh well within my soul......

I heard someone say something today the caused my heart to leap, jump and skip about.  She said this, “Your soul was never intended to be killed”.  She went on to talk about how my soul had inside of it so many beautiful and creative gifts from the Lord.  

I have to be honest and say that for me, this has been a place of struggle and there have been wounds that only the love of God could heal.  I had never heard this coming from “the church” until today.  This is not to say that I have never had it spoken into my life from those who chose to walk along side me as I healed my own soul.  I have, and am deeply grateful for those who did.  

The other statement that so spoke to my heart (and my soul), was this, “Our body, spirit and soul, were never meant to be separated.  There were meant to be reconciled so that there would be a greater flow”. 

My soul is not “damaged goods” or something to be tossed to the side.  I cannot put aside certain places of struggle, hide them, or ignore them.  To be whole, I have to look at the whole picture, every part.  I realized a long time ago that it takes a great deal more energy to pretend “everything is ok, and all my parts are in excellent working order”, than to just be honest and say, “God is teaching me how to lean into His love today.”  To say this does not disqualify me from love or from ministry.  It actually sets up an open opportunity to share how I am learning and how that can impact the heart of another.  

I have this picture.... and of course I am going to share it, cause that is what this blog is for... 

If I had an actual well of water in my yard and wanted to use it, what would I need to do?  First I have to find where the spring is.  I have to dig down deep for my own well.  Once it is found, I need to get out all of the rocks, and dirt and other things that can clog up the flow.  Those things that can cause the water coming out to be undrinkable.  I need to “separate the water from the dirt”, or as she put it so well this morning, “extricate my soul from the old man... the wounds”.  Doing this can be the most painful or the most amazing journey a person can have.  Much of that comes from how safe we feel in the process of the journey.  Who is around us and what are they speaking into, over and around us as we make that journey.

When I am at a birth and I see a woman (or her husband) struggling, I don’t go up to her and say, “that looks so hard, are you sure you have the strength to do that?” or “You really don’t look good. This may be too much for you”.  The other thing I don’t do is walk away.  Even if I don’t say a word, my presence is there to speak encouragement, hope and strength.  When a struggle is identified, especially when you are the one who speaks out that struggle in another, you don’t just walk away.  That is not love.  That does not speak hope and a future.  Love stays.  Love says, “ I may not know what this journey will look like for you, but I do know that I will be here with you as you walk it out”.  If I see a woman laboring breathing from her chest and not her belly, I come to her and touch the spot where she needs to focus.  I help her with the direction. I don’t say, “you are breathing wrong... do it right”.  I look into her eyes and say, “ here, breath to my hand.  Breath to you baby.” 

Breath to your soul from your spirit.  Breath into that place and call it up out of the well.  Take the time today to speak that over yourself and those around you.  Find your well and dig.  Help someone around you find their well.  Encourage them to take the journey needed to clear the source of that living water.  Speak into their well.  Speak into their soul.  

"I've got a river of life flowing out of me,
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see,
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free,
I've got a river of life flowing out of me.

Spring up, O well, within my soul,
Spring up oh well, and make me whole,
Spring up, O well, and give to me,
That life, abundantly."

Spring up, O well, [Gush! Gush! Gush! Gush!], within my soul,
Spring up, O well, [Gush! Gush! Gush! Gush!], and make me whole!
Spring up, O well, [Gush! Gush! Gush! Gush!], and give to me,
That life, abundantly.