A few weeks ago at New Beginnings, the Lutheran church I help serve that meets inside the Denver Women’s Prison, we all said this call to worship written by Pastor Samm:
Nadia, I love how you leave space for the “after.” Not just the miracle moment, but the awkward Tuesdays that follow it. Because healing doesn’t stop the world from still calling you by your old name. It just gives you a new center to stand in while the labels keep flying.
And honestly, that’s the scandal of grace. Not that God heals, but that God keeps insisting we’re more than the categories other people use to manage their fear.
"I am not my past." When you visited Columbus, I remember you saying that it's the devil that reaches into our past to grab up just one mistake to show the world that's who we are. (May not be those exact words.) "we are becoming something new." Funny that I never quite fit in anywhere. God has healed me, is healing me, pruning and growing me, and I still don't quite fit in except for the misfit of believers I have found. What a blessing. I think of myself as a CIP (construction in process - accounting term).
This is the balm for my aching soul and mind today. We live in a world where people say "once a ________ always a ________" (fill in the blank). Jesus says no....that is not the truth. It's refreshing and freeing.
Even when they lived in a world that wanted them to remain the identified problem.
So grateful that I have a program and higher power that help me to see that I AM and continue to become, new and that another’s perception and promotion of me as the identified problem is their opinion, not fact, and truly none of my business.
It’s a bit disorienting to be in my own “after” story. Body and mind remember the old me automatically, but thankfully I have other “healed freaks” to remind me that I have a new story now. Thanks Nadia for sharing your insights and wisdom.
I love this so very much! The words are just poignant, and what I needed to hear today. Pastor Samm is a very dear friend of ours from WAY back (they used to babysit our sons, now 24 and 27!).
"We are becoming something new" gives us hope that all of us are a constant becoming, and God is always doing new things--some surprise us, some don't.
"Even when they lived in a world that wanted them to remain the identified problem" speaks volumes, personally, for me today. We don't own someone else's identified problem, and we live in a world of our own, guided by the God of our understanding. What others think of us, or want to identify us by, is none of our business. Thank-you. These words are extra special today, and give me inspiration to move through this life with hope. <3
Thank you for this reminder Nadia. I was blessed to attend a pilgrimage with Diana Butler-Bass in which she taught us how history changes based on perspective, new information etc. Since then I have endeavoured to see my personal history in a new way, with a new starting point of the strong women who came before me. It is not easy to change my perspective on a long held painful lens on who I am.
May all women who have experienced trauma know that we are not our past; may we open our eyes to the increasingly wise, strong and vibrant woman God is shaping us to be.
Nadia, What you so beautifully write here reminds me of what the brilliant Bryan Stevenson says so often: "We are all so much more than the worst thing we've ever done." Amen. I believe understanding this puts our feet on the ground to realize the promise of hope, grace and true community. Thank you for your wonderful post.
HEALED FREAKS!!! AMEN!!! THAT'S ME!!!! The bleeding woman and her friends. Shit, this is making me cry. I like to think that she had a few left. That they all get together and smile and have snacks and say, "Remember that time you were bleeding?"
Hello Nadia, I believe (and am trying hard to practice) that, in fact, we are surrounded by such people; the secret is in discovering how to recognize them. As it turns out, "they" are often (all too often, unfortunately) turn out to be the very ones we despise, we hate, the enemy. Ouch. Can we learn, can we practice dropping the stones and ? (We should wonder what "those guys" did after they walked away.)
Nadia, I love how you leave space for the “after.” Not just the miracle moment, but the awkward Tuesdays that follow it. Because healing doesn’t stop the world from still calling you by your old name. It just gives you a new center to stand in while the labels keep flying.
And honestly, that’s the scandal of grace. Not that God heals, but that God keeps insisting we’re more than the categories other people use to manage their fear.
"I am not my past." When you visited Columbus, I remember you saying that it's the devil that reaches into our past to grab up just one mistake to show the world that's who we are. (May not be those exact words.) "we are becoming something new." Funny that I never quite fit in anywhere. God has healed me, is healing me, pruning and growing me, and I still don't quite fit in except for the misfit of believers I have found. What a blessing. I think of myself as a CIP (construction in process - accounting term).
Wasn't she awesome in Columbus? 😊
This is the balm for my aching soul and mind today. We live in a world where people say "once a ________ always a ________" (fill in the blank). Jesus says no....that is not the truth. It's refreshing and freeing.
“I kind of only want to be around other people who also believe this.”
Me, too.
I need other people who believe like this to keep me from forgetting
Nadia, thank you for your unique perspective on the stories we may or may not have heard in our lives. You are a light in what can be a dark world.
Even when they lived in a world that wanted them to remain the identified problem.
So grateful that I have a program and higher power that help me to see that I AM and continue to become, new and that another’s perception and promotion of me as the identified problem is their opinion, not fact, and truly none of my business.
"The identified problem" as a recovering addict & alcoholic, I remember those words.... Today, thank you for the reminder- 💜🙏🦋
It’s a bit disorienting to be in my own “after” story. Body and mind remember the old me automatically, but thankfully I have other “healed freaks” to remind me that I have a new story now. Thanks Nadia for sharing your insights and wisdom.
I love this so very much! The words are just poignant, and what I needed to hear today. Pastor Samm is a very dear friend of ours from WAY back (they used to babysit our sons, now 24 and 27!).
"We are becoming something new" gives us hope that all of us are a constant becoming, and God is always doing new things--some surprise us, some don't.
"Even when they lived in a world that wanted them to remain the identified problem" speaks volumes, personally, for me today. We don't own someone else's identified problem, and we live in a world of our own, guided by the God of our understanding. What others think of us, or want to identify us by, is none of our business. Thank-you. These words are extra special today, and give me inspiration to move through this life with hope. <3
Thank you for this reminder Nadia. I was blessed to attend a pilgrimage with Diana Butler-Bass in which she taught us how history changes based on perspective, new information etc. Since then I have endeavoured to see my personal history in a new way, with a new starting point of the strong women who came before me. It is not easy to change my perspective on a long held painful lens on who I am.
May all women who have experienced trauma know that we are not our past; may we open our eyes to the increasingly wise, strong and vibrant woman God is shaping us to be.
I always love to get Nadia’s shares, especially when I’m not doing well because she makes me feel OK. Thank you, Fran Howell.
Maybe there ought to be a church called “Gathering of the Healed Freaks.” I’d go. 🧡
Nadia, What you so beautifully write here reminds me of what the brilliant Bryan Stevenson says so often: "We are all so much more than the worst thing we've ever done." Amen. I believe understanding this puts our feet on the ground to realize the promise of hope, grace and true community. Thank you for your wonderful post.
I like the name of your Church:
New Beginnings
It’s so full of hope.
That’s one main reason I so much loved to be pregnant.
Amazing that God says: I am doing something new- can’t you see it?
Like saying: hope never ends, because there will always be something new and beautiful and special to look forward to.
Ree from Germany
HEALED FREAKS!!! AMEN!!! THAT'S ME!!!! The bleeding woman and her friends. Shit, this is making me cry. I like to think that she had a few left. That they all get together and smile and have snacks and say, "Remember that time you were bleeding?"
Hello Nadia, I believe (and am trying hard to practice) that, in fact, we are surrounded by such people; the secret is in discovering how to recognize them. As it turns out, "they" are often (all too often, unfortunately) turn out to be the very ones we despise, we hate, the enemy. Ouch. Can we learn, can we practice dropping the stones and ? (We should wonder what "those guys" did after they walked away.)