Wildflower Writes

Photo by  Cade Prior  on  Unsplash Two different podcasters today told me I should be more vulnerable. One was a pastor, encouraging people to confess their faults, fears, failures, and feelings in the context of authentic relationships. To be a person of integrity, you have to be real with people. Without taking risks in relationships, you can’t grow as a person. Another was a therapist, counseling a businesswoman how to mitigate a conflict. Part of his advice was to acknowledge what she agreed with, and to take responsibility for her part in the conflict. This requires humility and honesty. Vulnerability is hard. The word itself means susceptible to harm. If you open yourself up to others, you’re more likely to get hurt. You’re also more likely to know that people like you for who you really are. As any adventure enthusiast would tell you, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.

Photo by  Erda Estremera  on  Unsplash I heard a story today about a young pastor and his family who were planning a move to their new church two days before their first Sunday. It was an 8-hour drive. Everything was packed. The truck was rented. Then, chaos. The truck broke down before it even got to the house. They got it up and running, but it broke down again on the way. After a hotel stay and much discussion, it was decided the only option was to tow the moving truck and its trailer with the family car all the way to its destination. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to get to the church by Sunday morning. Everything that had been planned by their new congregation had to be rescheduled. All they could do was move forward and plan for the next week. You would think that working around canceled plans would be second nature to us by now, but it’s still disappointing when we plan on something and it falls through. Especially when it’s beyond our control. I’ve noti...