• My victories are worth celebrating
• My victories are worth celebrating
• My victories are worth celebrating
• My victories are worth celebrating
• My victories are worth celebrating

Hiding. It has to stop. Hiding behind failure and inadequacy is habitual; it’s where I feel safe. Unknown, unseen, unloved hurts, but it hurts less than the arrows of judgment and criticism. And yet, I’m tired of playing small. The isolation is suffocating. Stepping out of the shadows of past shame is scary; it’s frightening as heck. Still, my heart longs for connection, yearns for understanding. Can anyone understand? Does anyone else know how hard it is to speak when no one has ever listened? The prophets of old spoke wise words that fell on deaf ears, or worse. The ground soaked in their blood because the people didn’t want to hear what they had to say. I don’t want to speak words that merely tell people what they want to hear. My work is to speak truth, speak love, and speak life. Let others throw stones. I’ll celebrate with choirs of angels at each step forward I take. If I don’t celebrate my victories, no one else is likely to. Conviction is a gift I no longer have the privilege to refuse.