OSL Stephen Ministries
Unraveling and Reknitting
Joan Bacon

Inevitably, it happens. Life, as we know it, changes. Sometimes we invite this change; other times change arrives uninvited due to circumstances beyond our control. Either way, life, and often our very sense of self, unravels.

In The Gifts of Imperfection, Brene Brown lists some of those unraveling points: marriage, divorce, becoming a parent, recovery, moving, midlife, the empty nest, retiring, experiencing loss or trauma, and working in a soul-sucking job. She describes the work in reknitting her life during a breakdown/spiritual awakening as messy and deep, slogging and exhausting, but a journey from which she emerged feeling different—more joyful, healthy, brave, calm, grounded, reconnected with family and friends, and significantly less anxious.

To me, Brown’s descriptions of both the journey through unraveling and the desired destinations feel accurate as does her book’s subtitle, Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are. They summarize what happened during my own unravelings, when I’ve had to let go of “supposed to” ideas about my life or myself and needed to find new visions and a more authentic sense of self.

Brown also offered a challenge: “Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” God is the source of that light, and God who “created my inmost being…and knit me together in my mother’s womb” most certainly can knit us back together when we unravel! If you are unraveling and would like a Stephen Minister to walk beside you offering compassionate, confidential, and Christian support, contact Pr. Tim Lemme (tlemme@oslchurch.com or 336-2942, ext. 19) or Deb Harlan (dharlan@oslchurch.com or 336-2942, ext. 48) to start the reknitting.

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