Lingerdog's World

Prayer, do we really believe in the power of it? I know a lot of times we say we do, but do we really accept it's power, or do we take it for granted when we pray? I imagine we would all say we believe in prayer, especially those that have seen answered prayer in their lives but take my personal experience. Two and a half years ago, I was saved but out of church, not serving like I should, neglecting my Bible, neglecting God in my life. I still said my prayers at night though, and one in particular I prayed every night, that I be made a better Christian. Now I didn't know what that entailed, I knew I needed to go to church somewhere, I figured that would make me a better Christian, but even though I wanted to get up and go, I couldn't find my get up and go. So I guess I thought praying that prayer, God would put it on my mind more, impress upon me the need to do better. I learned God's ways aren't our ways. I lost my wife, my marriage over, I didn't know where to turn so I turned to God. I got back in church, I started serving.

So God answered that prayer, not in the way I thought He would, but He did answer it, and yes it was excruciating at first, but God helped me make it through.

So I was studying and thought I understood Proverbs 3:5, I interpreted it to trust God, don't try to figure it out. No matter what happened in my life, trust God and don't try to figure it out. I didn't know how personal that verse would become to me, and how I would be tested in following through in what I was hearing from that scripture.

But think about that, don't try to think your way out of a situation, trust that God is using it for His good, and guess what His good is going to be good for you even if you don't get it at first. Don't question what happened just trust that God is in control. And verse 6 reminds us to acknowledge Him in all ways and He will direct our paths. If we trust Him and acknowledge He's in control of our life, He's going to lead us, He's going to show us the way. He's going to place us on the path He wants us to be in. Do you get that part of it, He's going to direct you to go where He wants you, it's part of acknowledging Him, it's giving Him control over your life.

When you give Him that control, He's saying don't question what's going on, don't be a back seat driver, trust that He has His hands on the wheel and eyes on the road. He knows the best road to take, even when to us it looks like a hard road. See to God it isn't a hard road, it's just a road and He knows if He wants us to get down that road as long as we trust Him we will make it because He strengthens us, He does it for us through His strength. He carries us when we're too weak, He helps us until we can walk the walk on our own.

The Lord is that good shepherd that leads us beside still waters. He leads me in the paths of righteousness. When I am in the shadow of the valley of death, He is there with me.

Are you letting Him lead your life? Do you want to lead or do you want to follow? Do you want control, or would you rather God direct your path?

Lead or follow?

I prayed another prayer too. This one.

Lord, fill me with your spirit this week. In scripture we see the spirit come in different ways so I would ask that you send your spirit as rain to refresh me, send your spirit to open rivers in me that I might become an overflowing tributary of your spirit's fullness to others, as wind to breathe new life in me, as a fresh anointing of oil to give me practical wisdom for life, fill me with holy wine that I not be filled with the things of this world, come as fire to refine me into what you would have me be to inflame me with a passion for your work and send your spirit as a dove to rest upon me and grant me peace.

I took for granted that God would answer it, I thought He'll send His spirit and It will do these things in me and I'll be lifted and I'll be somehow better for it maybe. But God's ways are not our ways. See I missed something big.

For the Spirit to refresh me as rain, I need to be a dry and thirsty land, I needed to be parched.

To become an overflowing tributary of the Spirit's fullness, to be filled with that river I would need to be emptied of myself.

If the Spirit was going to breathe new life in me, then I have an old life I have to let go of.

If I wanted to be anointed with His wisdom, I had to let go of my own.

To be filled with the wine of the Spirit, I had to be emptied not just of myself, but of the things of this world that live in me.

If I wanted to be refined by His fire, I would have to accept, there are things in me that need to be burned away.

And if I was to receive peace, I would have to experience turmoil.

See God answers prayers, it's true, but His ways are not ours and He will use our prayers to make us look more like His son, to conform to the image of Christ. We pray for what we want, the Spirit in us communicates what we need. And though we don't always understand it right away, it's what we need, it's necessary for us to be what we were called to be. Because sometimes we let stuff, people, ourselves get between us and God, and He has to move those things so we can get closer to Him.

Like the preacher said Sunday night, if you love anyone, or anything more than God, then that person is in danger because God will move the things that keep you from Him. That's how much He loves us. That's grace, not that I would find Him, but that He came for me. Not that I was looking for Christ but that when I was running as fast and far away as I could on a slope getting steeper and steeper on a path straight down into hell, that when I was running from God, He outran me! That is grace that He would come for us, who ran from Him.

A journey is always began with a single step, and usually the road is smooth because unless you like hiking and are a masochist, why would you start a journey where the road is hard.

I had one, I saw a boy collapse as I drove by and I thought to myself, "he's just playing." The reality is, if someone else hadn't seen and called for help he may have died.

Such a good weekend, but man I just don't know where I stand anymore. I need to man up.

Leaving mcdonalds after church there was a man sitting there and I knew I needed to talk to him, but I kept walking, I was supposed to talk to him about salvation but I was a coward.

And at the same time I did something so stupid, putting myself out there more than I ever have to get shot down. I used to have some bad behavior but it was out of arrogance, today I knew better, knew I was pushing where I shouldn't, knew I was going to go to far, and then I did. And I should apologize, but I haven't, I need to man up.

Everything good from this weekend was erased in a few seconds of the old me responding.

I hate being lonely, but I don't date. I have felt that when God knew I was ready that I would know who she was, but I'm finding that maybe I was wrong and either she isn't coming, or it's more work than I thought it would be. Should I start dating? There are other fish in the sea as they say, and I have been putting my eggs in one basket. People tell me I should move on, doesn't matter how I great I tell them she is. They tell me I need to man up.

I'm thinking about her now though, even though it hurts, I can;t get her off my mind, and that's a problem when you feel more for a person than they do for you. It's a recipe for disaster, for heartache, and yet I keep on, to caught up in my feelings for her to let go, to caught up in my sureness of what we can be together. I need to let go. I need to man up.

How do you do that though, how do you abandon someone you feel so strongly for, just because the relationship isn't what you wanted? How do you walk away from someone you call a friend? I can't, and walking away isn't being a man.

It's what I would have done. The hurt would have been so much at just the thought that I would have crossed the bridge, burnt it down and scattered the ashes.

But even though it hurts now, it's worth it if I get to see her smile one more time. And even more so when I know I put the smile on her face.

What's the difference between being available, and being a doormat? I can't answer that, I don't feel like a doormat though.

Man up! Serve God. Got an offer to preach today, ready to man up. Ready to preach the word.

I still don't understand it though, how can I feel this much for her? How can I miss a friend like this? Why do I have these feelings? How do I get rid of them if nothing is ever going to happen?

Part of me schemes, thinking maybe if you do this or that she'll see you in a different light, but the realist in me knows, she'll never have feelings for you. She's in love with someone else and as long as that's the case she'll never be able to give you a chance.

Does that mean she might miss out on something special, yes. But it means I miss out on that something special too.

It doesn't hurt any less to find out slow or fast that I'm playing for second no matter what.

It doesn't hurt any less to know that no matter how much fun, how much we click, how much we can talk, how close we grow that she will always see him first as she waits for him, like you wait for her.

Man up! Either go for it all or go home, but quit playing it safe. You can tell her how you feel, if it doesn't affect her then know it isn't going to happen. Because let's face it, if it was going to happen, it would.

So accept the loneliness of your life. Accept that for you, this may be all there is. Accept that for you she's not going to come around. Man up.

I'm James Lingerfelt and I'm a Christian. Called to preach the Gospel of Christ to my neighbors.

Look to the story of the good Samaritan. The Samaritan was the beaten and left for dead man's neighbor because he had what the man needed. Just like we are neighbors to anyone who is dying and in need of the help we carry. And I mean the Gospel. We carry the thing that can give them life, can heal their wounds, can set them free, can give them hope and life everlasting.

I am a man that struggles just like any other man.

I have heartache and pain, joy and love.

I have people I like a lot, and others I could do without, but I have to love them just the same.

I have been a coward, not because of the things I won't do, but because of the things I chose to do. I chose to take the easy way, to join in making fun of others. I chose to drive past people in need of assistance. I chose not to tell a stranger about Jesus when given an opportunity. I chose to drop out of church for too many years. I chose to be a bad husband. I chose to live a life I can't look back at and be proud of.

I was a coward.

I don't have to be any more. I can open my heart to all the things the Lord has for me and accept that I was made for a purpose, that I am made the way I am to be placed in a certain place at a certain time to do a specific task.

I can accept that I am where I am now. I can accept that I am learning from this time things that God will use to carry me through future days.

He prepares me now because He loves me and wants me to be prepared not because He wants me to hurt or struggle with fear or loneliness.

He is an awesome God I serve. I joke that I am awesome a lot, I am made in God's image, any awesomeness you see in me is just a reflection of the awesomeness of God.

I am James Lingerfelt, a Christian, saved by grace through the blood of Jesus Christ who gave his life freely upon the cross after living a sinless life. That same Jesus that was then buried and rose again on the third day and appeared to many before returning to Heaven.

Shattered dreams like shattered glass litter the hallway of my heart
and I bleed from the cuts your words inflict
I know I said I'd never hurt again
but those were lies.
So I fall on my face and my tears rain down like a hurricane
and you won't know about my lonesome call
perched upon your ivory tower
too far away to see.
And I scream as loud as I can letting loose my pride
held in the expanse of my mind
and shamefaced I stand
letting myself go.
Into the darkness, into the abyss, silently I slip
forgetting all I've known
burying my dreams
with this sack of bones.
When it hurts too much to go on breathing
when it hurts too much to smile
I'll trust the cold ground
before your cold heart again.
It's been the same for far too long
there's a lion caged in my heart
roaring for release
straining at the chains.
These shattered dreams await a broken spirit
that knows no peace
no calm
no love.
Like a banshee scream ripping through my heart
comes the crescendo of pain
and my heart that beats no more
is in your hands.
And you just look at me and smile
as you rip it from my chest
because you don't care
the grave in your wake.
A broken life
a broken heart
a broken man
a broken dream.
I sit and cry out
my body shaken by my grief
as you walk away
and I gasp for life.
Too many times
too many times
too many times
its been this way.
The dreams that are shattered
the heart that is broken
and all I do is give up
and not even try.
Thunder shakes the room as I stand from my seat
to take my place in the hall of warriors
putting on my armor, gathering my shield
for the next time.
Walls I build around me
defenses for my heart
to keep them out
that could hurt me.
I build my prison walls thinking they protect me
never seeing that they keep others out
at the expense of my experience
and I throw away the key.
No one gets in this time
I'll live on my island and no one can hurt me
except myself and your memory.

Not Anymore
Not that person you once were anymore,
and it frightens me.
See you've made it through that swinging door,
and stand for all to see.
Unashamed in your standing,
unabashed in your way.
Proud and high,
facing each day.

A Decision
Feelings I have longed for
since I can remember
but feelings I can't share
not a peep into her ear.
It's more than she is ready for
and though it breaks my heart
I have to let her go her way
for that is where we start.
There can be no more
than what we have now
and honor her wishes I must
that is my solemn vow.
She came to me upon a dream
and melted my heart of stone
and left me lonely in the morn
once realized I the dream was gone.
How can a man make known
his feelings in the matter
without appearing weak
and stirring up a clatter.
I know he thinks
it's no big deal
but in his heart
he believes it's real.
So much to lose
if he should speak
and frightened man laments
why am I so weak?
No one wants a man
who is so timid
afraid to speak what he wants
while keeping the truth hid.
He's been burnt before
and knows she has been too
and struggle with this he must
what should a brave man do?
Overstepping boundaries
stated time and time
he cannot lose her now
he cannot cross that line.
So he tries to decide
which path to take
hold his silence, or speak up
which one should he make.

Tonight Pastor Matt was talking about holding on to sin and there was this idea, How do you ever get rid of sin when you are holding onto it with both hands.

I got to thinking, sin isn't the only thing we hold on to in life while trying to overcome that very thing.

For some it's a hurt, a broken heart, a former significant other, a slight, a good time in your life.

We can get so caught up in holding on to that part of the past that we stop moving forward, stop healing, stop becoming who we are meant to be.

We miss out on friendships, fellowship, happiness and just good things in our life because we are focused on that thing. We are holding on to it because how dare it hurt you like that. How dare you break my heart. How dare you leave me.

We can't move beyond that moment into acceptance of what happened. We are still living in that moment.

I think especially when we are hurt we just want someone to recognize that, to tell us, "I've been there too, I feel your pain."

So we lash out at the unfairness of it. Why should I accept what happened because it was so unfair.

But we miss out on so much. It took me a while to get this, I can look back and see when I did it, but I don't think I really got it until now, how much stuff I missed because even when I said I wasn't, I was still living in that moment rather than accepting that it happened and healing.

See that's what you get to do when you accept it, you get to heal. When you can't accept it the band aid keeps getting ripped off anew. You hold friends accountable for something they didn't do because you haven't allowed yourself to heal.

Acceptance doesn't mean that you are insignificant, or that what happened wasn't wrong, it just means you have decided that that moment will no longer rule your life. You can make decisions free of the burden of the past, without fear.

You can live a fearless life. You can accept your past and accept that the future is now yours.

You can live your life.

The relic sits high upon the shelf
untouchable to tiny hands
shaped by a master craftsman
many years ago
a little man sitting on a stool
a corncob pipe puffing smoke
a glint in his eye
frozen there in time
the paint faded now
but still fresh in her eyes
even though he's gone now
these ten years
it was their first date
she thought it was cute
he got it for her
cost him what he had on him
they were poor
weren't supposed to make it
but against the odds
they lived happily
until the day
like a fast approaching storm
the sickness came
and took him away
and now it sits there
a reminder she doesn't really need
but one she cherishes
because it's a memory of him
she takes it down
hands it to me
in my small hands it seems huge
and she tell me about him
how he was a man
so much bigger than life
how his hands built this house
and how he had loved his family
she started to cry
her face a mask of misery
but also of joy
as she remembered
I held the figurine back out to her
with trembling hands she took it
she put it back in its place
then smiling took me in her lap
that was him she whispered
then took a photo from the shelf
your grandfather
how I wish he could have seen you

On the way home from church this evening I saw people sitting on a grave, probably talking about the person buried there.

I lost a friend this week named Ron. He was a friend to me but a great friend to my brother. He was one of those bigger than life people that come along every so often. Ron was always smiling, and it's shocking that he is gone so soon. I wish I had said more the last time I talked to him. I made a mix cd once, he wanted a copy because he liked the songs on it. We played cards, and it seemed like we were always facing each other down across the table. I remember one of the first times I played, I didn't know how to play but picked the game up quickly. I played without fear. He said he liked how I played. He'll be missed.

I saw an overweight woman in a motorized wheelchair with a baby in her arms.

I drove past run down houses.

I saw an alcoholic father who is almost the man he used to be, on the days he doesn't drink.

Broken people are everywhere. And I can't fault others for this because I used to do it to, just drive past them without a thought given to their condition or what struggles they might face in life.

There are people out there dealing with loss, unemployment, fear, self loathing, regret, pain both physical, mental and emotional. Largely they are ignored.

But there was this man named Jesus 2000 years ago that saw the broken people, he came so they could be healed. We as Christians have largely forgotten that was what Christ came for, we have started to believe He was here to judge. Read what He did though, read what was written about Him before He came and after He left.

He came to set captives free.

That's why I knock on doors that holds who knows what behind them, because though their life might not change that much after salvation, they will be free to enjoy the fruits of the spirit. Though the world might try to bind them, they are free.

They don't have to be broken.

I saw one last broken person tonight.

His face is plain, hard to read as I look at him. His hair is neither long nor short, but it needs to be longer or shorter because right now it doesn't look particularly well. He is quick with a smile, but bashful with it at times. He has struggled with some things in his life he never thought he would have to, but he says he's getting through them with God. He has friends, a few are close and one new one he isn't always sure how to react to. He told a friend a lie he hasn't corrected yet because he was ashamed of what they might think of him. He has lived his life worried about what others thought of him even though he claims he doesn't care. He thinks he doesn't look good enough. Good enough for what? To date really. He obsesses sometimes about what it would take to look like what women want a man to look like, because in his head for all too long he has been convinced that women want A., B. or C. and all his life he's been a X. He wonders why things went the way they did with his wife, he wonders if he's so smart why he didn't see it coming. He has so many insecurities he wonders what people would think if they knew every last one of them. He wonders sometimes if the things he writes make him seem weird. I looked at this broken man who has been letting God heal him and I smile, he smiles back. I wave and he waves back. I stare into the eyes before me in the mirror and say, it's okay to let the brokenness go.

A friend posted this song to my facebook and it just smacks me in the face with what I'm talking about, and how God sees us.

Man it's been a while.

I've been changing more than I knew. Thought things were one way when they were another, but the outcome didn't crush me. A year and a half ago I would have probably felt like the world was caving in around me, apparently I've become stronger through Christ who strengtheneth me than I knew.

And because I wasn't crushed, good things came out of it. I made a new friend, well I didn't make the friend but rather met the friend.

I've been trying to convince her I'm weird but either it isn't working or she is too nice to tell me I'm weird.

It's been a great week. A great month.

A month ago I had never been door to door witnessing and my friend Michael invited me to go with him, so we went and put tracts on cars. We did the same the next week, and then we made ourselves go door to door the next. And we had to push ourselves, or we might have backed out. This week we hope to have twenty men leaving from the church to do this. Some say twenty is a lot, I say god could bring us 20,000 if we let him work, in our hearts, in our minds and we get a passion for reaching the lost.

I can't speak for Michael, but I know how my heart has been changed by this, how eager I am to get out there and tell more people about Jesus Christ and what He has done in my life.

And just now I realize a thought that has been circling since it was brought up in conversation earlier. If I hadn't been so anxious and afraid of things my whole life, God couldn't show how fearless I am now.

I'm no longer afraid to witness, no longer afraid to have a girl who's just a friend (note to self, probably should have done that years ago), no longer afraid of rejection, and I feared that bad boy like a plague.

In other words, I have a clearer picture of who I am now. I've been in a cocoon of my own making for the most part and I'm finally braving the outside world. Thank you God for the strength to become the man you would have me to be. To not be afraid of the unknown, to not over think everything, thank you for giving me the ability to let go, and let you reign in my life.

I don't think I've ever been happier in my life.

And now a little Fireflight for your listening pleasure.

It's been three months since my last entry, a lot has changed, and I realized today that I'm tired of living a lie, pretending I'm someone I'm not.
I live in fear of something almost all the time, call it anxiety disorder if you want. I won't do anything that holds the least bit of danger for fear of the myriad ways I might come to harm.
If I get invited to someones house, especially if I've only recently met them, I'll not go because I'm afraid of embarrassing myself. Why, I don't know as I seem to embarrass myself quite often without it bothering me.
When I'm behind the sound board at church I am scared of messing up during a song, I'm afraid of disrupting the service, it stresses me out so much sometimes it's ridiculous. If you were to happen to see me back there I'd probably be sweating to the point of endangering myself of dehydration. I'm afraid of letting people down from that position, if a cd won't play I blame myself, I should have been able to do something to make it play.
When I coach the softball team I freak out about having enough players there to play and I'm so afraid of hurting someones feelings because they didn't get to play that I make sure to devide the playing time equally only to have my judgement constantly questioned by people that think they can do it better, or fairer.
I got divorced this week, finally, after two years of separation. It wasn't something I wanted but it had to happen, the marriage was over, the woman I loved was gone forever. So was the man I used to be.
I say I'm okay, and mostly I am, but I've felt kind of numb most of the week and I'm afraid to fall back into the depression I was in two years ago, and I can feel it there, oh so close.
I used to teach Sunday School but the class was given to someone else. I said I didn't mind, and I don't, the reasons for the switch are both logical and Biblical, but...
See I tell myself it's God preparing me for something else, trying to teach me something through this, He's opening a door for me somewhere else already. I believe this, but...
It still hurt, you question was it something I did, you try to figure out what you did wrong, did you over step your bounds, could you have done something to keep teaching the class. And no matter how many times you're told you did nothing wrong, it was done for reasons having nothing to do with anything you did or did not do, well when you have had self esteem issues for as long as you can remember, you just know that somewhere in there, you are at fault.
I'm afraid of dying.
Not because I'm afraid of what comes next. I rest secure in where I'll rest secure for eternity. I believe Jesus Christ was the son of God sent to die for the sins of mankind. I believe he arose three days later fulfilling the scriptures.
I fear laying in a hospital bed slowly dying with nothing I can do to help myself. I fear a painful death. I worry about what happens after I'm gone.
I worry about my brother and his family. I worry about my father and his alcoholism. I worry about my mother and her beliefs and wonder what she really thinks about my salvation sometimes.
Sometimes I miss my wife. It's especially bad after I dream about her. You would think I would have nothing but nightmares with the way we ended, but in two years I can maybe remember two legitimate nightmares about her. Usually if I dream about her it's as if you took a snap shot of our life before the dark days came. We'll be doing something simple, fixing breakfast, just sitting together watching television, doing family things with our son. We'll be in love like we used to be, or like I thought we were, and then I'll wake up, and she won't be there.
I'll have this incredible longing for her, like an ache, wishing she was there, angry at what we lost, wishing I could just go back to sleep and dream that dream...forever.
I say that I don't hurt anymore, but when I dream that dream, I hurt, and I try to understand why.
I'm afraid of losing my friends.
I'm afraid some of my friends aren't really, that I'm just tolerated as much as I can be.
I'm afraid I push people away. That I act so annoying that people don't want me around, and no, I don't believe when people tell me that isn't the case. That's how messed up my self esteem is.
It doesn't matter how many poems I write and hear how good they are, I still think they're garbage and maybe if I write them for long enough, one day I'll write something that is good.
I've been called a bully several times, I'm starting to believe it must be true.
I used to sing in church, and sometimes want to again but I know how I sound now.
If I did I would sing "How Can I Keep From Singing" by Chris Tomlin and "Manifesto" by The City Harmonic
I listen to those songs, and that's what I think worship should be, and explosion of joy at what God has done for me, so much joy that I can't help but shout at what He did and praise Him for what He's done with me.
I wish I were something more than I am.
And that's the truth. I hurt, a lot. I walk around a fragile shell inside this giant body. I pretend everything bounces off of me, but it usually sticks. I wish It didn't but it does, and I guess I'm saying I'm not going to pretend anymore. I'm going to let go. I'm going to stop fighting when I feel God talking to me, when I hear his still small voice in my heart, I'm not going to hold back for fear of the floodgates of so many years of hurt turning loose at once. I'm going to let go and let God know just how much I think Him for what He does in my life every day. I'm going to thank Him for the man He is making me.
I'm going to stand up and shout. I'm going to quit fighting the sculptor, I'm going to let Him make me what He wants me to be.
And if I'm fragile anymore, it's only because I'm not finished going through the fire yet, but one day I will be. Tried, ready and in position to do all that God asks of me.

That's what I'm hearing from people, seems like I can't do anything right and all I get is a bunch of talking heads talking at me.

I've been down in the dumps, trying to see a way back out of the doldrums, but to no avail as I just seem to keep slipping further and further.

Felt a little like my old self earlier, and that's not a good thing.

It was all because of a song, came on, had me blaring it from the speakers in truck as I cruised back home, just wanting the song to wash all the pain and heartache out of my life.

That's what I used to do, just put something on the radio, pop in a cd or flip on the mp3 player and go ride around until I stopped hurting.

I never really stopped hurting, the music just sort of numbed it down.

And I know a lot of feeling this way is coming from my divorce moving full steam ahead, and having a pin to put in a date that will be a physical reminder of moving on. I almost wish the date would have been exactly one month later, it would have seemed so kismet.

What do I mean by that, well, I went on the first date with my future wife on June 16, we separated after I found out about her infidelity on June 16. I think it would have been just perfect to have the divorce date be June 16, but I guess May 16 is close enough.

The other thing driving the way I feel is a disagreement with a friend.

My life has been one miserable step after another into the dark clutches of loneliness and at times, despair. I'm a loser, inside and out.

I don't smile much, and if I do, it's probably a mask to hide what I really feel. That's why Stained Glass Masquerade by Casting Crowns resonates with me so much.



When I started going to church again, talking to people, it was an act to smile, to pretend I was supposed to be there. Trying to fit in, to be part of the church, to fit in somewhere. To see if it could be different than how it used to be at the church I grew up in, the one full of judgmental people that made me feel like I was trash just because I didn't measure up to some standard they had set in their mind for what a Christian was and was not.

And that's what I was reminded of so much this week, those people back then that made fun of the people that didn't fit in.

When you've been an outcast your whole life, you get a sense for who these people are, it keeps your sanity a little longer, it keeps you from getting hurt as much.

You know when one of those people comes along, if you're an outcast, it's time to get scarce unless you want to be hurt.

People seem to assume that because I'm a big guy I don't hurt. Because I'm the jovial fat guy that nothing phases me.

In this, they couldn't be more wrong.

I have questioned the path my life took, and I see a way out of this despair through God.

But then that way seems as hard and painful as the one I just came out of, if not more.

I never used to put myself out there for people, and now that I finally start doing that, feel the freedom to be myself, a situation like this comes along to make me question why I even tried in the first place.

It seems safer where I was, no I wasn't putting myself out there, but at least I couldn't be hurt by people I considered a friend.

I was given over to much thought of that old literary work where a path diverges in the wood, but which path to take.

I was thinking about it in relation to my impending divorce how I seemed to take one path while the wife took another, but it seems sometimes that there was a third path, steep and rocky down the side of a cliff which someone has thrown me against my will.

I haven't worn a mask at church in a while, I felt so safe there with God, safe enough to be myself, to open myself to being used by Him, to do His will.

But now, I'm afraid again, I'm questioning myself, what would God want with me. I felt like a pretender Wednesday night, like someone would soon pull the curtain back and see that I didn't meet the standards I hadn't known I needed to meet.

I feel helpless, and I hate feeling this way.

The only thing I know to do is pray about it, let God lead me through this valley until we reach the green pastures and the still waters. He is my comforter.

I see it on facebook a good bit, the "my husband is doing x....and I can't stand it!" postings from disgruntled wives.
X can be a variety of things, football, video games, drinking beer.
It always goes the same way.
"I am so tired of my husband doing nothing but playing video games every evening!"
There sometimes is, sometimes isn't a veiled threat to not put up with any more of that crap.
I want to say something about this pattern of behavior.
If he did put down the video game, turn off sports center, decide not to drink in the evenings anymore, would it change the way you look at him?
If he was putting the time and attention into you that he did the other thing, after a few days, weeks, months, would you be complaining that he needs a hobby, needs to find some friends to hang out with, needs to give you some space because he's too clingy.
Would you appreciate what you have, or just find something else to complain about within the relationship.
See to me, it looks like their is an unhappiness and rather than deal with the relationship it is easier to vent on facebook about your crummy husband, then feel better when you get a host of "I'm right there with you girlfriend," posts. Or even the occasional self esteem boost when that guy that was cute in high school, but now really looks like an overweight balding bulldog, tells you how he would never treat you that way if you were his woman.
There is an unwillingness to deal with the reality of life on both parts, one retreats to video games, while the other retreats to a high school mentality of bashing their significant other to whoever will listen, to get their very own little narcissistic shot in the arm. A very special dose of "I'm special, I'm important, look at me!"
But at least the one hiding in the video games isn't belittling their spouse to make themselves feel better.
And I'm not saying the video games is better, and it can be a chicken/egg question at times, does he retreat to video games because he feels you only ever put him down rather than trying to uplift him when he makes a mistake.
Both are broken individuals and for very different reasons. Both have fragile egos, hence running away to hide in video games or that facebook ego stroking.
So what's my advice?
Quit looking to feel better about your relationship through external distraction and start working on the relationship from the inside out.
Make a decision to turn off the games, made the choice to take problems in the relationship to the relationship partner and not your friends.
And I've heard it before, "but I need my friends advice!"
No you don't, you just want it. You want to hear them say you are right and he is wrong. You want to feel like whatever you do is the correct thing. But guess what, when you're an adult, it's okay to choose on your own, and yes, you may make a mistake, but it's part of growing up.
As for the guys playing video games, what's wrong with you?
You've got the woman you love right there! Why would you get her and then want to ignore her, was it truly all about the chase for you? Is she that unimportant to you, or do you love her?
Friend, if I had the woman I loved, I can guarantee there would be more fear of me being called clingy than that I was ignoring her to play video games. You had plenty of time for games when you were a kid, you better love your wife while you can. You never know how much time you have.
And on the flip side of that, I'll tell you about my personal experience.
See I was married for a few years. I didn't go to bars, or hanging out with friends or playing video games or any hundreds of other options. At the end of the day, I went home to be with my wife and son.
But she was just as broken as the men and women I talked about above. She would tell me I didn't show her that I loved her enough, and I don't mean big things, just little hugs and kisses around the house, but when I put forth more effort, guess what, I was too clingy and I should let her breathe a little.
She had a few friends she confided in, problems with the marriage. That she was unhappy, that we were both unhappy. Friends that encouraged her to divorce me.
It's the one hang up I have, if you're a friend of the marriage, why not say talk to your husband? Why not say tell your husband that something needs to be done to save a marriage that's on the rocks?
The problem was she wasn't telling the truth in the first place. No more than one of us was unhappy, see I was happy at the time, I was with the woman I loved and would have moved mountains to make the marriage work.
But I didn't know there were cracks in the foundation. She wasn't talking to me about what really bothered her, she was seeing if her friends thought she should do what she already wanted to do. She was testing the waters to see if they thought it was okay for her to leave.
She had already decided what she wanted, and in a world where what you want is all that matters, she just wanted to make sure she was right before she left.
I was painted as a tyrant around the house, forcing her to cook and clean do all the laundry raise our son and for her to be ready for me every night.
That I was verbally abusive. One of the friends called me an ass.
If any of my friends ever said something negative like that about my wife, we wouldn't be friends, but I wasn't telling the stories about her that she was telling about me.
See it's a little trick of manipulation, when you want someone to agree with you, you paint a picture that makes it impossible for them not to agree with you.
The reality is, my wife was very broken, I have no doubt that she was unhappy, but happiness comes from within, that's how some people can be happy even in the darkest storms of life, they choose to own happiness rather than unhappiness.
Whether she ever gets to the core of her brokenness I'll probably never know.
I've forgiven her for the choices she made. I don't desire to be friends with her. I can forgive someone who cheats on me, but I can't be friends with one that changes as much as she did.
It's another paradox of the brokenness. You don't change when you hang around different people unless you are conforming to try and be something you aren't.
I've realized that though I was happy then, there is more happiness here now, even though I am alone, I have a freedom with myself that I didn't before. I am finally becoming the man I was meant to be. And I know that more happiness is in my future, but it isn't dependent upon someone else.
See when you start allowing your happiness to come from how someone else makes you feel, eventually, you'll always be let down.
I guess if this story has any moral, it's do what you want.
Guys play the video games and keep their wives while I gave her as much attention as she wanted and ended up staring down at my empty hands.
Just know that when you pursue only that which you want, you may leave a trail of hurt behind you.
And maybe try to figure out why you want to do something before you go and do it.
Many a marriage as ended with one partner asking, "why are we getting divorced?" Only to be met with the answer of, "I don't know, I guess we just grew apart."
Maybe get to know the person better before you marry them, and not just your endorphin induced vision of who you think they are, and you'll be complaining less about the person you finally do marry.
Love can be blind, it doesn't have to be stupid too.