Real people with real emotions

I have a new mission in life. To show people what a human looks like. You may have seen this in recent posts that I'm a little more intense than I used to be. Well, life has become intense!

If you were to see me, you'd see my usual, chipper face. I'm still as peppy as I always have been. I'm still as joyful as ever. 

But there's an added component to my personality that seems to be throwing people lately. Because life got intense, every aspect of who I am also intensified. Every emotion is stronger. Every gift & talent is multiplied. Every passion is magnified. I'm not being moody, I'm just showing emotion. It's real! It's sometimes raw! And apparently it can be offensive if you are someone who prefers that we all just smile and look pretty all the time. 

I grew up as a Pastor's kid. In a sense, it's kind of like being President's kid. Everyone is looking... all the time. You always have to be "on". You don't get to throw a tantrum, because your parents will hear about it in a staff meeting. You can't have an attitude about the Children's Christmas Program, just like the first daughters can't have an attitude about a Turkey Pardoning. It doesn't matter how stupid and cheesy it is... you suck it up and smile!

Despite this, I LOVED being a Pastor's daughter. Hide and seek in the church after everyone had left, taking home church picnic leftovers, meeting interesting people... not to mention being at every prayer meeting, every service, every event. We took every special speaker out to lunch which means I've met Missionaries, Evangelists, Preachers, Teachers, Apostles... I am honored to have grown up this way. 

But back to my point. ;)

I grew up with the understanding that I could not show emotion. My mom and I have chatted about this a lot lately. She never told me this, but it's how I understood it. I felt like I could not be sad, upset, overwhelmed , angry, bitter... I thought I just had to smile and look pretty. Always. 

The funny thing is now, as I'm learning how to be real with myself, people are shocked! Well, friends... I am REAL!

Real people cry. 

Real people get angry. 

Real people have hard things happen. 

Crying, being angry, feeling overwhelmed... these are emotions. God created these emotions. God has shown these emotions. Now that I've allowed myself to be real, I've begun to see the emotions in the Bible. 

When God created the world... pride. 

When He flooded the world... anger, pain, sadness. 

When God showed Abraham the stars, or when He parted the Red Sea... hope. 

When the Israelites constantly did the wrong things... disappointment. 

When Jesus was born... joy. 

When Jesus died on the cross... grief. 

When Jesus rose again... fulfillment. 

You see, even God has emotions. So I think that showing them & being REAL is exactly what He would want. Should we act in anger? No. Should we yell and rant and get nasty at people? No. Acting in anger or frustration is typically going to lead to destructive behavior that harms others, but that's not what I'm talking about. 

Sometimes life is hard. Life hurts. I think there's grace to cover it. There's grace for the good times and the bad. 

So next time you see a post that says "it's okay to be angry"... know that I'm okay. I'm not in danger. I'm not harming anyone. I'm just being. I'm a real person with real feelings... and I just happen to write about them. :)