Sunday my friend and pastor Steve Wiens recommended three prayers for Holy Week this year, including: “God, reveal where I’m hidden and help me to see.”

Shame

The shame of a wounded conscience is a trap. It’s a lie that tries to convince us that hopelessly defective: “I am what I am. I cannot change. I am hopeless.”

Shame is the deep feeling of guilt, sadness, and hopelessness that we experience when we become convinced that our shadows, scars and scandals doom us. That past failures, bad habits or poor appearance has made a permanent scar on our self-worth.

Prompted by my reading of Quiet by Susan Cain, this week we’ve explored introverts and extroverts their distinctive and their qualities. Including:

I Buy Coffee

An Introvert?!?

Introvert’s Confusion

And, Are YOU An Introvert or Extrovert?

Whether you’re a parent, a brother or sister, an aunt, uncle or neighbor, you know children. And, if you’re like me, quiet children can be a mystery.

Today, I’d like to let Susan Cain’s insights on introvert children speak for themselves. Oh, wait – let me say this first – my favorite quote from her about children is: “Don’t just accept your child for who she is; treasure her.”

Are You An Introvert or Extrovert (And Why Does It Matter)?

Do you ever wonder where you fall on the introvert-extrovert spectrum?
Here is the place to assess yourself.

This quiz from Susan Cain’s QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking will help you self-assess.

Dealing with our own junk is hard work.

Chuck Swindoll wrote a book entitled Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. That’s not a lot of forward progress!

But, it’s often the path my spiritual growth takes, on the good days.

The Dance Of The Wrecks

“For a thousand years, Christians did a dance called the tripudium to many of their hymns. As worshipers sang, they would lock arms and take three steps forward, one step back, three steps forward, one step back.”

Cuts lined her arms.
He drinks himself into oblivion.

She chases after “Mr. Perfect.”
He’s looking to “hit it.”

She’s settling.
He’s settling.

You must love yourself before you can love another.

Accept yourself for who you are, but don’t “settle.”
- Don’t let addictions stand in your way.
- Don’t let lies blind you.
- Don’t let self-pity poison your heart.

“You’re better than that!!!”  That’s mysilentscream.

Yesterday I wrote about my music shame. You can read about it here.

I didn’t mention it yesterday, but I had never actually heard and followed the beat in a song until August 7, 1998. I was thirty-five years old.

How can I be so certain? How do I know the exact date?

I was at a concert. I saved the ticket stub.

I was at a reggae show with some TreeHouse teens. “Tansoback” was the leader of the reggae group Christafari. 1