A friend of mine brought up a woman’s name in causal conversation several weeks ago.  “I think you know her,” she said, “well I KNOW she knows you.”
My heart sank.
Here we go again, more talk I said to myself.
I thought about it most of the day, not what was said or even who said it. I thought about its impact. How much power those six little words carried.
Don’t you hate those things you’d probably be better off not even knowing, but you just have to know anyway?
Why did I want to know what “who knew me” said? More importantly.. why did it matter?
The most important thing we need to realize about the past is that it’s over.
My mama tells me over and over, “Katie you have to stop living your life based on what people think.” She still tells me that.
I walk around with this fear that one of my bad days, my off days- someone will see the “Bible Girl” and I will misrepresent Jesus, that my attitude will move people away from Him. Since we cannot possibly share all of the good news with every single person we encounter, one of the biggest parts of your testimony is how you live your life.
Not how it was lived.
I love the gospels because it tells of the miracles of Jesus throughout His ministry here on Earth.
There is newness with Jesus; the person that didn’t get it all right has a funeral to go to. Its own. In John chapter 5, there’s a story about a man who had been “invalid” for 38 years.  When Jesus saw that he had been in this condition so long He asked the man, “Do you want to get well?”
The invalid man replied that he had no one to help him. He said, “every time I try someone else gets in my way.”
Jesus replied to the man, “Rise, get up and walk.”
Rise. To move from a lower position to a higher one.
Get up. Don’t do it sitting down. Literally get on your feet.
Walk. To move forward, even at a slow pace, setting one foot in front of the other usually with a destination.
Who the people of this town thought as an “invalid” Jesus saw as purpose.
Everyone that knew this man saw him after he encountered Jesus and they were amazed and then believed.
That is what is powerful.
Not what someone said.
Not what you wished you were.
Not what is over.
What is new. That’s where it counts.
This time last year I was making a scary transition into a new life fighting an old name. My “and walk” was more like a “and crawled” because I afraid of a different life.
I was scared of what people would say; what they would think; what friends I’d lose because Lord knows I already didn’t have many.
I laughed at God the first time He spoke to me, when I first received my call to ministry.
It’s even crazier looking back at it a year later, because God knew exactly what I needed to “rise.” He knew exactly what it took for me to move forward one foot in front of the other.
The best part of “and walk” is it’s pace. While it isn’t a bad idea to run towards the cross, if you’re that out of shape just take your time. Just walk. One little step at a time.. just move.
Don’t let what is already over stop you from something that is now, something that could be even better tomorrow.
It’s scary, but the higher your rise- the easier it gets.
Hugs,