“Numb the dark and you numb the light.” –Brene Brown I love that quote! It reminds me that hiding from myself never works. It only keeps me locked up inside, shut down and unable to truly give–or even to truly receive. My goal for our Dented Fender community is to help each of us grow through the darkness in our lives so the light within can shine even brighter! To that end, we are making a couple of cool changes to The Dented Fender. I have had many, many requests to tackle the challenges single parents face–probably since I’m a single parent! I have hesitated to do so because I want every person regardless of background to find encouragement in what is shared here. When I was sick (see entry from 3/21/17), I took the time to really dig in with God and ask what He would like to see here. During that time, I felt God nudging me to write something for single parents once a month in order to meet that need. The more I prayed about it, the more I realized most of us are either parents or single or both, and I bet all of us know a single parent fairly closely. I believe whatever boat you find yourself in, you will still be able to find encouragement and opportunities to tackle your dark and grow toward the light in our monthly “Single Parent Edition” blogs. At the very least, you will grow in your ability to understand and help the single parents around you with the obstacles they may face.
Another nudge I received was to feature more stories of faith and growth from within our Dented Fender community. I love hearing about how people have overcome and done powerful things not only in spite of what they’ve been through, but because of what they’ve been through! I would love to hear YOUR story of healing and growth! Your anonymity will be protected. Just email me at ennoiaministries@gmail.com and let’s get the conversation started. I also know several of you have been called to write. Interested in contributing an entry to The Dented Fender? Shoot me an email along with your idea. Maybe you’ll be our next featured blogger! Finally, I want to thank those of you who have reached out to me with topic requests. With few exceptions, I have been able to honor those requests, and I’ve loved being able to write them! If you have any suggestions or ideas, I hope you’ll reach out to me at ennoiaministries@gmail.com or simply comment below the latest entry. I will do my best to make it happen. It’s still hard for me to fathom that our little blogging community of maybe 24-25 has expanded to nearly 4000 readers a month, and is up to nearly 25,000 all-time hits. We are a quiet community. I don’t think most of us like to shout out our challenges and struggles from the roof tops; yet we somehow keep growing and multiplying as we share with the ones around us we love. This has been with zero advertising, zero promotion. It’s all been done by YOU. I am honored to be able to write to a community who won’t settle for numbing the darkness and pain, but who consistently keep fighting to reach toward growth and light. I think my readers are an amazing group of folks ? I hope to hear from you soon … For Further Thought: “What we are telling you now is the very message we heard from Him: God is pure light, undimmed by darkness of any kind,” 1 John 1:5. God is never afraid of our darkness; it is through Him darkness is healed and scattered. This week, look for ways to take your darkness to God as opposed to numbing, ignoring or tackling it alone. He alone can “call you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9). And I encourage you – encourage others by sharing about your journey!
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