Growth from Ashes: Rising from the Depths of My Deepest Wound

Finding the truth in the lies we let ourselves believe

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

At a Presbyterian Womens’ Retreat in the foothills of the Cascades, we do an exercise where we are instructed to write a lie we’ve believed about ourselves on our palm in eyeliner. The room is quiet, and it takes me no time at all to figure it out.

I am worthless.

As I smear it with my thumb, my hands are covered with streaks of the things I let myself be worn down to. The weight of it crashes over me, emptying my lungs, pausing my heart. How did I get here?