Becoming Real (repost)

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." - The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams


I was not as familiar with this story as I am with other “children’s” stories.  But when I read this, the ears of my heart stood at attention.  My eyes filled with tears.  It's like God whispered right to me, as I read this, that sometimes, it takes losing your hair, or getting your joints messed up, or getting sick, or having to live in pain, or with a trach.... to become REAL.

Wow.  A message from the Lord of Hosts from a children’s book.  I always thought I was “real” before Myasthenia Gravis (MG).   I prided myself on being genuine.  But then I got sick.  I lost lots of friends.  I lost most of my independence. I had to depend on others for almost everything I needed, even the most basic of daily tasks. It was horrible.

Yet it was wonderful. I learned that dependence was not a bad thing; especially dependence on God.

I'm telling you I am not the same person I was before this disease.  I am Real now.  I don't mince words.  I don't flatter people if I don't mean it.  I used to just about panic over the smallest things that went wrong.  Now, I don't freak out about the little things in life that aren't going to matter a week from now let alone a year from now.

I value life.  I value friendships.  Because I know how delicate they can be.  I know how easily they can go away.  I love more deeply.  I love more freely.  I trust much.  Maybe too much.  But I'd rather be that way than all skeptical and critical inside.

Sometimes it takes getting a little shabby, having your "hair loved off", and going through the wringer of life's washing machine a time or two to become real.  God will take anything you have to set before Him, and make from your offering someone beautiful.  Loved.  Real.

“ ‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.
‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "-The Velveteen Rabbit

And it does hurt.  But once you are Real, you don't want to go back, even though you may face further pain.  Because it's so much better to be Real.  And "once you are REAL, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

And you know what? There will always be people who don't understand.  And that's okay.  Because ugly is on the INSIDE, and Real is through and through.   Real is better, because Real doesn't happen to people who are easily broken. 

Real is strong.  And I am Real.

^“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10