I could hardly contain my excitement. My first article for a large online publication had just been released, and I couldn’t wait to see my words in all their pixel glory. With one click of the mouse, my elation quickly turned to disappointment. My piece was published, but my name was not.

I fight back the tears because I should be able to handle all of this. And yet the weight of the responsibilities and the number of items on my to-do list threaten to claim my sanity. Guilt follows the tears because I accepted all of these roles, after all. Most of them I chose and most of them bring me joy. But the sum of them equal pressure that can sometimes be too much.

Tragically somewhere along the way, we’ve falsely believed the lie that if they see the real me they won’t like me, let alone love me. How did this happen? Probably because it’s happened before. We let people in and they didn’t love us anyway. Here is what I’m learning though. If we keep living in fear of being known we will keep living lonely. So what if we insert the grace of love here instead?

The Bible is full of success stories. Maybe not in the earthly way we view success, but certainly from a heavenly perspective. Hebrews 11 is one of the best synopses to summarize the lives of those who were successful in our spiritual heritage. It is often called Faith’s Hall of Fame because it celebrates the lives of those who were commended for their faith. Isn’t this what we desire? To be commended for our faith?

Sometimes we want romantic or grandiose displays of love, but I think the consistent ordinary displays are just as meaningful, if not more. These everyday gestures of love that often go unnoticed are the ones I want to be more intentional to notice. I don’t want to take them for granted.