My Phantom life

So this post title has been sitting in my drafts pile for a while. I’ve been ignoring it, hoping that maybe I can avoid talking about the real me and confessing to you the phantom that I have become.

I can’t.

So grab a box of tissues as I introduce you to the blonde behind the mask and the struggles she faces.

The first one is not to cry first thing in the morning. There are good days and bad days, there are real reasons for crying and bad reasons for crying but in an average week I will cry at least three days of seven if not more. The hardest part is for poor Paul usually our conversations go like this,

P:Why are you crying?

J: I don’t know why I’m crying.

P: What should I do?

J: I don’t know what you should do.

And we both feel helpless and sucky. Lots of times we pray. Sometimes it helps.

The next struggle is to not pretend that I haven’t been crying. Most days I act like nothing has happened and plaster on the “Happy-go-lucky-my-heart-isn’t-really-broken” smile. It kills me each and every time but it is easier then dealing with reality, it is easier then telling people how I really feel and it is most definitely easier then connecting with a God who wants to heal me. Why is it easier? Because if I connect with a God who wants to heal me then I have to admit that something is wrong and it hurts so much…it just does.

The third struggle and the last one for today is to not hate church. I feel like such a hypocrite because I am the one who has built up walls around myself so that no one can see how much I’m dying inside, the only problem is that whenever I see someone who says they love me I just want to scream, “Then why don’t you see I’m dying!”

So that’s the blonde behind the phantom, that’s whats really going on inside. Please pray for me as I continue down this path of healing and I deal daily with my issues.

And today started out as such a good day….

Comments

4 responses to “My Phantom life”

  1. Leah Avatar

    Thanks for sharing your heart and a bit of what’s been going on. I would love to hang out sometime.

    Like

  2. Amy Lewis Avatar
    Amy Lewis

    Jess, Thank you for being so honest and sharing the real you…the one that doesn’t seem to have it all together. I am humbled by your openess. Thank you for letting me know how to better pray for you (and Paul). See you tonight.

    Like

  3. Nathan Brown Avatar
    Nathan Brown

    Sometimes love does see the dying, yet it still holds out hope. As a pastor I have always wished for a magic wand to fix and heal. Instead the only tool I truly have is love. Love that prays, Love that shares. Love that believes that even in the darkest moment, in faith that there is still hope. I do love you!

    Like

  4. remywriter Avatar

    Hey sis,
    As a recovering what-have-you, one thing I came to realize is that it’s not whether people can see or not, but whether they can really do anything. Of course, everyone can do something, but the one’s who GET IT are the other recovering what-have-yous. Those are the only ones who can really do something, who you can really connect to because to them what you are suffering is not a mystery or an idea–its been their reality too.
    So, who do you know that cries three times a week?
    And if it helps, please know that you are experiencing this because in about ten years there is going to be another phantom out there (probably several) getting burned by life. And she’s going to look at you and recognize the scars that have fresher counterparts on her own self. And you will be able to offer the help that you are looking for right now, because you will be living proof of not just survival and not just healing but he realization of destiny.
    As for right now, someone who’s already been through this is waiting for you.

    –2 Corinthians 1:4

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