Welcome to “To the One who sees us…”

I wanted to give a brief introduction to my heart behind this blog. I am hoping that this will be a space for Beloved ones to express themselves in whatever capacity they are led, and that they feel seen and heard. I am hoping this space will be a place of reflection and growth. Some silliness and sanctity. I have been waiting for a little gumption to rise up in me, to start sharing my thoughts and have the courage to dig deeper into the hard stuff.

To start, I wanted to share something I felt the Lord speak to me about at a time when I felt at an all time low in life. I felt as though I was walking through the world and all anyone ever did was look past me. Looking past me to the beautiful ones, intelligent ones, skillful ones, creative ones, more worthy and deserving ones. There was a place for anyone to rest their eyes on, except on me.

“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said…

Then Sarai said to Abram, “You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me.” Your servant is in your hands,” Abram said. “Do with her whatever you think is best.”

Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

The angel of the LORD found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress Sarai,” she answered. Then the angel of the LORD told her, “Go back to your mistress and submit to her.” The angel added, “I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count.” The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery...”

She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.”

Genesis 16:1-2; 5-11; 13

I am no theologian here so bare with me. There is suffering and misery, hearing and seeing. God reaches out to Hagar, to let her know that she is heard. Hagar responds by letting him know that she feels seen. Hagar also gets to share in the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication.

When I was brought to this scripture, in my “feeling overlooked and unseen” space (which comes fast and heavy still) – I saw that something truly sacred and holy had taken place and I felt as though I was there watching this scene play out.

You might be thinking, “God doesn’t send angels to talk to us and tell us we are heard and seen”.

Even so, for a moment, my heart had felt something it hadn’t felt in a long time.

It felt that, as I was living unheard, unseen, unnoticed, unwanted – it felt that, maybe God was hearing me and seeing me and knew just what he wanted me to read.

It felt like this was for me too. Maybe he was meeting me right where I was at, letting me know that he had heard the state I was in even if the words never uttered out of my mouth.

And maybe, if he had a place to rest his eyes…it would be on me.

That is my hope for you Beloved ones, and for me. In brokenness, gut-wrenching, sinking feeling, dismissal of our existence and humanity – you would experience even just a moment of an uninterrupted gaze from a God who hears and sees.

Xoxo

Tiff

P.S.

More blog posts to come.

And friends, I’mma comin’ for your poems, spoken word, art, guest blog, songs, photos, etc.

Stay tuned!