I’m excited and a little nervous to be writing my first blog on our Barefoot Ministries page.

It’s a bit like when you haven’t seen a loved one for a long time and you try to give an update – where do you start?

I sat down yesterday with pen and paper to write, wanting to start off with some amazing piece of world-changing Christian insight, but ended up with most things crossed out and getting nowhere. I told my husband I was grappling with the feeling that I had to save the whole world with my first post. Thankfully he assured me I had to do no such thing!

Most of us try hard in life to get it right, to make a positive difference. We have dreams of goodness in ourselves that often fall far short of our reality and we want that same goodness from those around us, only to find they have the same troubles as ourselves.

Imperfection. If only I could just get it right!

I’ve often struggled with confession. If I don’t admit to it maybe it won’t be noticed and I can keep up appearances? (Here I am confessing my struggle with confessing! God’s working on me!)

Seriously though, through my own life’s journey God has shown me that what He most wants is for us to come to Him with all the broken bits, all the failings, struggles, secrets, addictions and hurts that we do our very best to hide from the rest of the world and to discover that He knows them all anyway and loves us through it all.

God’s grace means come as you are.

Jesus said, “Come to me all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.” He hung around with ordinary people, those at the bottom end of the social order and had little time for those religious sorts who put their own needs above the ones they were supposed to serve.

Little time for those who wouldn’t confess?

When I was a little girl I always had a pretty little “Sunday best” dress which I wore to church every Sunday and the rest of the week I was a scruffy little mess, wearing hand-me-downs around the farm and coming home from school with my hair all a mess to the point that my mother had it cut short to keep the birds from nesting in it.

My heart’s desire is that we all understand that we have a God that loves us with messy hair and second hand clothes as much as when we’re in our Sunday best. There is nothing in our lives that is hidden from Him and He longs to have a relationship with us that is real and honest and life-changing. All those secret struggles can be laid at His feet so He can show us how to deal with them.

I guess that’s part of the thinking behind our name, Barefoot Ministries, we want it to convey the feeling of come as you are. Come and find that we all have our messes but there’s love and healing available because Jesus welcomes us just as we are.

Love and blessings,

Faye