Book Give Away Day! Uninvited by Lysa Terkeurst

 

I knew I shouldn’t look outside.  I knew it would just make me feel worse.  A part of me wanted to see what I was missing, another part wanted to climb in bed, pull the covers over my head and forget about the whole thing.

I was 14 and I was the only girl in my friend group who had been left off the list for the party going on just two doors down from my house. Too curious to resist seeing what  I was missing, I pulled back the curtain in my bedroom window and pressed my face to the glass. Fresh faced girls with wide smiles giggled happily as they piled out of their moms’ shiny cars and headed up the sidewalk to my neighbor’s front door. Their innocent smiles were daggers to my isolated heart. Their girlie chatter a reminder of  the hollow quiet where I stood watching as an outsider, longing to be an insider. Sure, there were “reasons” I wasn’t invited:  we were moving in just a few weeks and this party was for girls who were part of a school club which I would no longer be attending.

There are always “reasons” we get left out or left behind or passed over.  But reasons don’t make rejection feel any better.  Reasons may soothe our mind but rejection is felt in the heart.

To make matters worse, my family’s move meant leaving the state and with it, my childhood best friend. The sting of loneliness I felt that evening would be a companion for many months to come. There was simply no way around it. I had to walk through it.

Every one of us has had moments like this.  Seasons of loneliness. Periods of isolation. Heartbreaking rejection.  Some, much more life-altering than others.

Someone else got the job.

Someone else got the invitation.

Someone else make the team.

Someone else got the ring.

Someone else celebrated.

You cried.

If you’re a mom, your child has experienced this, too. In some ways it’s more heart wrenching to witness a loved one’s rejection than wrestle with your own.

For some, rejection becomes defining, but for others, rejection becomes refining.

It’s all in how we deal with it.

Which is why I’m so excited to give away a free copy of my friend, Lysa Terkeurst’s new book, Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out or Lonely. I’ve been reading the book and I love it.  You will, too.

Simply leave a comment for a chance to win your free copy of Uninvited.  As an added bonus, tell a friend. All new subscribers to my blog/newsletter will receive an additional chance to win. Because, hey, everyone’s invited to join us here! It’s a win all the way around!