As a child, I spent early Saturday mornings watching The Justice League cartoon with my brothers and was appropriately fixated on Wonder Woman.  What’s not to love about a woman who could hang with the boys, who had an invisible mode of transportation and who could force the bad guys to tell the truth with a rope?   Aside from her disproportionate bust to waist to hip ratio (Thanks for the body image complex, DC Comics!), she was a perfect super hero to aspire to be like.

Image borrowed from thanley.wordpress.com.

So, Wonder Woman Underoos made sense.  Underoos.  Remember them?  Underwear and undershirt, prepackaged and pre-printed with whatever cartoon character was popular at the time.  A marketing strategy genius for those children who watched cartoons on Saturday morning, which was ALL children, wasn’t it?  I don’t remember too many particulars about these Underoos, aside from having them, but one memory stands out.  I couldn’t have been more than three.  My parents had guests over, and my Underoos were new.  I made a streaking appearance in these underwear-look-a-likes to show off my Wonder Woman status only to be quickly ushered into my bedroom for a stern talking to about how we do NOT show our underwear to guests.  Hmph. Who knew?

I like the idea of transparency.

I like the idea of being completely honesty in words, actions, and thoughts, day in and day out.  I like the idea of being an open book, keeping my weaknesses and shortcomings and insecurities out in the open so that Satan has less to work with. I like that, in being transparent, I can lay my head down, at night, and sleep in peace and contentment.

I like the idea of transparency.

The action of transparency is often a different story.

Transparency breeds vulnerability.  And vulnerability is scary.  Vulnerability acts as a door into our deepest, darkest secrets – those things we are certain will cause people to run, screaming into the night, away from our terrible selves.  Vulnerability highlights those things we are certain will keep us from sitting at the cool kids’ table at lunch or at church. Vulnerability points to those things that could brand us ‘unlovable’ or ‘unfit’ or ‘unworthy’.

The action of transparency is the hard part.

But, the hard part is necessary.

In order to form healthy, solid, strong bonds with any person, some level of transparency must be achieved.  It is the single most connecting aspect of relationships – relating to someone because of a shared struggle, experience, weakness, or overcoming.

There is a fire inside of me, put there by God, Himself, to blaze a trail toward transparency.  A fire that propels me to place myself, my credibility, my reputation on the line in the name of complete honesty so that healthy, solid, strong bounds can be established so that His work can be accomplished; so that His Kingdom can expand.

Thus the purpose of this blog and the words typed within it.  I have nothing more to offer than a clear view into my life and prayers that you and I will be able to establish a relationship that will further His kingdom.  I do not have all the answers.  In fact, I have very few, as you’ll soon see through this blog.  But, I was given the gift of stringing words together to paint pictures and speak truth.  So, I’ll share.  I’ll be transparent.  I’ll tell you what I’ve been through, what I’m going through, what I aim for.  I’ll lay on the table the things I’m afraid of, the events that bring me joy, the perplexities of my specific circumstances.  All in hopes that His Word will bring clarification, His Will be done, and that we – you and I – will lean in closer to Him.

Looking back, I can understand my parent’s reaction to my Underoo display while we had visiting guests. The inappropriateness was lost on me in my quest to share something I was excited about. Remember, this Wonder Woman-lady had an invisible plane!  But, I envy the willingness I possessed, at age three, to be transparent.  It is not so easily shown these days.

May we posses the willingness to be open; to be transparent; so that others can see the work of God within us.  And, may we have cool pajamas that give us confidence!