“. . . she gingerly picked up a dandelion and began to pluck its petals, one at a time. Ever so softly she whispered … “They love me, they love me not. They love me …. They love me not….” This continued until that bright yellow flower had no more petals to pull. Then she picked up the next dandelion and did the same thing, making a pile to one side of ‘they love me’, and to the other side a pile of ‘they love me not.’ “
“A silly childhood game to some,” says author Debbie Kitterman, “but to me, one that I so desperately depended upon to give my little girl self the assurance that she was loved and accepted by those around her.”
Have you ever experienced the sting of rejection?
Today I’m delighted to share Part Four of an 8-part series on Perseverance that three great friends and I have collaborated on together. – These dear friends are:
Mary Geisen, Holly Barrett, and Debbie Kitterman.
Click on the titles below to catch up on each of the previous posts in the Perseverance series: 🙂
Today’s poignant post on The Sting of Rejection is written from Debbie’s personal experience. While her story is unique, rejection is an experience that most everyone can relate to. I know you aren’t going to want to miss it so to continue reading please head on over to visit Debbie at Debbiekitterman.com.
Please join @MaryGeisen, @HollySBarrett, and @Dare2Hear and me for Part 4 in our series on #Perseverance - #Rejection Click To Tweet
I think it has been great fun to hear from so many different perspectives and experiences regarding Perseverance. I hope you are enjoying following along with the series too.
Blessings friends,
I’ve been known to link up to the following great parties!!!
Sunday:
TheDIYShowoff, LifeOnLakeshoreDrive, SilverPenniesSundays, RusticAndRefined, Spiritual Sundays, GiveMeGrace
Monday:
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor, TheDedicatedHouse, Dwellings, ProjectInspired, InspireMeMonday, BetweenNapsOnThePorch, CelebrateYourStory, Making Your Home Sing Mondays, What Joy is Mine/Monday Musings, Darling Downs Diaries, The Art of Homemaking, SmallWonder, MomentsOfHope, Glimpses, SittingAmongFriends
Tuesday:
TalkOfTheTown, HomeStoriesAtoZ, AStrollThruLife, CoastalCharm, CedarHillFarmhouse, TuesdaysAtOurHome, TheWinthropChronicles, Rich Faith Rising Unite Linky, Testimony Tuesday,Cheerleaders of Faith,Tell His Story
Wednesday:
SavvySouthernStyle, Posed Perfection, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Woman to Woman Word Filled Wednesdays, ChristianBloggerLinkup, Mom’s Morning Coffee, Women with Intention, Coffee for Your Heart, MessyMarriage, ThreeWordWednesday
Thursday:
ShareYourStyle, ImpartingGrace, EmbracingChange, HaveADailyCupOfMrsOlson, MyRepurposedLife, ADelightsomeLife, KatherinesCorner, I Choose Joy, Thought Provoking Thursday, SincerelyPaulas, ThankfulThursdays, ThoughtfulThursday, Tune-inThursday
Friday:
FrenchCountryCottage, TheCharmOfHome, RootedInThyme, TheDedicatedHouseAnythingBlueFriday, ShabbyliciousFriday, Sweet Inspiration, Faith’nFriends, Missional Women Faith Filled Fridays, Dance With Jesus FreshMarketFriday
Saturday:
FunkyJunkInteriors, OneMoreTimeEvents, SaturdaySparks, TheInspirationGallery, Make My Saturday Sweet
I love Debbie’s words, so I can’t wait to click on over and be blessed!
You’re gonna love it!
I’m enjoying the series you and your bloggy friends are doing, Patti! Thanks for giving us your combined insights and wisdom! Headed over to Debbie’s place next!
Thank you Beth. You’re gonna love her post!
I think this is something so many can relate to! It’s a gift that you and your friends are sharing encouragement for all of us!
It is a lot of fun Becky, and I’m grateful to have the brilliant friends I do.
I’m your neighbour at Porch Stories today. I already read Debbie’s post yesterday and it was great. I am enjoying this series and the different perspectives on perseverance.
Hi neighbor! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the series.
Great subject that affects so many of us on a personal level. Thank you for sharing.
It sure does Deanna! I love the way Debbie brings us right into the pain of the little girl in the story. Most of our deepest hurts stem from childhood so this was so powerful. Thank you for coming by to read.
Persevering to holding onto our identity in Christ — love this! Great series, Patti!
Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!
I just got done with a Bible Study with Lysa TerKeurst’s “Uninvited” which deals with rejection also. I will head over to Debbie’s blog to read her words also. Rejection is such a hard thing to live with. It never has to be something large and overwhelming like most think. All it needs to be is small, and it can change your prospective in life. You might not even know how much that little bit of rejection actually changed you until later in life. But, rejection is one of those things that is hard to look at when you need to look inside yourself and find out what inside of you you need to change. Let me just say that doing this Bible study was extremely hard for me. Not just because of all the rejection I had in my life but having to look back at that rejection and seeing how it changed my life BUT how to change it and let God heal me from that rejection. Letting go of the rejection is what I am having a hard time dealing with. You would never think that one would want to hold onto something so destructive but it’s almost like a blanket, a security, you hold on to it so you know that you can reject other first before they even have a chance to reject you. You can get that hurt over and done with before you get attached.
Oh here I am hogging up your comment board. I think you have prompted me to maybe write a post about this very subject someday. I found your blog via the Sweet Saturday Blog hop. I am just starting out on the blog world!
Sorry once again for hijacking your comments!
You are so right Tammy. Even the tiniest rejection can change ones perspective on life. I think you’ll enjoy Debbie’s post because she talks about some of the very same things you mentioned here. Most especially how we can think we are being rejected when the other person doesn’t intend that at all. In my opinion, most of this stems from things that we experienced in early childhood and carry around with us.
I’m glad you did Lysa’s study. I’ve read the book and it is excellent. It can indeed be hard to go back and deal with the old “stuff” but the only way through the pain, and to freedom, is THROUGH the pain.
God bless you as you continue to heal and become strong in who God created you to be. He has a good plan for your life and if you keep Him at the forefront of your life, in Bible study and prayer, I believe that one day you will be able to look back, see how far you’ve come, and be amazed that you are actually living the life God created you to live. One of strength, joy, and freedom in Christ.
Such an important topic! It’s staggering to look back and see how often we allow rejection to dictate our present and our future. And it’s powerfully healing to know and experience the security freedom from rejection brings. Wonderful group of women in this series!
The sting of rejection is hard to deal with at times. When that moment arises I remember perfect are his plans for us. It does not say our plans for us. So perhaps it was not his plan and because he knows the future it may be something that is not to happen
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