Who is the Good Shepherd?

I have often asked myself what am I really doing here in this life? My years as a child were pretty messed up, and then spent most of my late 20’s, 30’s and early 40’s in therapy struggling to get through a maze of hurtful memories while trying to focus on that small ray of light I could barely see at the end of my tunnel.

There were so many parts of me that needed healed and stitched back together to make some sense of my humanity.  Some of the parts could be stitched back by me, but the majority would stay separated until I was ready to let (God or Jesus) in to help me. This was not going to happen quickly!

You will hear me mention The Good Shepherd a lot in my writings. Because of my background I could not associate (God or Jesus) with anything good and pure. To me (God or Jesus) was very BIG, wore a black robe, carried a BIG stick and would hit me with it every time I sinned. He also told others to punish me for my sins.

So it was pretty obvious that I needed to come up with another name for Him if I was going to let him in to help me. With my therapist help we were finally able to settle on Good Shepherd. I could picture Him being Loving, Caring, Gentle, and greatly saddened by the circumstances of my childhood.

I remember sitting in my therapist office during that session and with a trembling uncertain voice asking the ‘Good Shepherd’ to come into my heart. That day started me on my journey of  Tragedy, Tears, & Trust.