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By Ariane Williams

“I woke up like this” are the words that popped into my mind one morning as I placed my feet on the floor. I never knew how powerful that action can be, as it simply means that when the feet hit the floor, I control where those feet will take me as I prepare to face the day and walk through it.

The past several months, so many people thought that my transparency exposed a broken woman when in actuality, if they saw in the spirit, it exposed a woman who was learning to dream bigger: a woman who was getting ready to face her fears.

I never knew what it meant “to walk through it” when God made me throw away my comfortable shoes (things I was used to) and gave me a new pair of shoes that I did not know how to walk in because those shoelaces were tightened with fear. A friend told me one day, “This may be the hardest season and movement of your life,” but you are going to walk through it. I just want to share with you at this moment that you are going to walk through it; it is the only way out. You are not weak; your strength will carry you to the other side as God holds the water back for you just so you can walk through it.

We all seem to be living in a season of finding, yet we become afraid and fearful of our transparency, afraid that people will know the true terms to our heart. Don’t worry; they can’t define them. I normally sleep light and check on the children throughout the night. My daughter normally gets in my bed in the middle of the night, but this night, she did not. As I got up, I did my usual rounds: peaked in one room, went in the other, looked closely to watch breathing, and that is when I noticed that my baby girl was not in her bed. I started to panic as I could not find her anywhere. Something whispered to my heart, “Look in your room one more time and look closely.” As I went into my room, I looked at my bed and the closet; she was not there. In front of my bed, there lay a flat clothes basket with my daughter’s favorite blanket. She was in the basket with her favorite blanket. So many times, God says that we walk past Him, but He is right there. You see, He covers us in our basket (challenges of life), and keeps us safe. After all, He is our favorite blanket. She was somewhere in the house, although I could not see her. He is somewhere in the midst of your situation, although you cannot see Him.

To top it off, while getting dressed for school, this same little girl begins to sing “Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream, merrily merrily, merrily merrily, life is but a dream.” The tune danced in my mind. I heard this song over the years, but words hit differently when you can’t find your blanket. I started to think about who was on my boat that I needed to throw out when I realized that the lyric states, “your boat.” Therefore, I am in charge of the boat. I am the oarsman. I hold the oars to gently and tenderly experience the stream and the journey of my life. Take back your oars. Go down the stream. Get out of the boat. Walk through it.

A good friend grabbed me by my shirt, with both hands, and pulled me close to her. She looked me in the eyes and told me “Get it together, pull yourself together and don’t allow what is trying to break you to break you. After all, you can’t allow something or someone that is already broken to break you. Get rid of those broken oars, learn to walk in your new shoes, grab your blanket. God is right there to cover you and your basket full of stuff so that you can “walk through it.”

Ariane Williams is a teacher, minister, published author and liturgical dancer. Email her at arianewilliams810@yahoo.com.