After the Mask: Journaling with God

By Karen V. Greene

Will you still love me when I take off my happy mask?

A self-proclaimed people pleaser shares her journey after removing her happy mask and facing her greatest adversary everherself. This book shares one pew members journey to her truth and challenges its readers to reflect on his/her spiritual journey. Are you retaking the same tests?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Apr 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973624141

Karen V. Greene

Karen V. Greene is a native of South Carolina. She is an educator and the author of Hurting from the Inside: A View from the Pew.

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Copyright © 2018 Karen V. Greene.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

KJV: Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-2413-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2415-8 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2414-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903855

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/20/2018

Contents

It’s All about Perspective

Walking in the Truth or Walking the Plank

Pruning

Who’s Good?

Because I Said So!

Are You Satisfied?

Seeking the Wrong Identity

Will You Still Love Me?

A Love like Adam’s

While We Wait (The Waiting Room Experience)

Paul’s Example of How to Survive Attacks

Paul’s Example of How to Deal with People

It’s Like Holding On to an Old Pair of Shoes

The Lemonade Stand

God Judges the Heart

Releasing the Jonah Spirit

No More Delays

What Should I Do Now That I’ve Crossed the Red Sea?

Dear Neighbor,

Thank you for reading my previous book Hurting from the Inside: A View from the Pew. I am blessed that God used me as a vessel for such a message. Therefore, I do not want to misrepresent my journey after taking off my happy mask. I am living a blessed life because I have the comfort and internal peace of knowing I am striving to stay within God’s will for my life. I know I am not perfect, but I know His hand is on my life because He is good, not because I am good. Everything I have today is because of God’s hand on my life, along with His grace, mercy, and favor. So all the glory belongs to God and to Him alone.

Since I openly shared what led me to stop wearing my mask and walk in my truth and the freedom it brought me, I thought it would be responsible if I shared the journey that soon followed. The road to this joy was not easy. That’s why we must encourage each other to stay the course. Detours are available. It is easy to become distracted and get off course. Staying on course requires focus and seeking God’s will daily.

Hurting from the Inside is a message to pastors detailing one pew member’s internal hurt and conflict with her circumstances, religious upbringing, and personal choices. Now I wish to address my neighbor, that person sitting next to me in the pew. I want to share my journey in hopes of encouraging you on yours. We are all a work in progress; therefore, we are bound to make mistakes. Taking off one’s happy mask is not easy. That is why no one can travel this road alone. I know. I’ve tried. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do (1 Thessalonians 5:11 KJV).

It was not until the mask came off that God could heal all the broken pieces I had been hiding. Years of hurt, disappointment, confusion, and unfairness surfaced. In other words, the real me showed up, and I wasn’t pretty! I was angry. No matter how badly I did not want to be, I was.

I do not want others to mistakenly believe that once I stopped masking the hurt in my life, everything was great. Actually, once I stopped lying to myself, I had to deal with and confront all I had been hiding for years. Needless to say, that was not easy, but thankfully I was ready. I knew I had to do this in order to receive God’s best. At this point, I was hungry for His best.

I went from wanting everyone to like me to not caring if anyone liked me. People liking me was simply not on my to-do list. I went from meek and mild to brash and confrontational. I made up in 2015 and 2016 for all the cursing I had missed since I learned how to talk. I am not proud, but this is true.

After the mask, I had