ireki begia.

"Ireki begia" is an old Basque saying that my great grandma used to warn me with. It directly translates to "open your eyes". I've finally realized that this phrase couldn't be more applicable in my life.

I talked to a family member for the first time about God this evening. She brought it up. She came to me and told me she believes and she always had. She told me that she prays for our family. "[She doesn’t] know how else we would have gotten here without God." From what she relayed, I don’t know if she has ever felt God, but I hope that for her. I don’t think she sees Him as a friend or as someone who loves her, always. I don’t know if she believes He can move her and that she can experience Him, but I pray for her often and I will continue to do so. I’m overwhelmed with gladness that talking about my faith with her is now more of a possibility.

Tonight I learned that I had never shared my story with her. I was so scared of being made fun of and of being different from the family. Consequently, no one knows why I go to church or why it’s such an important part of my life. No one has ever really heard when I became a Christian or even what it meant to me then and what it means now. She asked me. She cared what I believed. She listened. And for the first time, I realized that maybe my family’s “disinterest” in my faith is really my own fault.

My eyes are opened and my hope is restored.