31 Days of Story {Day 5} A Five Minute Friday edition :: Welcome Home

I walk into the crowded room filled with women, strangers chatting in groups of twos and threes.

I slowly creep in trying to look like I belong but feeling oh-so-out-of-place.
In the room.
In my own skin.

It has been a hard year for this resilient extrovert, and I am not feeling very brave tonight as I wade through the crowd trying hard to pretend I am really okay.

And suddenly, a voice pulls me out of my melancholy.

"Hi, Welcome to the (in)courage lounge."

I turn and the first thing I see is a smile that could rival the brilliant blue skies of the American prairie, breathing life and acceptance into my soul with a look that says, "I accept you just because you are here."

She shows me the cupcake tower and we chat for a few minutes.
I try not to cry because she could never know how her little gesture changed my world.

Suddenly I was being welcomed home.

*****

At the #FMFparty tonight, she said, "Extroverts get nervous too," and my heart knows this well. And I remembered how I felt walking into the (in)courage lounge at the Relevant {now Allume} blogging conference last year as a freshman blogger.

Thank you, Kristen Strong!
You changed the face of that weekend for me in just ONE moment!!

Join me for 5 Minute Friday where we write without worrying if it is JUST right or not...

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