I see you and I validate you!
Being captured within a specific moment while noticed and backed up by supportive closeness, that is validation.
Having a sense of belonging as in a group of girlfriends and guyfriends or sisters and brothers, guiding each other toward fulfillment, that is validation.
Noticing another not in the way I like to be noticed, but in the way they like to be noticed, that is validation.
Let’s try an experiment. Visualize a person about whom you’ve been thinking, for whom you’ve been praying with care and concern. Slip into their story. They might be experiencing a pain with no end in sight, one that cuts all the way to the bone where joints and marrow meet.
Now visualize a pain that you’re experiencing or have experienced. If you can’t relate on a common, shared pain, atleast you can connect on the level that pain happens and can be debilitating, no matter its source. That is validation.
Turn to another with purpose. Intimately stretch out as if to share a confidence. Your diligent, astute, openhearted awareness allows others to search out your spirit of blessing.
Jesus practiced validation throughout his ministry. He took time to concentrate on individuals and not just the crowds. The gospels are a collection of stories of Jesus stretching out his hand, meeting individuals at their point of specific need, connecting to their hearts’ desires.
How do you practice validation? Who sees you?
Are not the sparrows five for two pence? And yet not one of them is overlooked by God. More than that, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Have no fear; you are worth more than any number of sparrows.