Girls Night-- Spa Time!

Monthly Girls Night: October 2010

Spa Night!

A night of relaxation and pampering (and of course chatting!) with the girls...

Doing nails-- love the lime green!

Foot soaks and masks ("How beautiful are the feet..." -Romans 10)

Lovely!


Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of these girlfriends in my life.

Growing Fruits

I find myself praying more and more to the Holy Spirit these days. Asking Him for His gifts and for the fruits that St. Paul mentions in Galatians.

"For the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." (Galatians 5:22-23)

What an intimidating list! I think I'd be doing quite well if I could have all those fruits!

Just like real fruit, growing spiritual fruit takes time. It would be wonderful to go to the local farmer's market and pick out a handful of joy, a basket of faithfulness, and a whole bushel of patience!

Yet I wonder if we would truly appreciate the fruits of these virtues if we could obtain them immediately.

Would we see our need for the Lord's graces if it were not so difficult to be that which He asks us to be?

Instead we need to trust the Holy Spirit to plant the seeds of His fruits in our lives when we ask. We need to nurture those seeds with prayer and practice. To be humble when He prunes, even though it is painful. To be hopeful and not lose heart when all we see are bare branches instead of abundant fruit.

Paul knew this when He wrote about the fruits and gave some encouragement in the next chapter.

"Let us not grow tired of doing good, for in due time we shall reap our harvest, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

The tending, the growing-- even the pruning-- will be worth it.

Finding Jesus

There are days when God seems distant. When we can't feel His nearness. It almost seems as though we've lost Him. That sense of security is waning. Questions abound. Yet our mind tells us to trust, to believe. Our mind knows He promises to never leave us.

Jesus' own mother knows that feeling.

She lost Him once herself...

"Each year, Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when He was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom. After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents did not know it. Thinking that He was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for Him."

Can you imagine this? The uncertainty, the anxiety, the pain in Mary's heart-- not only was her son missing, but He was the Son of God.

After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for You with great anxiety."

Mary understands the anxiety we have when we can't see what God is doing in our lives. The mental searching for directions, for reasons, for understanding.

And He said to them, "Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what He said to them. He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced (in) wisdom, and age, and favor before God and man."*

Even after His parents found Him, they didn't understand it all. We won't understand everything that happens in our lifetime, but we can continue to find Jesus in it. We can find Him in the friend who gave us a random hug just when we needed it. We can find Him in the peaceful sunset on a stressful day. We can choose to trust that He is there even when we don't see Him in the way we would wish.

And like His Mother, we can keep all these things-- these moments of finding Jesus-- in our hearts.

*Scripture from Luke 2

Broken

"Creator, only You take brokenness,
And create it into beauty once again."

-Porcelain Heart, by BarlowGirl

Have you ever realized how emotional pain can become physical pain? Like when your heart aches so much that you can feel the real, true pain in your chest?

Why is it we can feel loss? Why do regrets hurt so much? Why do we sometimes only realize what we have once we no longer have it?

But the decision is made. For now. My choices, my actions, they have brought me to this place.

A place where more choices are to be made.

The choice to use the past to prune me, mold me, and humble me.

The choice to wake up, get up, and show up-- to make the effort to put others' needs before my own.

The choice to trust the One who picks up broken pieces and puts them back together.

Even when trusting is hard, I must trust Him with the outcome.

The choice to use this as a growing time, learning from my mistakes. It's the least I can do, and the most I can do.

And that small hope within will grow.

Fun and fellowship

The first Monthly Girls Night-- September 2010

Theme: Bring Your Favorite Dip

Expect: Lots of laughter and chatter

Leave with: A refreshed spirit and gratitude for the blessing of girlfriend fellowship!

(To quote Melissa: "It's awesome how a girls night can turn a bad day around.")

God of Wonders

What is it about a starry night that makes me think of God?

Maybe it's the romance of it-- a twinkling heaven above. Maybe it's the vastness of creation, the reminder that the world is so much greater than I can imagine.

Whatever the case, as I walked with Grant under the canopy of stars a few nights ago, my thoughts turned as usual toward the One who "brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name" (Isaiah 40:26). I imagined Him in heaven, my loving Father watching over His children.

Then a realization came to me.

He had been thinking about me before I had even thought of Him.

He never stops thinking about me. Or Grant. Or any of His children.

It's not just when we turn to Him that He turns to us in response. It's not just when we call out to Him in prayer that He gives His attention to us.

We are on His mind. All. The. Time.

Wow.

Finding the Creator in the creation

I sat on the cracked cement porch step of the old farmhouse my dad bought to rent out. The air was just cool enough to hint of crisp autumn breezes in the future. The sky was a beautiful dusky blue. Faithful Micah lay nearby. The trees stood majestically, their giant arms benevolent-- and looking very much like they would be a perfect place to rest and enjoy the view.

I sat there. And thought about God.

How sometimes He seems so very silent.

How sometimes I feel like He's just beyond my grasp. That I can't understand Him or His ways. I can't feel Him.

I hold onto the image of Jesus in the Gospels. I believe in Him. And I believe Him.

But sometimes life--and the Evil One-- bring up questions in my mind. When a friend's adoption fails. When a local young Christian gets cancer. When bad things happen to good people. Or even when good things don't happen to good people.

Then once more I became aware of my surroundings. His creation was begging me to see the reflection of the Creator. He didn't need to come down from Heaven to remind me who He was. It was there all around me. The warm, comforting feel of the wind on my skin. The beauty of the sky. The trees with their welcoming arms. And the unconditional love of a dog.

That is who He is, I thought. A God who creates such beauty, warmth, love, and security can only be those qualities as well. I may not understand His thoughts and His ways, but I can find comfort in who He is.

He invites us to climb into His arms--a perfect place to rest and enjoy the view.