Catching up Aug 07

So much has happened lately. I am losing myself amongst all the busyness (yes I just said amongst) On my mind these days…lack of sleep, money, preschool, sewing, making dinner, catching up with friends, missing my time with my heavenly Father, putting up curtains(when will that happen?), need a hair cut, Jamie’s car fixed, need clothes sooon, are we really going to led a small group for newly marrieds? Ha! God is definitely funny!, at least we can make them laugh, will the bulldozers next door to us be taking a break during the girls’ nap today, should Em go to preschool or stay home with me for the next 6mo, do I cut my hair short or keep it long, go blonder or stay darker? can I go take a nap? (I'd appreciate any feedback on the hair decision for those of you who have seen both)

Life is crazy and totally overwhelming at times. In the midst of it all we have had some pretty fun times. Jamie and I went to see John Mayer here in the Atl a couple of weekends ago and it was awesome, we were about 6 rows back off the floor and enjoyed it tremendously. The next weekend I was fortunate enough to go to the Women of Faith conference. It was a good time with my mom and my sister Sheryl, but my favorite part was actually the pre-conference with Beth Moore. I’ve worked through a few of her bible studies and grow by leaps and bounds every time in my walk with God. So, it was great to see her in person. Side note: we got there like 45 min before they opened the doors b/c it was first come first serve seating. The woman we got the tickets from was suppose to be there 15 min before we got there. So we got there and called her. They were getting on MARTA, so we just went ahead and got in line. I’d say we were in the first 200 people in line. So 45 min later they open the doors, still she’s not there, we get to the front to go in, not there, let people go ahead of us, not there, the line is now gone, not there, call her and she has gone inside and is trying to find our gate, from inside the venue (this lasted 15mins), she eventually gets the tickets to a cop who gives them to us. O.K. at this point I’m thinking “please Lord not the nose bleed section. We are grateful for the tickets and Beth Moore is what I was really interested in, but please just not the nosebleed section”. So we walk in about mid-way up in the seats. I told my sister, You look for 3 seats going up and I’ll head down toward the stage to look. She gives me this “do you really think you are going to find anything down there look. And we go our separate ways. I’m walking down holding 3 fingers up asking ladies if they have any extra seats. NOTHING except guard dog looks all the way down. I get to the seats on the floor and I’m like “they can only say no”. What do you know, there were 2 seats together and one right behind, get this, maybe 5 rows from the stage right behind Beth Moore’s section. I called my sister and they were as surprised as I was. Thank you God! I was so happy my mom was going to get the full effect of it all. I think I was more excited about that than anything else. God was so gracious, especially since it was all we could do not to get very….hmmm. shall I say frustrated… earlier. I did bite my tongue often trying with all my will not to speak out toward this lady who was bringing us the tickets. Thinking “Be thankful! Be thankful! Be thankful!…Come on! Just ask somebody out of the 16,000 women who are here where the Techwood Entrance is!.. oh yeah.. God help me be gracious and thankful!”

It was great though. Beth spoke on Comfort. One of the things she pointed out is that our culture slyly gears us toward the pursuit of comfort. We are driven by this fear of pain (agliophobia). Even to the point we pray for God to keep us from pain instead of bringing us closer to his likeness/glory. That was a new realization for me as I thought about my prayers. How about your prayers? Rather than being driven by fear, be compelled by Christ’s love 2 Cor 5:13+

She spoke about a few things that will happen if we don’t stop seeking comfort, but the 2 that spoke to me most were 1 – we will miss the full measure of our calling b/c it will always be far beyond our comfort or ability and 2 – we will miss the presence of God if we seek comfort from other things 1 Cor 1:4, Is 51:12

The final thing that encouraged me as Jamie and I go through tough seasons in our life is when she talked about how we can be vessels of comfort. In 1 Ptr 1 it says we will never suffer in vain and in vs 4 there is a phrase “so that we can”. Sometimes there are things we can NOT do unless we go through (this). Perhaps God has something beyond “us” in the future that we would not be equipped for unless we go through the trials, temptations, and frustrations we are going through now. Ahhh! Strength from God himself. Sweet! I share all this to hopefully encourage anyone else and well, to speak some truth to myself again when I start to feel beat down. Which coincidentally ties in with the last point she made that I liked so much.

The verse in Rom 8:28 says, “We know that all things work together…” The church or body of Christ is a we not an I or me as our culture would like us to think in terms of. Sometimes I am in a fog of sorts and unable to see or to ”know” that all things are working toward good, but when I get together and share my life with other people who are tracking with God, they can help me see the real perspective on my life and what I’m going through. In other words, “We” can know even when “I” don’t know. Well, I’ve shared all I can for now. Thanks for looking past my punctuation and grammar or lack there of. Have a great day and be blessed y’all!