Today I’m over at The Better Mom talking about grace and women.
So often we add more to the Word of God than what’s really there.
We get tangled in what’s right and wrong, hinging our rightness before God on what we do, instead of who He has called us to be, and we run with it tacking the list of measurement to everyone we meet.
Instead of leaving the alleviating breath of Kingdom rest, we leave taxation and striving. We say grace and live works.
But what would our lives, our churches, our relationships, our women’s ministries look like if we say grace and live it?
“Pay close attention to what makes you tear up,”she says. I write it down, “Tears are like tiny, little messengers to what you’re all about.”
The next day I find myself sitting in a room full of writers…the pour out your soul kind…searching my laptop for something to share. Words of mine.
I’m distracted…half-paying attention to the words of the friend sitting next to me being read by a heart (in)courager. I just pick a piece from my about page…something close to my heart.
Words are shared, we talk, we cry…life, I think, is lived in words…the writing out, the writing down. Not only do we write to taste life twice, but to digest it.
It’s my turn. She reads my words and the tears come. I choke back the emotions…embarrassed by the soul-baring.
I see pictures of people’s lives.
I see their stainless steel appliances, living rooms right out of Pottery Barn or the latest issue of Real Simple. [...]
I see them in their put together outfits looking effortlessly chic. I see them flutter off to conference after conference having the time of their lives. Learning, growing, deepening relationships.
And I wonder, why not me? [...] I feel like I’m missing out. I’m not quite part of the club.
This world offers so much…it tempts with its treasures, and it lacks…my heart is broken and it calls for home.
Tiny messengers roll down my cheek as the words spill out, “I’ve moved all my life. As a kid, my dream was to live in a small town for 30, 50 years. But, but…for years now I’ve felt that God’s said I’ll never have that.”
I don’t know what God has in store for us.
I can’t say. He hasn’t said.
In the midst of this I find myself longing for someone else’s life. Their affluence or certainty, their granite countertops or trips across the country. Their stability. Haven’t I lived this nomadic life long enough?
I just want to be in that place where peace rules and there is no need for light, because He is light. I’ve grown tired of this world’s demands…of the temptings, the games, the better-than-you, addictions empty promises, the poverty, the suffering, the emptiness.
I have no abiding city here. I am reluctant toward this world. And, truth be told, there are days I am reluctant for the world to come.
Relevant solidified an answer to a question I’ve been pondering and talking over with friends for some time. My days at Reflections of a Princess are numbered. Six years I have written in this place. It’s been quite a journey.
After a much needed rest, a new home is coming. When the snow begins to melt and flowers peek from earth’s dark soil, look for my open door…a new land to sojourn,
The Reluctant Sojourner.
Until then, this place will become quite quiet. I might pop in now and then, but for the time being my energies and focus will be toward my family and home.
My mind and heart are all too hurried and they need a quiet rest. I know you’ll understand. But don’t worry…you can still find me on Twitter.
Today I’m over at The Better Mom sharing how to open up the world for your child right where you are.
With my parents in the Marine Corps, I grew up a bit of a nomad. By the time I was a year old I had my first passport and was moving to Japan. The years would find me crossing coasts, continents, and states in between. This government instituted bohemian lifestyle enabled me to see much of the world, but what has marked my life with a permanent seal was the people. I met people from all parts of the country and world—different shades of color, accents and traditions.
This here and there, molded how I see the world, culture, and Jesus in it all.
I knew from a young age that when I had children I wanted them to experience the world. I wanted to show them places and people, languages and foods, to see pagodas and cannons. I wanted them to see the vastness of God’s world and the people in it. For it is a marvelous and wonderful thing. I feel strongly about opening up and allowing children to experience different cultures, so that they move beyond themselves and begin to see other people. But what is crucial is seeing and moving through the lens of the Gospel.
