silence

What do you think of when I say the word, “silence’? Does it strike fear into you? Does the idea of not having a radio or tv on, even as background noise, make your palms sweat?

I use to run from silence. I loved the sounds that could fill my ears….radio, tv, cd’s, my own voice. It’s not that sound is bad. It's just that in the presence of sound there is the absence of silence….and in the absence of silence, it is nearly impossible to hear God’s still small voice. And I really want to hear His voice.

About four years ago, I began to practice a daily time of silence and solitude. It was so hard in the beginning. My mind would not shut off. I cannot tell you how many times I thought about giving up and just going back to the noise. The noise was known. I felt more in control. But, I stuck with it. Someone told me that God was pleased with my desire to just ‘be’ with Him, without asking for anything, even if I was struggling with the distractions. That was enough to keep me going. The longer I practice it, the better it gets.

Distractions will always be a part of my time in silence but I’ve sensed the Holy Spirit working deep inside and have begun to see some changes. I am convinced it is because I am giving the time to God and surrendering to whatever He wants to do in my life.

If you’ve never tried being silent, I encourage you to try. If you are practicing but have been discouraged, share your struggle with God and keep at it. It is one of the core spiritual disciplines. It allows the Holy Spirit to work within us on a deeper level. Don’t judge your time by what you are experiencing during it but just continue to offer it to God and let Him help you learn to listen to His still small voice.

Peace,
Deb

intimacy

"The biggest challenge I face in my longing to become who I am is to know and enjoy each member of the Trinity to such an extent that I can remain centered in them when I'm with others. When I'm centered in God, alive to the spirit's rhythm, aware of the Son's grace, and basking in the Father's love, I no longer fear another’s judgment. It can hurt, but it cannot destroy. It is then that I more fully discover my true self, and I'm empowered to enter relationships with true love."
Larry Crabb

This quote speaks to the truth that we need to be completely surrendered to God and His desire for our lives to be fully who we are and to be in true relationship with others. When grounded in God’s love we are able to enter into relationships with more honesty, vulnerability and integrity.

Is God speaking to you about being centered in Him…in sensing the movement of the Spirit, in experiencing the grace Jesus offers, and feeling, on a personal and intimate level God’s love for you? Perhaps you could spend some time today pondering these three aspects of God’s work in your life. If God leads, consider writing down what He shows you. Where do you sense the Spirit’s movement? How are you experiencing the grace of Jesus? How do you feel God loving you today? These questions may help you move into a deeper intimacy with the Trinity. Enjoy that closeness.

Grace,
Deb

new endings

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning but anyone can start today and make a new ending.”

Maria Robinson

This is the beautiful thing about hope. This is the beautiful thing about God. As long as we have breath, we can make a decision to choose what is life-giving even in the midst of difficult circumstances and a past full of regrets.

The last eight months have been a series of ups and downs with my mom. Her health is so fragile. She takes two steps forward and three steps back, or at least it seems that way. About two weeks ago, I shared that she had another stint in the hospital. It was a very hard week watching her endure several painful procedures.
Easter evening, while still in the hospital, I was sitting in a chair by her bedside reading. I looked over and she was crying. I went and sat on the side of the bed and asked her what was wrong….what was she afraid of. She said, “This process.” I asked her if she was afraid of death. She said “Yes, a little.’ That is the first time she answered me like that. She usually jokes it off but I think the recent events brought home the realization that life is tenuous.

We had the most intimate and moving conversation about how things from our past do not need to dictate our future…how there is forgiveness and grace offered and how we can be assured of God’s love. We ended our conversation with a time of prayer asking God to help us sense His presence together and thanking Him for this special time we have been able to spend since her move to PA. It really was the most amazing Easter I’ve ever had.

Do you have things in your past that you feel keep you separated from God? Is it easier to believe that nothing can change than it is to accept that even you can be loved and forgiven by God? May you take time to today to sit with God and consider what it might look like to ‘make a new ending’.

Grace and peace,
Deb

baby girl

“A daughter is one of the most beautiful gifts this world has to give.”

Laurel Atherton

One of my good friends had a beautiful a baby girl last week. It is a ‘starting over’ place for her and her husband as baby Havah came into their lives unexpectedly.

It made me reflect on my own life. 31 years ago this morning, I gave birth to a baby girl. Unlike her older brother who took 12 hours to make his appearance, my daughter took on only 12 minutes (I cheated - C-section). My petite little girl (9 lbs 9 oz) came home in a white and pink dress. And so began one of the most beautiful relationships of my life.

Today, I look back and reflect on 31 years of her life.

The way she slept in her crib – on her belly with her knees pulled up tight.
Her tonsillectomy at age 3.
Her pigtails.
Her love of animals.
Her obsession with marine life.
Her empty threat to squeeze her brother’s hamster until its eyes popped out.
Her first stitches – which she promptly pulled out.
Drinking Liquid Tylenol, then Ipecac syrup – then…well you know.
Her first date.
Her first heartbreak.
Track meets and volleyballs games.
Her graduation from high school.
Driving her to college for the first time.
Crying for days after - oh, yeah…that was me, not her!
Seeing her make a decision to do a semester overseas – because God wanted her to, not because she wanted to.
Seeing her make so many other good decisions.
Seeing her fall in love before she even knew it.
Doing a missions trip together to South Africa.
Being her matron of honor.
Being with her when her first child was born.
Waiting while her second child was born (another c-section in the family!)
Seeing her grow in gifts and ability.
Observing her love her husband.
Watching her with her boys – she is an amazing mom.
Continuing to enjoying her not only as my daughter, but as my friend.

While I count so many things in my life as good and perfect gifts from above, Brooke is one of those gifts in which God continues to bless me.

Thank you, Brooke, for the privilege of being your mom and for your on-going love and friendship. Happy Birthday, baby girl. I love you more than I can express.
Mom

pour

"The deepest delight is to participate with another in a delight that we have had a small hand in bringing to pass. To create opportunity for another to know joy is regenerating both for the giver and for the one who receives, and the combined joy is a gift we return to the Creator for offering us such bounty in his creation."
Dan Allender ~ Sabbath

Occasionally I sit to reflect on those who have had a significant impact in my life. There are those people who have invested in me. And I, in turn, have invested in others. Allender is right that the participating in allowing others to know joy, is one of the deepest delights known. When I see those I have poured into fly, well it just doesn't get much better than that.

Who has poured into you? Do they know they have impacted you or how their influence has changed your life? And who are you pouring into? Who has experienced joy because you took the time to give of yourself? Consider spending some time today reflecting on these things. Then thank God for the part others have played for you and for the part you are playing for others.

grace and peace,
Deb

just - let go

I have friends who are going through some tough times with their children. The more they try to control the situation the more it becomes confused. I came across this poem this week and it speaks words of truth.

To Let Go Takes Love

To let go does not mean to stop caring
it means I can't do it for someone else.

To let go is not to enable,
but to allow learning from natural consequences.

To let go is not to cut myself off,
it is the realization I can't control others.

To let go is not to try to change and blame another,
it is to make the most of myself.

To let go is to admit powerlessness,
which means the outcome is not in my hands.

To let go is not to judge,
but to allow another to be a human being.

To let go is not to care for,
but to care about.

To let go is not to be protective,
it is to permit another to face reality.

To let go is not to fix,
but to be supportive.

To let go is not to be in the middle of arranging all the outcomes,
but to allow others to affect their destinies.

To let go is not to deny,
but to accept.

To let go is not to nag, scold or argue,
but instead to search out my own shortcomings and correct them.

To let go is not to criticize and regulate anybody,
but to try to become what I dream I can be.

To let go is not to adjust everything to my desires,
but to take each day as it comes and to cherish myself in it.

To let go is not to regret the past,
but to grow and live for the future.

To let go is to fear less,
and to love more.

~author unknown~

quiet

Now
Oh Lord
Calm me into quietness
that heals
and listens
and molds my longings
and passions
my wounds
and wondering
into a more holy
and human shape.

Ted Loder

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi



Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is jury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled,
as to console;
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is dying to the self that we are born into eternal life.



I am struck by the simplicity of this prayer and how profound it is.

I invite you to read it through, slowly, at least two times and pay attention to what draws you. Meditate on that part of the prayer, throughout the day and let God speak to your heart about it.

Peace,
Deb

identity

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said:




“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”



I love this quote. It helps me gain perspective on my life and my role. At the core of who I am, I am spiritual. I am made in the image of God. This is so easy for me to forget. I get so caught up in my life…my things…my plans. I can be upset about something that won’t mean anything two weeks from now, let alone be important in the grand scheme of things.

I can tend to live as if this is all there is. Fear sets in as I think of the years swiftly moving by and the knowledge that my days are numbered. I get so caught up in my earthly existence that I don’t give a thought to eternity.

Imagine what it would be like if we began every morning reflecting on the truth that we are spiritual beings on a human journey. If we constantly carried this thought with us through our day, how would it change the way we act…or react? What would look different? Be different?

I encourage you to think about this today. Live this day with the full knowledge that you are a spiritual being on a human journey. Look at all today holds for you through that lens and see how it changes you. And, consider offering today’s part of your spiritual journey to God, asking Him to allow that spirituality to shine through your human-ness.

Blessings,
Deb

surprise

Have you ever had the experience of praying for something and seeing, in your head, how it would work out? I do that all the time. But…you know what? It NEVER works out that way.

Or, how about this….you’re not sure what’s ahead, what’s around the next corner. You may be sensing that God is calling you into a new adventure but you cannot possibly see how it will come to pass. Or, you may be facing a very difficult situation that is full of uncertainty. If only you could see what’s ahead, then you could trust Him with whatever it is.

I used to fear these circumstances (sometimes I still do). I wanted to have more control, to be able to plan things out, to know what was coming next so I could better prepare. What I really wanted was for God to answer my prayers my way. This kind of living caused me a great deal of anxiety. But then, slowly, God began to change my perspective. I began to relax and truly trust that He knew what was best. I didn’t need to know everything.

I have been on this journey long enough to know that God always works it out. Not always in the way I want Him to and never the way I think He will, but, none the less, He works it out.

Now, instead of fearing what’s around the next corner, I am looking for the surprise. I know God loves me and that He will take care of me, even if it is in unexpected ways. So, instead of needing all the answers, I am able to live with the questions and anticipate the surprise, looking at it like a gift. It may not come when I expect it, be wrapped the way I think it should be or even be the gift I want…but it will always be the gift I need.

May your day be filled with “God surprises”. May you not be fearful and anxious about what lies ahead but learn to be open and excited about the surprises God has in store for you. Enjoy the gift; the gift that is.... trusting Him with everything.

Blessings,
Deb

hard times

Perhaps our eyes need to be washed by our tears once in a while, so that we can see Life with a clearer view again.”

Alex Tan

The last two weeks of my life have been interesting…both beautiful and devastating. The Saturday before Easter, at 1:30 in the morning, I got a phone call that my mom was having difficulty breathing and was being taken to the hospital. I rushed to get dressed and my husband and I drove the 5 minutes to the hospital. They had stabilized her in the emergency department and we sat with her until about 4 am. They decided to move her to the transitional unit until they could get her into a room. I drove Jeff back home, grabbed a shower and went right back. Around 7am, she began to breathe heavily again. I told the nurse and within minutes we went from having a conversation to her being surrounded by four nurses and me in the bathroom calling Jeff to ask him to come back to the hospital. I was afraid she was going die.

I considered for one moment, not coming out of the bathroom. It felt safe in there. I could cry with no one seeing me. I could be safe from making any decisions. You see….just weeks before, my mom asked me to be her Power of Attorney. That means I can make decisions for her….not just financial or legal decisions but life and death decisions. The weight of that responsibility fell heavily on my shoulders. At one point, they had entered the room and asked her if she would consent to a procedure. As she gasped for breath, gripped her chest because of the pressure, she asked me, through her tears, what she should do. Part of her wants this whole life journey to just be over and part of her wants to live. Those types of decisions are nearly impossible to make. I don’t want to see her suffer but I don’t want to lose her either. What trust to put in another human being to allow them to make these serious choices on your behalf.

I remember thinking “I want to be somewhere else…I want to be somewhere else…anywhere but here, doing anything but this.” Then I remembered that one of my longings, one of the aspects of my spiritual life I have been working on is being present – being present to what is….not to what has been or what will be but to what is. And what God was asking me to be present to in this moment was the reality that my mom was struggling to breathe…that she was scared and that I was the one who was with her. I found myself praying asking God to help me be completely open to my mom, to her struggle and to what He was doing within me and within her.
She agreed to the procedure and she began to stabilize. By early afternoon, she was in her room upstairs. It was a grueling week. Three blood transfusions, a heart cath, a colonoscopy and an endoscopy, blood tests too numerous to count, sky high blood sugars complicated by steroids to help her breathe, high blood pressure, blood loss…you get the picture. For three days and nights, I was with her. When you are the one responsible for making such important decisions, you better know everything that is going on. It was an exhausting time filled with emotional roller coaster moments. But – it wasn’t all bad. And that is a story for another day….perhaps tomorrow.

May you find yourself present today to all God has for you, be it good or be it difficult. He wastes nothing. Live in the moment.

Grace and peace,
Deb

be present

From The Rest of God by Mark Buchanan:


“Waiting implies anticipation of something else; that this moment is not the moment. It implies that the expected thing, the hoped-for thing, is yet to arrive, that the present is only preliminary to the future.”

When I read this, I was stopped in my tracks. This is me! It seems I am always waiting. I am waiting to wear my bathing suit until I lose a few more pounds, waiting to have people over for dinner until I clean the house, waiting to pursue my hobbies until I have more time. I realized, after reading this quote, that I am missing being fully present in this day because I am focused on the future. How much have I missed because I am not aware of what is right in front of me? When I look to the future, I cannot see clearly. It rarely turns out the way I think it will. But I do have the chance to see what is right in front of me, what is happening right here, right now.

I've started asking God to help me stay in this day, in this hour, in this moment.

Think about asking God, today, to help you keep focused on the now…not in the future, not in the past, but in the present, because the present is more than enough.

Peace,
Deb

awareness

One of my favorite authors is Ken Gire. He has a way of helping me learn to pay attention to the movements of God in my life. He has written numerous devotional books. The first book I read by him is an excellent book called, Seeing What is Sacred: Becoming More Sensitive to the Everyday Moments of Life, (old title - The Reflective Life) that is written, specifically, to help you become more aware.

I want to share a quote from him:

"He[God] has much to say, not only from the Scriptures but from the circumstances of our everyday lives. However prosaic the pages of our lives may seem at first reading, within the lines or in between the lines God may be speaking. Every book we read, every movie we see, every person we talk with, every song we listen to, every moment in our lives, in fact, should be subjects for reflection and could be ways through which God is speaking."


Consider asking God to help you today...help you pay attention to where/how He may be speaking to you, perhaps speaking in ways you had not considered before. Feel free to share what you noticed.


May you see Him in a different way today,

Deb

everyday sacred

“To conclude your meditation…you must gather a little devotional bouquet. I will explain my meaning. People who have been walking about in a beautiful garden do not like to leave without gathering in their hands four or five flowers to smell and keep for the rest of the day. In the same way, when our soul has carefully considered by meditation, a certain mystery, we should select one, two or three points that we liked best and that are most adapted to our improvement, think frequently about them, and smell them spiritually during the rest of the day.”

Frances de Sales

There are things that speak into our lives every day….conversations, songs, books, movies, signs, etc. Everywhere, God uses these to engage us. But, unless we are paying attention, we will miss it. And, if we notice it, unless we linger with it, it will soon be gone and any depth it may have been held within, will escape us.

Be aware of the things He is saying to you through the ordinary things of life and ponder them in your heart as you move through the rest of your day. Treasures lie within.

Grace and peace,
Deb

morning

“No one knows what makes the soul wake up happy. Maybe a dawn breeze has blown the veil away from the face of God.”
Rumi

I am, by nature, a morning person. My favorite time of the day is early morning. I love the quiet, dark cloak that covers the earth before the first peek of the sun breaks through. This is the time I feel drawn to be with God. I sit in my sacred space…a space I have created to just be with Him. I start with silence. I then read a devotional and I always journal about whatever is on my mind. I ask God to help me be present to His presence during this day. I read this quote today and I want to put it by my bed as a reminder that I may get a glimpse of God in a fresh and new way.

May the breeze blow the veil back for you, if only for a second, so you may see experience God anew this morning.

Grace and peace,
Deb

sacred text

"To pray the Scriptures means to allow the words of the sacred text to form our prayer, either directly or indirectly.”

Unknown

Engaging Scripture on a heart level is transformative. When I approach the text as if God wrote it directly to me, certain words or phrases seem to be illuminated. I pay attention to those words and sit with them. They then become my prayer, as I give myself over to whatever God wants to work in my life through them.

May your reading of the Scriptures become more than an information gathering exercise …may it be an encounter with the Sacred.

Grace and peace,
Deb

deeply

"If you read [a passage in the Bible] quickly it will benefit you little. You will be like a bee that merely skims the surface of a flower. Instead, in this new way of reading with prayer, you become as the bee who penetrates into the depths of the flower. You plunge deeply within to remove the deepest nectar. Plunge into the very depths of the words you read until revelation, like a sweet aroma, breaks out upon you."
Madame Guyon in Short and Very Easy Way of Prayer:

I have come across a devotional called Solo, written by Eugene Peterson. It takes portions of Scripture (from The Message) and walks you through the stages of lectio divina, a devotional way of reading the Word. Instead of merely reading the text, you move into the text.

May you penetrate deeply in the truth and meaning of Scripture as you allow God to meet you, to love you through His Word.
Grace & peace,
Deb

awareness

One thing I want to increase is my awareness of God. I seem to forget that He is always near me, always speaking to me, always loving me. It’s like the verse in James that talks about a man (or woman!) looking in a mirror and then walks away and forgets what he, or she, looks like. It seems like that sometimes, for me. There are things I know about God and about how He wants to be with me. I can think about it, talk about it, experience it and then within ten minutes, forget it. I don’t forget-forget, but it leaves my awareness.

I had written this in my journal;

“Our striving to be close to God is not so much a journey of finding Him but it is more of a journey of consciousness. He is here and He is in me in all the fullness I could ever imagine but I am not aware of the depth of it…right now I can see only glimpses of it…glimpses of heaven.”

My prayer today is that I would be more and more aware of God’s presence and movements in my life. I love praying a prayer that I know is close to God’s heart.

Consider taking a few moments this day to invite God to allow you to have a deeper consciousness of Him and His presence as He gives you glimpses of heaven.

Blessings,
Deb

space

S p a c e……I need space! Yesterday was a long day. It was an awesome day, filled with incredible conversations and interactions. It started early and ended late. But it seemed like something was missing. What was it? S p a c e. I had not spent intentional time in the morning with God. It’s not magic. It just helps me center on what is most important to me….my relationship with Him.

What I say I want is to have all of my life reflect God…hopefully, that others would see Him in me. What doesn’t make sense to me is the relationship I say is the most important I can neglect. So many reasons why….I want to sleep in, I need to get a few things done before I leave the house, or at night, I’ve already put in a full day and want to veg in front of the tv. So what gets moved to tomorrow? Sometimes, my time with God.

Thank goodness it’s different now than a few years ago. I work now to be more aware of God’s presence in my daily life, so my relationship with Him feels rich and deep. But I realize that when I don’t have my special time with Him in the morning…..I miss it. I feel a bit more scattered throughout the day…not quite as focused. And I love that I miss it…that I miss it because I love being with Him during that time and not because I feel guilty because I didn’t fulfill an obligation. I don’t think God wants us to come to Him out of obligation. I think He wants us to come to Him because we love Him and desire to just sit with Him.

May your times with Him be so special that when you are unable to spend intentional time with Him….you miss Him.

Peace,
Deb

desire

“It is a rare self-understanding today which lets one believe that his or her aches and yearnings are mystical.”

Richard Rolheiser

So many times, I ignore or push down those longings I carry deep within. To think about them creates an ache inside. To voice them seems inconceivable, opening me to extreme vulnerability.

I want to be able to trust God with these longings, to talk to Him about them. To allow Him to bring them to pass in my life if that is what is to be. To be able to get out of the way and allow God to use me, to move in me any way He chooses…even when it means fulfilling some of my inner desires. It requires a shift in my thinking…that God not only calls me to those things that I might find difficult and need to fully depend on Him to accomplish but also to those things that I deeply desire to do.

I invite you to spend some time in silence today, allowing those desires to surface. Share your thoughts and feelings with God and remain open to how and when He wants to bring them to pass.

Grace and peace,
Deb

st francis

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is jury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy;

O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled,
as to console;
To be understood as to understand
To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is dying to the self that we are born into eternal life.

transformation

The other day I was talking with a friend of mine and she was telling me how she was seeing God work. He has a very specific way of speaking into her life. She is beginning to notice when He wants to say something to her and she creates space in her schedule to listen, to journal, to process. The things she has come to know about herself and about God are beautiful.


I am in a place of feeling incredible gratitude for being granted the privilege to listen and be a witness to these kinds of stories…to have a front row seat to holy transformation…to sit in the midst of sacredness.


Thank you to God….and to my friend for allowing me to be a part of it all…


Grace and peace,

Deb

identity

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said:

“We are not human beings on a spiritual journey.
We are spiritual beings on a human journey.”

I love this quote. It helps me gain perspective on my life and my role. At the core of who I am, I am spiritual. I am made in the image of God. This is so easy for me to forget. I get so caught up in my life…my things…my plans. I can be upset about something that won’t mean anything two weeks from now, let alone be important in the grand scheme of things.

I can tend to live as if this is all there is. Fear sets in as I think of the years swiftly moving by and the knowledge that my days are numbered. I get so caught up in my earthly existence that I don’t give a thought to eternity.

Imagine what it would be like if we began every morning reflecting on the truth that we are spiritual beings on a human journey. If we constantly carried this thought with us through our day, how would it change the way we act…or react? What would look different? Be different?

I encourage you to think about this today. Live this day with the full knowledge that you are a spiritual being on a human journey. Look at all today holds for you through that lens and see how it changes you. And, consider offering today’s part of your spiritual journey to God, asking Him to allow that spirituality to shine through your human-ness.

Blessings,
Deb

surprise

Have you ever had the experience of praying for something and seeing, in your head, how it would work out? I do that all the time. But…you know what? It NEVER works out that way.

Or, how about this….you’re not sure what’s ahead, what’s around the next corner. You may be sensing that God is calling you into a new adventure but you cannot possibly see how it will come to pass. Or, you may be facing a very difficult situation that is full of uncertainty. If only you could see what’s ahead, then you could trust Him with whatever it is.

I used to fear these circumstances (sometimes I still do). I wanted to have more control, to be able to plan things out, to know what was coming next so I could better prepare. What I really wanted was for God to answer my prayers my way. This kind of living caused me a great deal of anxiety. But then, slowly, God began to change my perspective. I began to relax and truly trust that He knew what was best. I didn’t need to know everything.

I have been on this journey long enough to know that God always works it out. Not always in the way I want Him to and never the way I think He will, but, none the less, He works it out.

Now, instead of fearing what’s around the next corner, I am looking for the surprise. I know God loves me and that He will take care of me, even if it is in unexpected ways. So, instead of needing all the answers, I am able to live with the questions and anticipate the surprise, looking at it like a gift. It may not come when I expect it, be wrapped the way I think it should be or even be the gift I want…but it will always be the gift I need.

May your day be filled with “God surprises”. May you not be fearful and anxious about what lies ahead but learn to be open and excited about the surprises God has in store for you. Enjoy the gift; the gift that is, trusting Him with everything.

Blessings,
Deb

bad lighting

“If we can’t discern the Lord’s voice in our life, we will be at the beck and call of every other voice. The voice of shame, perhaps from some failure in our past…If we have heard from the Savior’s own lips how much he loves us and delights in us, it will silence the taunts of voices that put a makeup mirror to our face and point out all the reasons why Jesus couldn’t possibly be in love with such a blemished person.”

Ken Gire

Who is the genius who decided it was a good idea to put florescent lights in women’s bathrooms…or dressing rooms? I swear, I would go out of my way to shop at a store that had beautiful, soft lighting in the dressing room.

As women, we all know that fluorescents show each and every little flaw. You touch up your makeup to try and cover some of those flaws and step out into daylight looking like Bozo the clown...or Mimi! YIKES!

That is what can happen to us when we choose to look at our inner life through voices other than the voice of God. They will tell us that we are not worthy of His love. They tell us that we will never be good enough. They tell us that we might as well give up because we will never arrive. They are the mirrors that show us every single flaw and exaggerate the ugliness.

Jesus is the one who reveals to us what we need to look at. He is gentle, he is kind. All of our flaws are looked at in the light of His love…and in that beautiful lighting, we can come confidently before Him and allow Him to do the work that needs to be done.

Grace and peace,
Deb