Wish You Could Have Been With Me

The last time I wrote it was raining and dreary.  Today I woke up to a winter wonderland, the perfect Christmas morning.  Problem:  It's March 19.  Not the same feeling.

I'm settling back into the daily routine after a God-filled weekend.  Sometimes He pours it on and on and on.  And usually when He does, I just have to tell somebody, which is where you come in!  I wish you had been there with me but since you weren't - here's a summary.  Interested?

We started out Saturday on an early morning (6:30am) trip to Syracuse.  Scott and Drew dropped Drew's girlfriend Brittany and I off at the Oncenter to share a day at Women of Faith together.  Soon we were joined by about five friends who I've been doing life together with for many years.  I was eager to see one in particular whom I haven't laid eyes on since last January.  When she scooched in the row we embraced and when I leaned to tell Brittany that "this is one of the most important women in my life", I choked up and tears fell.  Relationships are so important.  Especially the God-ordained older woman/younger woman.

I was secretly hoping we would sing a song I was first introduced to at last year's WOF, "We Are Here For You" and it was the first one played.  A gift from God to me....and I enjoyed it fully and hope He enjoyed my worship.  You haven't heard it?  That's not acceptable.  You can watch the author himself sing it here.  See what I mean?

In tandem throughout the day, Lysa Terkeurst and Patsy Clairmont taught us through God's Word and their life experiences.  I needed to hear so much of what they said.  Here's a brief bullet point synopsis of what spoke to me most loudly.  I hope you find something here that speaks to you as well.

Lysa started out teaching just one verse:  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."   Matt. 5:8.  Inside I was freaking out a little because I've been memorizing this passage for the last month.  Coincidence, I think not.  Girlfriends, God will meet us and delight us with His Word - we just have to invite Him and be open.  It's so exciting!! 

• Blessed is the person whose heart's (pure) desire is to see and hear and know God...for the purpose of following hard after Him. This needs to be my daily prayer.
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• Before I begin my day, start by telling God YES to whatever divine appointment He has for me.
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• When God is trying to get our attention, He will chase us around with confirmations.  He will change our desires/attitudes.  (Isn't that fun?  God chasing us around with confirmations - I love it!)
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• We have to live lives that require a little bit of faith.
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• When you decide to follow hard after God, expect it to be complicated and hard at times. Don't be surprised or in despair over it, the Bible tells us this is how it will be.
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• God has an assignment for each of us.  We just have to show up and bring our tiny willingness.  (see prayer in bullet #1)
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• My job = obedience   God's job = results
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• When we live with a pure desire to see and hear and know God, we will see Him.

 Ready for more?

• Don't limit who you are by where you're at today.  (Please read that again slower.  It spoke to me.)
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• God's not looking for perfection.  He is looking for progress.  (Am I progressing/maturing in my walk with Him?)
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• Vulnerability is the next step in my maturity.  Be open and honest with God and others.
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•  Feelings are indicators of what needs to be addressed, not dictators of how we should react.
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• Emotions don't have brains.  Emotions feel.  They don't think.  Our will can choose to do the right thing even if we don't feel like it.
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• Change your prayers from "Rescue Me" to "I'll do what you want me to do.  What do you want me to do next, Lord?"
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• When you're faithful in the little things, He'll give you more.  If you're faithful with more, He'll give you much.
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• To restore order start on the outside. Do the next thing.  You'll feel it on the inside.  (Here Patsy talked about how she came out of agorophobia.  The next thing was to make the bed, then to do the dishes, and soon she's a motivational speaker to thousands of women a year when at one point she couldn't leave her bedroom.  Powerful.)
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• When you change your behavior, expect it to be awkward for you and others at first.  It won't be for long.

I really love this next thought:  "when we try to meet our own need ourselves it turns to greed and addiction.  Our numbing numbs both the good and the bad.  When we take our need to Jesus it turns to seed and He plants it in us to grow us up and bring new life and promote my well-being."

After that full day, we went straight to a Mandisa, Brandon Heath and Laura Story concert.  Mandisa  brought the house down with her upbeat songs. Yet when she spoke confidently of how God has brought her to the place she's at right now from a difficult childhood and how fulfilling her life with Jesus is, and my teenage daughter leans over and says, "I just love her", I know I've spent my time and money well.  (Free parenting advice here - put godly heroes in front of your kids.)  Then to witness the lovely Laura Story sing "Blessings" live was simply, lovely.  I won't say too much more about the concert, but if it comes near you -go!  It was time well spent in fun worship and being encouraged in all things spiritual.

Sunday morning, we attended service at our former church of 17 years and Pastor George Miller gave a sermon about suffering.  None of us gets a pass to escape it.  I was so comforted with the truths he shared and the loving, caring, kind way he spoke to this family that he loves so much.

The key to dealing with suffering:
1.  Fight through the feelings
2.  Seek God quickly and passionately
3.  Do #1 and #2 regardless of your feelings.  (sound familiar from the Women of  Faith notes?)

Hurting brings healing.  Jesus knows what we are going through.  "Embrace the pain and squeeze out everything God has for you in it."  I just love that.  Not because it's easy, but because it gives purpose to my pain.  Don't run from it and try to escape quickly.  The answer is isn't in an explanation, it's in a person.

Look at this verse from 2 Chr. 20:12:   "For we were powerless against this great horde that is coming against us.  We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you."  I don't know about you, but this last year has found us many times with something coming against us that we were powerless to control and all we knew to do was turn our eyes to God.  It's the right thing!

And if all this great teaching wasn't enough, it completely lined up with the Bible study lesson I heard earlier in the week.  Check this out:

• The thing that has caused me horror can become a dream come true.
• God will birth passion from our pain.  Beauty from ashes.
• Anguish is meant to lead to a birth.  Something precious is meant to come out of this.  He's going to deliver you!
•  We can live with pain easier than we can with purposelessness.

A year ago or so, I wrote about sacred echoes.  The common thread of messages God brings in different ways through different means.  These are gifts from God to comfort us especially if we are in a season of pain or trial.

In case you haven't noticed any of your own sacred echoes lately, you can borrow mine.  God is good and He loves you and everything He does has purpose.

Where do you start?  Go back to Lysa Terkeurst's prayer:  "God, my heart's desire is to see you, to know you and to hear you so that I can follow hard after you."  Pray this and obey what He tells you to do.  Then you will see God.

And next time a weekend like this comes up, join me and we'll enjoy it in person together.