Thank You Thursday

I have been so blessed to take time and remember different women who have poured into my life and helped me become the woman I am today. Today's post takes me to a woman who I met in college. What can I say, she has a great name!

Thank You Kathy

When I first met Kathy, I was a shy, quiet, college freshman. She was a an experienced, confident senior. We were both involved in the same Christian fellowship group and it turned out she was a neighbor from the dormitory next to mine.

Most significantly to me, Kathy was one of the song leaders at our weekly meetings. She held nothing back as she sang praises to God and proclaimed His goodness. She welcomed me and my acoustic guitar to be part of the team. I was hooked!

Since those wonderful days as a young freshman, I have more or less always been involved in leading corporate worship whether in college groups or in my local church. The joy of singing praises to our Lord has been a big part of my life.

I am glad to say thank you Kathy!

Linking up with other precious sisters

• Crystal Storms

Thank You Thursday

Another Thursday brings time to remember another woman who has helped inspire me to become the woman I am today. Today's dear sister and I worked together years ago when we were both single.

Thank You Carla

Carla and I met when I was in my twenties. We worked down the hall from each other and my work frequently found me in her part of the building. We were just acquaintances or work friends until I found out that she was a sister in the Lord.

Carla was more of a girly girl that I was. She was always dressed nicely and perfectly made up. I was more casual. But her smile - you could see the joy of the Lord in it!

She became a great friend and constant encouragement to me. On days when there seemed to be a black cloud hanging over me, she helped me to see the Son shining through.

The day she stopped by my office to tell me that she was going to get married to a wonderful man from her church and that then they were following God and moving across the country hit me hard. I was happy for the joy my dear sister was experiencing but sad to see my friend go.

Though we have lost touch, I am thankful for the light she brought into my life.

Linking up with other sisters

• Crystal Storms

I Am Ruth, Part 3

As I continue my study of Ruth, I find myself more and more excited. What a model of godliness this precious sister is. What a wonderful mother-in-law Naomi is.

Naomi is so concerned for Ruth. She wants to ensure that Ruth is well taken care of. She knows that Boaz is probably the one to take care of her. But, she wants to make sure that Ruth approaches Boaz in a right and honorable way.

Naomi doesn't want to create a scandal that would reflect poorly on Ruth or on Boaz.

Naomi wants Ruth to approach Boaz in a way that is respectful.

Naomi wants Ruth to pursue Boaz in a way that is humble.

Naomi advises her dear daughter-in-law

• Wash yourself - Make yourself clean. Get rid of the grime. Confess your sins and be forgiven.
• Anoint yourself - Anoint yourself with sweet smelling oil. Put on your best perfume. But also anoint yourself as the woman you are, the wonderful, godly, humble, beautiful woman that you are.
• Put on your best garment - Don't just put on your comfy sweats or your pajamas. You are a beautiful woman, dress so that he notices.
• Go to him - Don't wait for him to come to you, but go to him. But...
• Don't make yourself known - Don't brazenly pursue him. Don't make a spectacle of yourself. Don't try and get thousands of likes on your best selfie.
• Notice where he lies down - Pay attention to his routine. Know where he goes to rest. Know where he goes to restore himself.
• Go in, uncover his feet, and lie down - Humble yourself. Approach him as a servant. Show him the respect he is due. Show him that you are his.

As I think about my man, I want to be my best for him. I want to look my best for him. But most of all, I want him to know that I am there to help him, to honor him, and respect him.

Linking up with precious sisters

• Holley Gerth

Thank You Thursday

Today I continue my series of thanking women who have had an impact on my life and who have in one way or another influenced me to become the woman I am today. I'll be honest with this one - I'm not sure I remember her name correctly. But, our brief time together left it's imprint on my life.

Thank you Christy

I was in my twenties and on AOL (Who remembers the sweet sound of "You've Got Mail"). I aspired to be a better woman and was seeking out opportunities to meet other like-minded women who would challenge me and encourage me.

I met Christy on AOL and found that we had a lot in common. Our chats online proved to be a great encouragement to me. I had many questions and she gracefully had answers.

She was part of a group that sounded like it would be a great support to me. One where I could make friends and be encouraged to grow as a young woman. Christy was delighted to tell me more about it.

We agreed to meet for lunch one day. After lunch we would head over to my apartment and talk further. This would serve as my interview to join her group. If all went well, I would be in and on my way to becoming the better woman I longed to be.

I waited eagerly for our lunch date to arrive. I got to the restaurant a little early and waited for Christy to arrive. And I waited. And waited.

She finally arrived - almost an hour late. This was long before I had a cell phone and she had no way to reach me and let me know that something had come up at work and she would be late.

We did have a nice chat over lunch. By the time it was time to head over to my apartment, my lunch hour was long over and I declined. We never got to the interview. I never joined her group.

In my impatience, I had written her and her group off. My impatience held me back from a lot of things in that season of my life. It's sad to say that I may have missed a lot of blessings because I couldn't wait for them.

In the years since, I have become much more patient. If only it had happened so much more quickly ;-)

So for reminding me of how patience is a virtue and how much I need it in my life, I say thank you Christy.

I Am Ruth, Part 2

As I continue my study of the book of Ruth, I continue to be impressed with what a humble, faithful woman Ruth was. In chapter two, I see more attributes of this godly sister that I want to emulate.

• She humbled herself before Boaz - She bowed down in respect of Boaz showing both the respect she had for him and the humility she had in her life. Do I show the respect and humility in my life?
• She sought favor in his eyes - She wanted her actions and even her mere presence to be pleasing to Boaz. I want those in my life to be pleased with me. Am I being intentional about my life being pleasing to those around me?
• She affirmed Boaz for the good he had done to her - She wanted him to know that the good he had done for her did not go unnoticed. I've been very intentional lately with telling those around me of the good I see in them and the good I've seen them do. I want to be a blessing to those who have blessed me!

This precious sister has been a great encouragement to me. My prayer is that I can be a virtuous woman like her!

Linking up with other precious sisters:

• Worth Beyond Rubies
• Holley Gerth
• Wise Woman Linkup

Thank You Thursday

I recently got back in touch with a friend that I haven't seen in years. It was great to reconnect and to see what God has done in our lives since we last saw each other.

I go to thinking about the many women that have crossed my path over the years that I've long since lost contact with. There are so many women with whom I've shared sweet fellowship. Even though our fellowship may have been brief or may have been a long time ago, I am thankful for them and how I've seen Christ in them and how in some way, I've become the woman I am today because of them.

So starting today and continuing on successive Thursdays, I want to tell you of these women and what they've meant to me.

Thank you Jackie

When I first met Jackie, I was in my late teens. She was in her late twenties and she was a wife and mother and a leader in a friend's youth group. She was patient, thoughtful, and very observant. She saw things in me that I thought I was hiding so that no one could ever see them.

She was very much the model of a Titus 2 woman. She was reverent. She was a role model. She and her husband taught me what it meant to love God with my heart, mind, soul, and strength and my neighbor as myself. She showed what it looked like to love and respect her husband and to love and nurture her son. She showed me unconditional love. She encouraged me to overcome specific sins I was struggling with.

Sadly, after I went away to college, I didn't see much more of Jackie. She still encouraged my growing faith and was happy to sit with me the few times I was around and able to visit with her.

Thank you Jackie for showing me the kind of woman that I still aspire to be!

What about you, who are the women that you are thankful for?

Linkups

• Linking up with Crystal Storms

I Am Ruth, Part 1

I've been reading and studying Ruth lately and it has been wonderful (and I've just finished chapter 1). It is an amazing tale of redemption even in the first chapter! God is so good.

As I've been reading, I've been trying to place myself in Ruth's shoes, and I have seen things in the text that I may have glossed over before. Here's some of what I've been encouraged by so far:

• Elimelech and his family set out from Bethlehem to find food - not to be missionaries.
  God's plans were bigger than Elimelech and Naomi's plans. Why should that be a surprise to me? How many times have I set out to do something and God did so much more than I had even imagined?
• Ruth was separated from God
  Ruth was a Moabitess and the God of Israel was not her God. She wasn't seeking after God - but God was seeking after her! Before I came to know Christ, I may have gone to church every Sunday, but I wasn't seeking Christ. Just like Ruth, he sought me out. How glad am I that he did!
• It was through relationship that Ruth came to know of God's love
  Through the witness of her mother-in-law Naomi, Ruth came to know of God's love. God may have also revealed himself to Ruth through her ten years of marriage. There are many people who demonstrated God's love to me including Jackie, my youth pastor's wife. Yes, she told me of God's love but much more importantly she showed my God's love in how she lived her life.
• Ruth's life was radically changed because of her encounter with the living God
  After the death of her husband, she was given the option to go back to her old way of life and press the "reset" button. Because her life had been so radically changed, she refused (don't you make me do this!) to go back but instead chose to follow Naomi to a land she never know, to be around a people that weren't hers, but... to serve a God that she had come to know and love! My life in Christ is so much more than my life without Him could ever be. Go back to the way it was before I knew Christ? May it never be. I will choose Christ!

How wonderful it is to be able to relate to this precious sister of mine - Ruth! I am thankful for the message of love and redemption seen in her life and I am so blessed that I too know God's redeeming love!

Linking up with Holley Gerth!

Joining the Wise Woman Linkup!

How Do You Hold Your Husband Near To You?

He works nights. I work days. It seems so hard for us to connect sometimes. When I go to bed, I long for him to be there with me. When I rise in the morning, I think of him and pray for him.

He loves music. He often wants me to check out a song that he thinks is great. We don't always have the same taste in music. Yet as I listen to some of his favorite songs, I think of him and feel closer to him.

I want to make a playlist of a few of his favorite songs and listen to it at night as I get ready for bed and pray for him. Maybe that way, he will be near to me in my thoughts and in my heart when I go to bed without him.

What do you do to hold your husband close when you are apart?

Today, I'm linking up with Crystal Storms whose post today helped me to pray for a deeper connection!

What Was It About Her?

I love reading the book of Ruth. She is a heroine of mine and a great example of a woman with noble, godly character. If it weren't for the fact that it wasn't written until a few generations later, I would say she is an ideal Proverbs 31 woman. Her commitment, as a Moabitess, to the God of Israel shows the preeminence of our God. He alone is worthy to be praised.

Today, I want to reflect on her mother-in-love, Naomi. What was it about Naomi that made Ruth want to leave her people and stay with Naomi? How did the faith and the love of this woman who came to Moab with her husband and sons to escape a famine only to lose them, how did her faith appeal to Ruth?

She loved her husband and sons. The journey to Moab would have taken several days. But they were hungry and they needed food. So they would go to where the food was. Even though the Moabites followed a foreign God, Naomi was willing to go to Moab to care for her husband and sons.

She loved her daughters-in-law When hers sons died, Naomi wanted the best for her daughters-in-law. She knew that she could not provide another husband for them and wanted them to be taken care of. Go, she told them, back to your own families.

She loved her God Even though she had lost much and feared that the hand of the Lord was against her, Naomi still loved God and looked to Him to bless her daughters-in-law. She prayed a blessing over them as she urged them not to follow her.

After returning to Bethlehem, Naomi continued to love and guide Ruth. She is a wonderful example of an older woman loving, guiding, and discipling a younger woman. May it be said of me that I am like Naomi!

I am joining Holley Gerth for Coffee For Your Heart.

Praying for him and...

I love him. I really do. And I long for him when he's working nights and I'm working days. I think of him constantly when we are apart. Well, maybe not constantly, I was distracted by that driver who cut me off in traffic - didn't they know I was late? And I was distracted by the coworker who asked me for help... again... I thought they should know what they were doing by now. But still, I think of him a lot when we are apart. I love him. I really, really do.

And it saddens me because I don't know the last time he read his Bible or the last time he prayed. It's been a while since we've been to church together. So I pray for him. Every day. I pray for him because I love him and want to see him drawn closer to Christ. I pray for him every day.

Today, I was praying: "Direct his steps by Your Word. And let no iniquity have dominion over him." I pray for him because I love him. I love him. I love him.

But it hit me as I prayed, I need to pray this too: "Direct my steps by Your Word. And let no iniquity have dominion over me." Can I say that I am surprised that as I pray for him (because I love him), I am drawn closer to Christ?

Longing

I woke up this morning feeling crowded, like the walls were pushing in. Too many things on my to do list and not enough time to do them. Wake up. Exercise. Read my Bible and pray. Make lunch. Have breakfast. Shower and get ready for the day. Get in the car. Drive to work. Get ready for a meeting I lead. Make that two meetings. No, wait, let me check my calendar, three meetings. So much to do, I can't breathe.

All the while, I wanted to be in bed snuggled up next to the man that I love. To feel his breath against my body. To inhale the scent of his manliness. To thank God for the blessing that he is. But he is working nights and I woke up alone. With an ache in my heart that won't be soothed until we are together again. With so much to do before we are together. God, how can I wait for him?

But God says, "My daughter. I am here. I know the longings of your heart. Be still..."

When Facing Trouble

I was reading through Psalm 50 this morning and stopped to meditate on verse 15. I wondered to myself what does trouble really mean?

So, using my Blue Letter Bible app and looked it up.

The Hebrew word here is צָרָה tsârâh and it's meaning really struck me. Emphasis below is mine.

From the outline of Biblical Usage:

1. straits, distress, trouble
2. vexer, rival wife

From Strong's: tightness (i.e. figuratively, trouble); transitively, a female rival:—adversary, adversity, affliction, anguish, distress, tribulation, trouble

A rival wife, a female rival, trouble.

Anything that is competing for the affections of a husband, or of a child, or even competing for my affections - anything that is not in line with what God wants for us and is competing for our affections - that is trouble.

So, I call out to God to keep me away from things that steal my affections away. Deliver me from trouble and I will glorify You!

I Am Being Remade

Change can sometimes be difficult - even if it's change we long for.

But knowing that the master potter is changing me brings me comfort.

The woman I am, the woman I am becoming, show that the master potter is still at work, lovingly recreating me.

Sometimes change is difficult. But I trust in the God that is changing me.

Today I Am Glad

Today, I am glad. I have hope. As I was studying Psalm 48 this morning, I was encouraged. Today, I am glad.

You can be glad too!

Happy New Year

It's been so long since I blogged, but it's a new year and I am excited to see what this year will bring. I've got so many desires for the coming year: to eat better, to exercise more, to see relationships restored, but mostly to be a woman who loves God wholeheartedly and is used by Him!

I hope that I can take time regularly to write about what God is doing in my life this year. Come back soon and see what good the Lord has done.

God bless you and have a wonderful year!