Graphic found at www.greatjoy.org
Greetings Girlfriends...Grace and Peace to you!
I found this graphic on www.greatjoy.org and loved the acronym....L.I.F.T. Ladies In Fellowship Together. That is exactly what we are, girlfriends, and also the topic I am going to write today.
I have been absent from my blog for so very, very long, and I cannot promise that this entry is the beginning of my return. But I am excited to be here with you today, sharing God's Word and His love with each one. I am painfully aware of how vital prayer is in this life. While I have not been communicating with you, I have been in constant contact with our Father above. Many of you know the painful, emotional and time-consuming reasons why I have drifted away from writing and posting more often; however, for those of you who do not, I can only say right now that this mother's heart has broken and bled over and over and over in the last two years. These past eight or so months in particular have been horribly difficult at times. But God is good, keeping His promises and walking us through troubled times on the way to better things. Amen!
Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! Deut 32:1-3
Amidst the challenges we have been facing, I am happy to say that my husband and children are supporting me as I pursue a Masters of Arts in Applied Biblical Studies. Examining God's Word every day and in such detail has been a huge blessing to my life that I hope to share with others along the way. Gratitude spills from my heart for this wonderful opportunity and for the understanding my family has when I am crazy busy or under pressure to produce yet another weekly masterpiece, aka essays. Praise flows from my lips to my Savior for strengthening me with His assurance and guidance that nothing touches our lives that has not already passed through His hands.
What about you, Girlfriends? Have the dark days of desire and disappointment blackened your view? Are you struggling through difficulties and drama that threaten to drown you in the sea of sorrow and distress? While I absolutely long for your answer to be "no", reality requires me to realize that I am not traveling rough and rocky roads alone? Many of you ladies are also struggling in one way or another and cannot see nor find the strength to continue the journey.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 2 Cor 1:3-5
You, each and every one of you ladies, are my fellow sojourners on the way to a glorious place of intimacy and presence with our Lord. On this journey, you are possibly one of many passing through present winds and pouring rain that threaten to throw you off the path. Take heart! Some others of our sisters travel in front of us, having stayed the course and survived the deluge, and now feel the warmth and gentle breezes upon their skin. If you are one of these experienced ladies, let our sisters know that the SON does shine after the storm! Beseech them to hold on to Jesus for His holy guidance out of the onslaught and into the glorious light.
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Cor 12:26-27
Girlfriends, we are called to bear one another up under the heavy burdens and rejoice with each other when they are lifted. I pray today that you who have shared in the sufferings of Christ will offer comfort and care to those gals who are presently agonizing and experiencing the aching which is now a memory to you. Reach out to someone today and offer hope. Perhaps you provide prayer, or maybe you can calm fears and frustrations by simply calling and offering to listen. Think back to your time of trouble and tribulation for guidance in choosing how to minister to our sisters and their loved ones who also may be hurting. Do not hesitate and do not feel overwhelmed. Start with one. Be the one to start.
“I never look at the masses as my
responsibility; I look at the individual. I can only love one person at a
time - just one, one, one. So you begin. I began - I picked up one
person. Maybe if I didn't pick up that one person, I wouldn't have
picked up forty-two thousand....The same thing goes for you, the same
thing in your family, the same thing in your church, your community.
Just begin - one, one, one.”
Mother Teresa of Calcutta
