waiting

Learning to wait is a grace for a woman who fears God. Waiting with a gentle spirit is a miracle–a beauty, an acquired habit that comes with practice and experience. Choosing to take today in its stride–choosing to see the glory of the moment in the midst of frantic children, choosing to look for beauty and the fingerprints of God in the midst of the messes requires a heart decision–Psalm 27 says, “Let your heart take courage–let it–make it, choose to let your heart fill up its boots to the power of God’s abiding grace. Choosing to believe that my prayers have not hit the roof of my home and gone no further, but that God indeed is present.

from "The Never Ending Issues of Life- how to endure gracefully" by Sally Clarkson's blog I Take Joy, 27 June 2011

(art credit: Waiting for the Boats by Philippe Lodowyck Jacob Frederik Sadee, 1881)

The Secret of Fufillment

Wisdom from Carolyn Mahaney and the GirlTalk blog, from The Secret of Fulfillment

"Recently, at the end of a conference session where CJ and I fielded questions, a woman approached me with a query of her own: “So what do you do on the side?” she inquired.

“On the side?” I echoed, not fully comprehending her question.

“What do you do for personal fulfillment?” she sought to clarify. “You see I’m happy my husband has his ministry because that provides him with personal fulfillment. But I pursue my own hobbies because they provide personal fulfillment for me. So,” she repeated again, “What do you do?”

I was unprepared for her question. And I’m sure my answer was insufficient. (How often I have an eloquent answer after the conversation is over!) If I had it to do over again, I’d tell her about Dorothy.

Dorothy was a woman who knew the secret of true “personal fulfillment.” A single mom whose husband left her with a son to raise, Dorothy didn’t spend time worrying about herself. Instead, she was always serving and caring for others. I knew her because she was my Sunday School teacher. And Dorothy was one of the most joyful women I knew.

At my bridal shower everyone wrote down a piece of advice on a slip of paper. I only remember one, and it was Dorothy’s. Her secret to a fulfilled life? “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

Our culture is constantly telling us to find our life; that we’re the center of our world, and as such, we need to take care of “me” first.

But when I’m the center of my world, my world becomes very small—because I’m the only person in it. When I try to find fulfillment in anything besides loving Christ and serving Him, I will only end up more frustrated and completely unfulfilled.

Now, don’t misunderstand. I think we as women should express our creativity, and even more importantly get sufficient rest. But the purpose of creativity should be to glorify God with our gifts, not to find “personal fulfillment,” and the goal of rest should be to strengthen us for service.

If we want “personal fulfillment" as women, we must not follow our culture’s prescription. Rather, we must lose our life for Christ's sake. Then, amazingly, we'll find that our world expands. We'll know the thrill of seeing the fruit of our sacrificial service in the lives of those around us. So for true "personal fulfillment," let’s follow Dorothy’s example as she followed Christ."

(art credit: Mothers by Kathleen Green)

different

"Being a woman does not make me a different kind of Christian, but being a Christian makes me a different kind of woman,”

Elisabeth Eliott

but how?
different in what way?
I immediately think to Romans 12:2-

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect...


(art credit: Female Head (La Scapigliata) by Leonardo DaVinci, c. 1508)