I Wonder

You know, I love people. I always have. I have had very few "casual" friendships. As far back as grade school I can remember having a "best friend". I just love people. Now I think back on the people who have come and gone in my life. Most of whom I don't even get to see anymore. Some I don't have the priviledge of spending time with because of my own silly, no, stupid mistakes. My heart kind of longs for some of those people tonight.

After reading some thoughts of a former pastor, I wonder what has happened to all those other people I knew back then. I see how much he has grown. I see what life as we know it has strenghened him, how God has used some pretty tough times in his life to train him up to be such a wise man.

Why did I have to miss all that?

This afternoon I ran into a college age women (she recognized me, I would have never known her) who I used to watch run in races in the church gym on Awana nights. She is beautiful and I know her life has taught her much as she watched her mom suffer and eventually loose her life to cancer.

Why did I have to miss all that?

A friend is still healing from the loss of her husband...at 43...she's in Ohio. I'm not.

Why do I have to miss all that?

I love people. For so long I've kept myself out of the line of fire of broken hearts...and breaking hearts. I miss people. But sometimes it's just too risky. Today the possibility of pain is just too close.

I wonder what I'm missing?

To Know Him Is To Love Him

My faith is not just a religious call to morality, but an active, deepening experiential knowledge of Him and His love. Out of that experience comes the desire for obedience to Him and a desire to please Him. Some may call that my religion. I call it my relationship with Jesus.

Ephesians 3:17-19
And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide, how high, how long and how deep is the love of Christ and to know [by experience] this love that surpasses knowledge [head knowledge] that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Is That Sunshine???

The sun is shinning! Has anyone noticed? I'd love to go out for a run but that would distract me from my housework...and that is a must. Today the upstairs...which gets it only...well, let's just say it needs less attention now that the kiddos don't live up here anymore. So, distracted by my computer, I take a break but now must get back to my craft room where the creation of family memories has left a wake of trash and stacks of scrapbook paraphernalia. Fortunately there are 2 nice big window with no coverings in here so I will not miss the sunshine!!!

Success of a dreary day

What a dreary day!!!! But my house is clean (well, at least most of it) and my laundry is finished...and put away I might add...so all is well with the world. How sad is that to judge the state of the world by how clean your house is or if you have any clean clothes in the drawer?? But then again, maybe not. I love cleaning my house and believe it or not I love doing the laundry. I must admit that I don't ALWAYS get it back in the drawer. Sometimes we live out of the laundry basket. But I guess that's OK, too. So in the face of this dreary day a peace reigns in my home. God has been good to give us this warm, dry, beautiful home for over 21 years already. And I'm still called to take care of it for my family...and whoever else He has planned to bring my way. I'm looking forward to that. After reading our info from DFS about fostering I was delighted to learn that a foster family can take in a teenage mom and her baby...I think that would be awesome. And not only are foster families encouraged to maintain a relationship with the children's family, but they are required to. That was so exciting for me. I'm looking forward to using my home for the good of others. We just have to do the paperwork, take 30 hours of training classes and do all the home study stuff. They say it takes about 4 months to get the job done. Because of prior commitments it looks like we wont even be able to get the thing started until next September. But God's timing is perfect and I've learned not to step out ahead of Him even when I'm doing something for Him. So anyway.

HOW?

Where to start...so many hows? Not quite so many whys or whens.

Paul...relating to the listener about THEIR lives...engaging them in conversation about things THEY were familiar with. Jesus Himself, with the Samaritan women at the well....He knew her life...He knew what it was like...He knew what she believed...He knew what her struggles were. Jesus was able to engage her in a conversation that would lead to the truth he wanted to share...life instead of death. Living Water instead of unsatisfying water. The key here is knowing the person or the people to whom you are going to be relating to.

So here is my question...if my passion is for women...mom's...with small children, struggling to make it either emotionally or spiritually (I probably wouldn't be so good on the finanial end ) how do I get to know their needs? How do I get to know their lives? I've lived my 22 years as a follower of Jesus Christ in a cacoon. I have a believeing husband, believing friends, believing children...how does a person like me learn the struggles of an abused woman? How does a woman like me learn the ins and outs of drug abuse or being evicted from your home? How does a woman like me walk into a shelter for women and be able to relate? I want to understand. I want to be able to empathize with the struggles, not just sympatize. So...HOW?

As we open our home to the foster care system I want to be ready. Will we get the opportunity to know the moms? Will we be able to understand the pain of a child in the middle of total upheaval? I don't know. I understand divorce...from both the child's and the adult's perspective...but even in that, there was no ...well, maybe there was. I understand alcoholism from a distant perspective. I've lived through a murder in the family...I've seen children taken from their mother by the state...I've helped a young teen pursue her childhood dreams...maybe that's a start.

I want to move in the direction of God's leading. I don't want to hesitate. My passion....my love for hurting women and their children is there. I would do it every day if the need arose. So how do I know them...or know about them so I can meet them where they are? How do I meet them where they are so Jesus can bring them to where He is? How?