Ladies (and lurking gentlemen),
I need your best one-dish, 30 minute meals. Especially great if they’re grain-free, but I’ll take anything. Let’s help each other get dinner on the table. I’m sure all you harem girls have a hot dinner on the table by 5 pm, but here in Esther’s place it’s PB&J or cereal about a third of the week.
Bring it on!
The more I think about you, Jesus, the clearer I see your face and see that there is nothing on this earth that is worth having more than you. Nothing. Nothing matters to me but you. No action matters to me but what I see you doing first. I want to follow you. All I ask is that you hold my hand, as I hold my child’s hand when leading them into a new and scary place. For nothing is as frightening as being without you. And nothing could fill my heart with more joy and stillness than you. You are my heart’s desire.
I’ve gathered up all my life and laid it out before me, as if packing a bag for a long trip. And I find I need nothing but you. No plans, no gifts, no talents, no obligations, no striving, no needs. Just you.
Psalm 131:2: “Surely I have composed and quieted my soul; Like a weaned child rests against his mother, My soul is like a weaned child within me.”
Oh, that I would be one that ushers others into your rest. Amen.
A review of “The Business of Being Born”, from Variety: “The statistics are sobering: Though the United States spends almost twice as much as any other nation on delivering babies, the rate of infant mortality is the second worst in the developed world. Docu cites several causes, particularly the absence of midwives from most hospitals, and a cycle of methods that seeks to impose artificial time constraints on a natural process, with an eye toward the bottom line.”
Why does birth matter? Birth matters because women and their babies are made in God’s image, and with every new life, God gets another chance to show himself through them to the world. Satan hates God and those made in His image. And if you’ve read the book “Captivating”, you understand that Satan has a special hatred for women. I really believe that. And I really believe that women matter to God. Not as a creationary afterthought, but as a vital completion, the crown of creation, the finishing brushstroke.
I have to tell you right off the bat that I consider myself a feminist. For those of you that think that’s a dirty word, let me explain. As I look out over human history, I see how from the first moment of sin, women have been specially targeted by the enemy. And look at what God pronounces will happen as a result of the first sin (I don’t believe this is his punishment, but rather the natural consequences): “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Women want to be loved, cherished, adored–yes, even worshiped, as some of my girlfriends have candidly said–and they will do stupid things to get that. The put themselves under the care of domineering men sometimes, thinking that this means protection for them. And the desire for approval from men can be so strong, that it rules over us. We should desire our husbands, and they should be over us in a protective role; but look at the wording God uses here as the consequence of sin.
Well, at least it was for me. We had our second women’s ministry gathering–I’ve been calling it “The Alabaster Jar: Women Apprenticing in Worship”. Tonight’s mentor was Rebecca Houck, who shared with us a beginning lesson in movement. Boy, did God bless it. Here we were, oh, I don’t know, eight women or so, none of us dancers (I don’t think! sorry if I insult any of you!), and by the end of the night, she had us rolling around and jumping in worship to God. OK, some of us rolled more than others. Let me just say, I’m glad that by the end of the night the lights were off. :^)
Anyway, I figured I’d just recap a little of what she taught, and then open it up to comments. I especially would like to hear from the women who were there. Some of you shared very special things from the Lord. I also keep thinking of Yvonne’s word to us in the worship service yesterday, about touch. Touch can be so healing–I was a recipient of that in worship yesterday and God did a deep healing in me just by someone (Thank you, whomever that was!) lightly rubbing my back for the longest time. I think movement has the same potential for deep healing, for expressing God’s move in us, and for the sense of freedom it brings. (more…)