GREAT WEEKEND
It was so good to re-connect with dear friends from Riverview and Chesterland over the weekend. I sensed many relationships will now continue for a lifetime. How good to have such a circle of friendships, to know we can mutually count on each other in the coming years!
Anne DiFranco brought me a special souvenier from her trip to El Salvador. It was a wood cross, handmade by an artist there, and at the base of the cross he painted women of all races.
My heart leapt when I saw it because one goal in writing about Ruth & Naomi will be international printing. I believe their story can speak to women in all countries. Their suffering is our common bond, and our Redeemer meets each one of us in the same way--personally and plentifully. He is full of grace and is pleased to call us "daughter," just as Boaz called Ruth, even though she was a Moabite. Read Ruth 2, and then imagine how nervous Ruth must have been as she waited for the answer to her outrageous request to "glean among the sheaves." Boaz had every right to treat her like a Gentile "dog," and she knew it. Imagine the experience of hearing him call her "daughter" in verse 8. No wonder she bowed down with her face to the ground!
Our hearts should well up within, and we, too, should bow down with our face to the ground, for that's what our Redeemer calls us--"daughter." Eph. 2:13 ". . . you who once were far away have been brought near . . ."
A special "thank you" to those who signed up to join this prayer team. Welcome! After I spoke at 2nd Saturday, the women's ministry team took me out for a special lunch. As I shared with them, I think the greatest challenge of this move will start now. Now I am done with all the crazy running around. The house is sold, we're moved in, the kids are settled in Seattle . . . I think it will finally start to sink in--the loneliness, the vulnerability, the isolation. Yet, as I learned in my talk at Riverview, those are lies from the enemy. They are my weaknesses at the moment, though, so please lock your shields with mine and cover for me with your prayers.
It was so good to re-connect with dear friends from Riverview and Chesterland over the weekend. I sensed many relationships will now continue for a lifetime. How good to have such a circle of friendships, to know we can mutually count on each other in the coming years!
Anne DiFranco brought me a special souvenier from her trip to El Salvador. It was a wood cross, handmade by an artist there, and at the base of the cross he painted women of all races.
My heart leapt when I saw it because one goal in writing about Ruth & Naomi will be international printing. I believe their story can speak to women in all countries. Their suffering is our common bond, and our Redeemer meets each one of us in the same way--personally and plentifully. He is full of grace and is pleased to call us "daughter," just as Boaz called Ruth, even though she was a Moabite. Read Ruth 2, and then imagine how nervous Ruth must have been as she waited for the answer to her outrageous request to "glean among the sheaves." Boaz had every right to treat her like a Gentile "dog," and she knew it. Imagine the experience of hearing him call her "daughter" in verse 8. No wonder she bowed down with her face to the ground!
Our hearts should well up within, and we, too, should bow down with our face to the ground, for that's what our Redeemer calls us--"daughter." Eph. 2:13 ". . . you who once were far away have been brought near . . ."
A special "thank you" to those who signed up to join this prayer team. Welcome! After I spoke at 2nd Saturday, the women's ministry team took me out for a special lunch. As I shared with them, I think the greatest challenge of this move will start now. Now I am done with all the crazy running around. The house is sold, we're moved in, the kids are settled in Seattle . . . I think it will finally start to sink in--the loneliness, the vulnerability, the isolation. Yet, as I learned in my talk at Riverview, those are lies from the enemy. They are my weaknesses at the moment, though, so please lock your shields with mine and cover for me with your prayers.
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