You don't need a man by your side to validate you as a woman. You already are loved and valued. You're good enough exactly as you are. Do you believe this? Because it's true. You have limitless worth and value. If you embrace this truth, it will affect every area of life, especially your relationship with men.
You are worth dying for.
...there is a mystery to you, infinite depth and endless complexity...
Your strength is a beautiful thing. And when you live in it, when you carry yourself with the honor and dignity that are yours. It forces the men around you to relate to you on more than just a flesh level.
You are worth dying for.
When you live in your true identity, when you find your worth and value in your Creator, when you live "in Christ," in who you really are, you force him to rethink what it means to be a man.
Excerpts from Sex God, by Rob Bell
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Deep Unto Deep
"And O God, give me one grace, I pray. Give me the grace to give myself in prayer once again tomorrow. To believe that it matters. To put my heart before You though I feel so unproductive and unfruitful. Give me the grace to spend tomorrow once more before You in love. For I can think of no more noble way to spend a day than to spend it with You, whether I feel Your nearness or not. Oh, help me in the times of fainting. Give me the grace for one more day."
"The Lord does not despise our weakness as we so often imagine. He is not caught off-guard by our frailty. Quite the contrary, as Creator and Savior, He loves and enjoys the process of our finding our strength in Him and learning to lean into Him. It is in our weakness that His strength is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9), and it is out of weakness that we are made strong (Heb. 11:34). he has set up His kingdom with the inclusion of our weakness. . . [He] embraces us in this place as He beckons us to continually lift our weak voice and our weak gaze in prayer and communion with Him."
excerpts from Deep Unto Deep, by Dana Candler
"The Lord does not despise our weakness as we so often imagine. He is not caught off-guard by our frailty. Quite the contrary, as Creator and Savior, He loves and enjoys the process of our finding our strength in Him and learning to lean into Him. It is in our weakness that His strength is made perfect (2 Cor. 12:9), and it is out of weakness that we are made strong (Heb. 11:34). he has set up His kingdom with the inclusion of our weakness. . . [He] embraces us in this place as He beckons us to continually lift our weak voice and our weak gaze in prayer and communion with Him."
excerpts from Deep Unto Deep, by Dana Candler
Sunday, August 09, 2009
One Set of Footprints.
You know those days when you wake up and just want to go back to bed, for maybe if you sleep again, things will be different when you wake up? Certainly it's not a frequent occurrence, but it is still that: an occurrence. Or, maybe you didn't sleep well, emotions are high and unruly, and everything is going exactly how you did not plan it: the computer won't load quickly, the email account flops around, your hair didn't "do," you're running late, the juice spills. And now it's raining.
Something that thing you thought was over still creeps into and seeps into your thoughts so often and then rears it's ugly head at the most inopportune times. It is the only earthly thing known to fail me not. Maybe I'm moody, just like today's weather. But, maybe I'm just tired of this too. Tired of trying to be the strong one all the time; tired of reminding myself to learn from this season; tired of trying to have faith that everything is for my good; tired of keeping the feelings down. Tired of the up and down and all-around tug-of-war-type dance with my emotions. Maybe I'm ready for a new season of life. . . I've been trying to learn from this season, trying to learn all I can about patience, contentment, and faith despite utter confusion, but I'm getting so frustrated and worn out.
And yet we add on the most recent confusion-producing moments. Why must these random things happen to me? Why must I feel the results of others' coincidental mistakes that I should have never known about? What are You teaching me, Lord? Why don't I seem to learn the lesson, get the picture? Why must the paths of learning patience, faith, and contentment be so stinkin' difficult and cause so many tears?
Yet, I know that the Lord is faithful to lead me through anything He allows me to experience. He is faithful when I am faithless, and He is strong when I am weak because of the long, unending journey. Even when life does not seem to fit with "everything working together for my good," I know that Jehovah Jireh is my Provider for all that I could ever need.
Perhaps this is just a time that I will look back on and see only one set of footprints. And that's okay with me.
Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury. ~E.H. Chapin
Something that thing you thought was over still creeps into and seeps into your thoughts so often and then rears it's ugly head at the most inopportune times. It is the only earthly thing known to fail me not. Maybe I'm moody, just like today's weather. But, maybe I'm just tired of this too. Tired of trying to be the strong one all the time; tired of reminding myself to learn from this season; tired of trying to have faith that everything is for my good; tired of keeping the feelings down. Tired of the up and down and all-around tug-of-war-type dance with my emotions. Maybe I'm ready for a new season of life. . . I've been trying to learn from this season, trying to learn all I can about patience, contentment, and faith despite utter confusion, but I'm getting so frustrated and worn out.
And yet we add on the most recent confusion-producing moments. Why must these random things happen to me? Why must I feel the results of others' coincidental mistakes that I should have never known about? What are You teaching me, Lord? Why don't I seem to learn the lesson, get the picture? Why must the paths of learning patience, faith, and contentment be so stinkin' difficult and cause so many tears?
Yet, I know that the Lord is faithful to lead me through anything He allows me to experience. He is faithful when I am faithless, and He is strong when I am weak because of the long, unending journey. Even when life does not seem to fit with "everything working together for my good," I know that Jehovah Jireh is my Provider for all that I could ever need.
Perhaps this is just a time that I will look back on and see only one set of footprints. And that's okay with me.
Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it forgoes revenge, and dares forgive an injury. ~E.H. Chapin
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