From Rachel's Heart...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
How often do you laugh in your day? I love to laugh. And, it seems yesterday was full of laughter.
First of all, my kids always make me laugh. And, my oldest daughter, in particular, keeps me rolling in laughter. She is 6 years old and very matter of fact. Very little excites her or bothers her (except for her older brother!). And everyday as we are waiting for the school bus, we talk about things. I never know what we’ll talk about each morning, but I know that she’ll say something that makes me laugh. And yesterday was no different as I watched her get on the bus and I was still laughing at the last thing she said to me in her very matter of fact manner.
Like I do on most school days, once I put the kids on the bus, I drove to Wendy’s house to walk. We have been walking about 5 miles each day (still training for that 5k) and yesterday I headed over for our morning walk. When I got to her house, her husband was watching the weather and warned us that rain was likely (and it has been raining for a couple of days, so we knew it was going to rain that day too). But, it wasn’t raining when I got there, so we headed off. Well, needless to say, our walk ended early, with us soaking wet from a downpour, and sides hurting from laughing so hard. And, the laughter continued throughout the day as we worked on our most recent project and talked about all sorts of things.
I love it when my days are full of laughter. Reminds me of Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.” It truly is good medicine to spend it laughing with those you love.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
I love authentic people. There is just something that draws me to women who aren’t afraid to show their weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and flaws. They seem to have a comfort with their weaknesses and a true grounding in where their strength actually comes from (and it’s not them!).
I attended a WMU breakfast on Saturday and I had the opportunity to talk with the speaker of the event for a few moments before she spoke. She is a missionary in Thailand and is state-side right now as she transitions one of her children to college. And, she was invited to this breakfast to share her experiences as a missionary.
What I loved about her (in addition to her devotion to serving the Lord in any way that He desired for her) was her genuineness and authenticity. Within seconds of sitting down beside me, she told the people at my table that these events really make her nervous. She commented how she loves to talk to people one on one, but when she gets in front of a crowd, her knees knock and she is a nervous wreck. She said that she does it because she knows she has to share her stories, but it isn’t where the Lord has made her most comfortable. She then went on to ask us questions about our ministry and talked more about her work on the mission field.
She was a lovely woman and very comfortable with who she was and who she was not. When she spoke in front of the crowd, she was similarly authentic and talked comfortably and casually to the crowd. She didn’t try to over impress with a dynamic presentation. She just stood up there and talked and was herself.
I love authentic people and I strive to be more and more authentic each day. It is hard to show your weaknesses and vulnerabilities, but I strongly believe that it helps others more when we can share our true selves with others and not just the mask that we tend to portray. I think so many of us try to be someone who we are not. We try to act the way that we think others expect us to act. We try to cover up our nervousness or worries. We pretend that we have everything under control when our households may be falling apart. We have been trained to “not let them see you sweat.” And, we don’t.
But, you know what I have learned? I am more drawn to and can relate to women who are nervous, vulnerable, damaged, or stressed. In fact, I find it refreshing when someone is comfortable with who they are. And, I have found that when you are comfortable with you are, then you are comfortable with who you aren’t also. I know that I will continue to pray for comfort in showing my true self as I relate to and minister to women in my day. And, I urge you to also pray that God helps you be comfortable with your own weaknesses, imperfections, and vulnerabilities. It truly will make you a better witness to other broken, weak, and imperfect people.
Monday, September 20, 2010
I have to share with you all today something that just touched my heart recently. And, it is something that I believe shows the true spirit of giving.
My son turns 10 in a couple of weeks and he has outgrown his bicycle badly. It is really much too small for him and we are planning to buy him a new bike for his birthday (fortunately he doesn’t read my blog, so this will stay a secret). Well, my son and Wendy’s son are very good friends and they ride their bikes together all the time. And, Wendy’s son had noticed that my son’s bike had gotten too small for him.
Sometime last week, Wendy’s son told her something that touched my heart and I believe really shows true friendship and giving to others. Wendy’s son is saving his money to buy a PSP game system. And, he’s not too far away from having enough money for it. He’s been saving for awhile and this is something that he really wants. But, after noticing my son’s need for a new bicycle, he announced last week that instead of buying himself a new PSP, he wants to use the money that he was saving to buy my son a new bicycle.
When I heard that, my heart was really touched. It was so sweet to hear that a young boy would spend his savings on his friend and sacrifice his desires for him. Isn’t that the spirit of true giving and true friendship?
I have been thinking of his offer since I heard it and I believe that we could all learn something from her son’s sweet gesture. First, true giving is when you are sacrificing some of your own comforts or desires to help someone else. If you are just giving what you have left over, how much of a gift is that? When you are truly sacrificing some of your own desires to give to someone else, then you have a true giver’s heart.
Second, I believe that true friendship is noticing your friend’s needs before they even mention them and offering to help them. Wendy’s son noticed that my son needed a new bicycle and offered what he had to help. He was concerned for his friend and jumped in to try and help the situation. It is a very sweet picture for me of friendship.
I know in my life that I have been richly blessed by giving to others. I have received many gifts (big and small) from others and my heart is always touched when someone thinks of me and gives me something. But, I have learned recently that my heart is even fuller when I can give of myself to someone else. And, giving doesn’t have to take a monetary form. While it can be giving money, giving can also be your time, your prayers, your attention, and just your words of love to someone else. Whether you are giving your last dollar to someone else or your last hour in the day to someone else, you are giving them something that is valuable to you and you are truly showing them that they are important and they are loved. And when you do that, you will be richly blessed.
I have received love and support from others before and I have given love and support to others. And both have enriched my life. But, I have learned so much from giving love and support to others and how amazing a gift it is to be able to love another like Christ loves us. I think we can all learn something from Wendy’s son. Give to others and show someone that you love them today.
Friday, September 17, 2010
My mom stopped by yesterday after spending a couple of days with her sister at the beach. I know it was something that she was really looking forward to doing and she had such a relaxing, fun time with her sister. They don’t get to do that sort of thing very often since my mom lives in North Carolina and her sister lives in New York. So, I know that this was very special for her.
Listening to her talk about her weekend made me think about sisterhood. The sister relationship is so special. Your sister is the one who knows you through and through. She knows your dreams and your fears. She knows your strengths and your vulnerabilities. She knows your successes and your failures. She knows what bothers you, what energizes you, what scares you, and what makes you laugh. There is a history, a comfort, and an acceptance in the sister relationship that is precious beyond words. And, with each passing year, the bond grows stronger and stronger as you walk with each other through different seasons of life.
I have always wanted a sister and last year, God gave me a sister in Wendy. And, I am grateful everyday that the Lord gave me a sister who knows my strengths and vulnerabilities, dreams and fears, and successes and failures. She is someone who strengthens me, challenges me to be better, encourages me, and walks with me through each season of life. And most importantly, she is someone who shares a deep love for the Lord and models His love each day.
I have been so blessed by the relationships in my life. I have such a supportive, loving husband, a precious family, and a strong spiritual sister to walk through life with.
If you have a sister, then tell her today how much you love her and appreciate her in your life. The Lord did not give me a biological sister, but He did give me a spiritual sister. She is a precious gift and I thank God for her every single day.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The last two years will go down as a period of my life where God totally rocked my world. He took a good, solid life and turned it upside down. Through several tragedies, struggles, and some very hard lessons learned, He changed my priorities, my relationships, my career, and even my location. And, He did it because He didn’t want me to just have a good, solid life. He wanted me to have an abundant, rich life full of purpose and love.
As I have shared here before, the journey that I am currently on started with the miraculous birth of our daughter, Isabella. That story can be found under “About Us.” But in the last two years, as if giving me the most amazing gift of a miracle wasn’t enough, God also gave me a passion and drive to share my story and help others. And, He gave me someone whose presence in my life has been an amazing blessing. And while God gave her a different story than He gave me, He gave her the same passion to help women.
Yesterday, Wendy & I spent the day working on a new Bible study that we are writing. It was really the first day that we have been able to sit and work since I have moved here. For those of you who have just joined the After the Miracle family, my family and I just relocated from Baltimore to Southeastern Virginia where I now have the privilege of living and working in the same town as my dear friend and ministry partner. We moved here in late June, but I have only gotten settled enough recently to really get back to work with Wendy (hence our lack of blogging this summer).
As we worked yesterday, Wendy & I discussed the themes of our latest Bible study. And as our talks oftentimes do, it led us to reflecting on our own experiences and lessons of the past couple of years. And, she and I talked about some things that we haven’t talked about in a long while and I found myself so overwhelmed by how God has worked in my life during these past two years. And as I said at the beginning of this blog, I realized once again that God has truly rocked my world. And as only He can do, He has created a more beautiful life than I ever imagined was possible.
What I want to share with you today is that this “rocking of my world” started as a tragedy. And actually, this creation of my new life involved a couple of tragedies and a lot of loss and sadness. But it also involved the creation of a friendship that is more precious than words can express and the creation of an intense passion to help women who are journeying through their own lives, tragedies, and “world rockings.” God wants to use you and God wants to use me. And sometimes, He will rock our world to get our attention. And if you truly listen to what He’s saying to you and follow Him to wherever He is leading you, you will find that what you thought was your good, solid life is nothing compared to the unimaginably rich and abundant life that He wants for you.
Now that we are more settled and the kids are back in school, I look forward to blogging more regularly again. And, as always, I look forward to sharing my journey after the miracle.
