A thousand years is but a day and a day a thousand years…
There are moments when life is happening that feel like they will never end and then they do pass…
And years go by and it feels like it happened yesterday.
Yesterday marked a decade since we delivered our little Karson.
As my fingers hit the keys to spell those words I feel like I’m speaking of another woman’s story and yet- I’m not.
I wanted to write a reflective heartfelt post yesterday about how life is tough and how God is faithful but the words and sentences for lack of a better word felt scrambled. But I couldn’t muster it. Life ten years later is different and busy and hard in different ways.
The story would come and go and felt somewhat forced hence –no post.
But tonight in the quiet, with the herd at wrestling practice I feel impressed to exhort you with few meanderings that won’t let me be..
My dear, dear friends~
Friends of ol’, new friends, friend who feel useless, disconnected friends, friend who feels used up or unusable, undone, unappreciated, incomplete or unloved.
#1 You matter.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made no matter how fat you (and I) feel or far you (and I) may have derailed in 2014.
NOTHING can separate us from the love of GOD.
Absolutely-not-one- stinking thing it too terrible-or-bad or too sad that He can’t use for good.
NOTHING. GOD IS GREATER than all of it!
Let’s EMBRACE that TRUTH and MOVE ON!
With my whole heart and until I die I will encourage YOU with that truth and this one->
#2 YOUR story matters.
Yada, yada, Karmen will you leave it alone?
No, and here’s why.
OTHERS NEED YOUR STORY!
The people in our workplace, the grocery store clerk, your banker, neighbors, cousins, inmates in jail.
Who better to encourage a woman endearing life with an alcoholic than one who has endured life with an alcoholic?
Who better to encourage one who has lived through divorce than one who has endured divorce?
Who better to council and advise someone in debt up to his or her eyeballs than one who has been maxed out and now is debt free? (oh, Lord I want to be debt free!)
Who better to encourage one who has lost loved ones than one who has suffered loss?
This is not rocket science theology but for whatever the reason many women (and men, if they would admit it) feel like a big ZERO.
Like they have nothing to offer another.
I heard an alarming statistic last week about how lonely and “unneeded” people in our society say they feel. I wanted to scream at the radio, “IT’S A LIE, Y’ALL! YOU MATTER! OTHERS NEED YOU! FOR REAL! ”
To the skeptics: (because I know you’re there. I am one.)
You say, “How do you know others need me?”
HAVE YOU BEEN OUTSIDE and ENGAGED with the public recently?
More than EV-UH people are desperate for community, a sense of belonging and hungry for CONVERSATION with a REAL PERSON not a FLAT SCREEN.
If you still don’t believe me, I invite you to come to the feed store, visit with us and engage with the public.
We have a warm heater and a bench, just for sitting and visiting. (And hurry, right now it’s clean. We have rearranged and it is lovely. Do-stop-by.)
True story: A precious woman and her daughter came in the store today looking for chicken feed. The daughter went on to say her mother had rescued a ROOSTER from the side of the road that had fallen from a chicken truck nearly a year ago. It had a broken foot and a damaged wing. She began to share about how the rooster had become a burden for her elderly mother on a fixed income.
When I asked, “Would you like to get rid of the rooster?”
The daughter instantly replied, “YES! We would LOVE to give it away. Do you know of anyone who would want it?”
We told her we would gladly take the rooster and find it a home. The mother, who appeared to be very shy, nodded graciously as the daughter told us they would go and get it and bring it to us later.
Annnnd she did, just a couple of hours later.
As we transferred the rooster from her pen to ours the shy, mother gave me the biggest hug, “THANK YOU Hun, THANK YOU.”
The point of that lil’ story
WE NEED EACH OTHER.
To help carry and share burdens <3 (and roosters)
How can I help others?
I’m still a mess.
EMBRACE this one too—> WE ARE ALL A MESS.
Some admit it while others still resist.
God takes messy, surrendered people and births AMAZING MESSages of His grace upon grace upon grace.
What better way to get our minds off of our messes but when we are helping others get through theirs?
I wish we could sit down and I could have coffee with each one of you (because I care about you and love coffee) and I wish I could look you in the eye with this heart message but until then please know…..
YOU MATTER.
YOUR STORY (has a PURPOSE + ALL. OF. IT—> matters)
Surrender it to the One, true and living God and ask Him to help you help someone.
But know this, as I reminded the inmates Sunday afternoon, BE READY.
When you ask God to provide an opportunity for you to help another and you make yourself available HE WILL MOVE.
Speaking of BEing READY…
and NEEDing each other…
I covet your prayers.
As I speak at the jail again this Sunday. The women are sad, downtrodden and many in desperate need.
Pray for them, will ya?
I am super excited to be speaking at the ladies retreat in Chelsea, AL January 23 & 24th of this month. (Thanks, Hannah Shirey Burton for the invitation)
I will also be traveling to Austin, TX the first of next month to serve at the IF: GATHERING. IF you are not signed up for an IF: LOCAL gathering contact Jeanne Manning or me for more details via Facebook .
And last but not least …the other lil secret is getting really close and it’s going to be great and PS-we are not growing our family and it’s not the manuscript for the book. Holy Moly in the sweet by and by one day…it will be done…the book not a baby.
Amen.
love y’all
PS- If your women’s group is looking for a speaker of truth, who loves to laugh..connect with me..I’d love to join!
