I've missed the past two "Faithful Friday" posts, but not for a lack of words or experiences. Rather it seems everything is an experience bent on my spiritual growth. However, those experiences-well- they're part of a story that's not entirely mine to tell. I can only tell you how I'm learning.
Last week was a roller coaster. I cried tears of sorrow and tears of joy, tears of self-pity and tears of humility. In the end I cried because I love and am loved in return. How humbling it is to know that one is loved despite all of ones flaws and failures, to be loved for ones quirks as well as talents. How beautiful it is to realize that it is a gift to be able to grieve because it means there is something or someone worth grieving. How comforting it is not to have to feel all of this alone.
On Sunday a friend- one of those rare kinds with whom you can have those chance, intimate, soul-baring conversations that has a lasting impact but with whom you only have passing, casual conversations for the rest of your relationship- sought me out to tell me that {though we hadn't seen each other in months} I'd been coming to her mind during her quiet times. I was only able to confirm that yes, there were things for which she should be praying. My priest, practically simultaneously, also took me aside to offer his support. As I fought to keep my composure I realized I wasn't upset because I'd been reminded of my struggles, but touched, affected because I'd experienced the compassion and love of God through my community. Through these words and actions the still small voice whispers, "I am with you." I am reminded that I am not alone, to look for the blessings within the hardships.
Another friend of mine likes to think that I'm strong. I am not strong. God is strong. As Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 12: 9-11): 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions,in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
May you walk with the Lord and let Him be your strength this week. May you love deeply and allow yourself to be loved with the divine balance of humility and boldness. May you experience the kind of love that gentles hearts and renews souls. May you love with the freedom of a child, the wisdom of the aged, and the compassion of Christ.
Hello my friend, who I now am calling a great writer....you have the gift, and I'm so very glad that you are sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI'm here at the kitchen table eating peach pie.....the last from the freezer....a reminder of summer and what's soon to come. Then I thought to myself: I wonder what Erin has written about this week. And here I am, having a visit!
Your last paragraph is especially beautiful. To love, and be loved in that way is surely from the Lord.
I went to a woman's conference this weekend. The speaker was Patricia Hickman ~~ Christian fiction author. What I walked away with: Our lives are HIS story. He is the author, and we are the "characters" in the story. We're not puppets, but loved children in whom he promises that everything works together for good.