being led by my dear friend, Anna Smit. About a year ago, Anna and I began emailing and praying with each other. The Lord has led us to work and write together on a few projects over that time. And today, I am so thrilled at the way that He has opened the door for her to walk into the vision he planted within her to see His Beloved Prodigals loved and restored.
Have you felt the crushing weight of praying for and loving a prodigal of your own?
Then I would encourage you to visit this new website, a safe haven for prayers and encouragement.
At one time or another, we each have been prodigals on a journey to return to our Precious Savior.
I feel so blessed to be a contributing writer with Anna,
calling us all to love our prodigals back to Jesus.
Has your heart been stirred with a longing to help those who are far away and in such heavy need?
Maybe it's the heartbreaking news coming in from the Texas flooding?
Or maybe it's the concern over those you love who are in difficult places?
One morning recently, I was overcome by the beauty of the Morning Glories climbing over the bench in our front yard. As I reviewed all of my photos where I had tried to capture what I felt there, I was disappointed when I saw my shadow smack-dab in the middle of the bench! How could I have missed that?
But then the Lord opened my eyes to realize that HE had given me a beautiful picture to illustrate the Scripture that had been dwelling in my heart all day.
“May the Lord keep watch between you and me when we are away from each other." Genesis 31:49
Many have spent beautiful times of fellowship on this very bench:
my grandchildren and I
my husband and I
my friends and I
my Mom and I
even my Mom and my Vietnamese daughter-in-law's Mom
I am missing so many of them now.
Oh, yes, I know that my prayers are vital for those I love. But I have so many things I wish I could say, ways I wish I could actually touch each one. How do we handle that absence? How do we deal with the void we feel when we are separated?
In my searching, I found these thoughts in Matthew Henry's Commentary on Genesis 31:49:
"Friends
at a distance from each other may take the comfort of this, that when they cannot know or succour one another God watches between them, and
has his eye on them both."
And what of the beautiful story of friendship that is shown between Jonathan and David?
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.1 Samuel 20:42
These thoughts again, from Matthew Henry's Commentary found a home within my heart: "They referred themselves to the covenant of friendship that was between
them, both of them comforting themselves with this in this mournful
separation: 'We have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord,
for ourselves and our heirs, that we and they will be faithful and kind
to each other from generation to generation.' Thus, while we are at home
in the body and absent from the Lord, this is our comfort, that he has made with us an everlasting covenant."
What will I do with the longings when I want to be with those I love? How can I carry the weights of longing to make things better for those who are in difficulty?
Ah, there is the point of JOY
coming as I trust.
In the invisible places,
I see a shadow
of a PRESENCE
going between.
The Lord dwells
Where I can only long to go.
The Lord blesses
When I can only envision grief.
Every Friendship
Every Relationship
Every Love
When I call HIM into the center
Will be covered by HIS Shadow.
HE WATCHES BETWEEN YOU AND ME.
Here is the link to another Faith Blogger who actually is living through the Texas Flooding now, and shares ways to currently help:
And, I am excited to be a collaborator with another sweet Faith Blogger as she has opened a Facebook page to answer questions about what Fibromyalgia really is. If you have ever wondered how to explain Fibro, or even what it feels like, please visit her page for some great information that she has pulled together:
Is there no one here to speak for me? She had cried out in her shame. Buried beneath a sin so deep With no way to escape
The judgment poured down on her.
But Jesus stepped into the crowd Bent down on the sand
And waited, waited for her
Accusers
Those without sin to cast the stones.
Woman, He asked,
Where are your accusers now?
None stood here without sin.
Neither do I accuse you then.
Freedom became her theme.
Another woman bore a shame
She knew her part in the sinning game
But saw in Jesus’ eyes
Forgiveness calling her out
Mercy drawing her in.
From the depth of her freedom
Came a Love stronger than shame
For ONE had pled her case.
An offering for mercy’s sake
Of much she was forgiven.
Alabaster jar broken open
Fragrance filled the judging room
A washing clean had happened
Worship spilled the tears there
As Love was finally free.
--BG
Jesus pled their cases
Jesus spoke up for those
Who could not speak
You can read the stories of these two women, the first one in John 8:4-11, and the second one in Luke 7:36-50. Jesus brought each of these women into a life of forgiveness, something the leaders of his day were not expecting. To the first He said:
A child sat on the side of the road and saw the crashed cars. There was the bloodied man being held up by the ambulance drivers. There was her Father holding his chest, and there was her brother coming behind in his own car, rescuing her from the scene.
It was a memory locked in the recesses of my mind. Occasional nightmares and flashbacks from the scene would replay years later, but I would tell myself how thankful I should be that God preserved my life with only a chipped tooth, and my Dad only suffered a few cracked ribs.
But the heart knows when a fear takes root.
If you knew me in the '90s, you would have seen a self-sufficient Stay-At-Home-Mom who walked everywhere, and took the bus to the orthodontist for her teenage daughter's appointments. Grocery shopping was a family affair after my husband finished working. We worked out our schedules, and we thrived on our together times. But when my younger son approached the time for getting his learner's permit, he said, "It's time Mom. You're coming with me and we're BOTH learning to drive together this time."
I had never enjoyed driving when I got my first license as a teenager. So, as a young wife, when we moved multiple times while our children were toddlers, it felt too hard to continue taking the tests and changing my license in every state.
So I let the deep-settled fear gain more ground in my heart, and I allowed my license to expire.
Was my son correct?
Would I really be able to re-learn driving,
after almost 20 years?
Oh, I prayed and cried, and stormed my way through, as my husband had two "learners" practicing that year. Just before the deadline for my permit expired, I passed the test, hearing the instructor tell me, "You're a very good driver, Ma'am, you really shouldn't be so nervous."
What should have been a celebration, still felt like a chore to me, and despite what the instructor said, I had to sing my way into driving alone. every. single. time.
But God has a way of making sure
that our hearts get laid bare,
and He sees where fear takes root.
He gently pries and tugs
to bring to the surface
the long buried tendrils.
When we moved to Wisconsin, with a fresh new license in my hand, one of the first neighbors I met was my precious elderly Ukrainian friend who had just lost her husband. While I was practicing my driving in this small town, her health was gradually declining. And in just a short time, she needed a driver to take her to Doctor's appointments and stores. My driving suddenly had to come up a notch.
God was still working to uncover the fear.
But yet I held back, until I gathered with dear friends for our church's first Ladies' Retreat, several years later. As I led my group that first night, the question went around the circle, and each one of us found our hearts being uncovered by a God who loves us too much to leave us to ourselves. I heard myself speaking what I had not planned to say:
I still DESPISE driving, but I want to be free.
And with those precious friends,
we all laid down burdens
and found Jesus there
to meet us with the truth.
That very first Sunday after the retreat, as I drove to get coffee for a few friends, my normal "easy" route was blocked, and I had no choice but to take the scarier way that I always avoided. I heard Him whisper His own words to me:
"You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me."
