Vroom Vroom

Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.

Philippians 2:13

And that is why I love this book. Paul is so full of encouragement! For the past 3 days or so, I've been suffering with a migraine -- change of climate after a week in Indiana, changes in air pressure, whatever. All I know is that my head hurts.

But God's energy deep within me -- that is such an encouragement when all I've gotten done is some laundry. That energy will well up within me and take over. For now, after the sun has just gone down at 9:00PM, the headache is at bay. And I'm ready to let God do whatever He wants.

It's so nice to know that I don't have to find things to make myself busy. God is at work within me! All I have to do is make myself available to Him with a simple prayer -- Please Lord, use me today.

xoxoxox

Dominoes and the Butterfly Effect

I spent most of the day today sleeping off a migraine. But the day started out very busy, and very much in keeping with what I had hoped would happen when I moved here. Once again I'm amazed at our glorious God.

I've always had a heart for keeping a home, the general nuts-and-bolts business of how you go about making your home run smoothly. And as I've gotten older, I've grown to have more of a heart for young moms who are struggling, feeling overwhelmed and drowning amidst diapers and sleepless nights. I'm not sure what to say to them -- except that I've been there, and it will pass.

So this morning I got a call from a friend to meet and chat over lunch, and I was glad to be free for that. She's a young mom who's really growing lately, and I am glad I got the chance to encourage her.

But right as I walked in the door from an earlier errand, the phone rang. Another friend -- also a young mom -- was in tears and needed me.

I find this especially interesting because of a discussion I had with the girls recently. We were talking about people we'd miss if we moved from this town. They commented that I really didn't have any friends.

Now I admit that I am not a person people readily call when they need a friend. I suppose that's because I don't generally call anyone else here -- but it was my dream to be this sort of a person when I moved here. I envisioned being able to counsel young wives and moms in the midst of trouble.

And this was just such a case.

So I dropped the phone and grabbed my purse and ran over to be there. And I prayed as I went that God would give me the right words and shut my mouth -- for the most part -- so I could be the best friend, the kind that listens.

And of course God used the time. I'm not sure how much help I really was -- but it was a chance to be a friend, a good friend. I was so glad she called.

I've never lived in a place where I have felt such purpose. In the book of Esther, that amazing woman who charmed a king and saved a people -- her uncle Morcedai asks her in 4:14 --

". . . Who knows? Maybe you were made queen for just such a time as this."

The economy of God is quite something. He never ceases to use an opportunity, which has a domino effect on several other opportunities. He is the Master of the butterfly effect.

And today I got to be not just one of the dominoes, but I got to see my place in the domino line. What a privilege! And I suppose that's the secret -- to just accept that you're a domino today, in the line, and your job is to just fall at the right time. God will give you the signal, and you'll do your part -- "for such a time as this."

And all this regardless of how many friends your children seem to think you do or don't have!


xoxox