Glory!
When Beth Moore is blown away by a God thing, she gets on her knees and shouts, "Glory!" For me, my fingers itch to sit and write before all of my feelings blow me off the face of the earth. So here I am...
A moment ago I was washing dishes and replaying this morning in my head, particularly conversations I had with a few different women as I worked my way from the sanctuary to the car. All of them came with a word of encouragement for me in saying that they had been blessed by reading my blog and e-mail updates. The crazy thing is that they were just a few in a long string of similar conversations I've had over the past 2 weeks since my most recent tell-all blog. Both close friends and women I scarcely know called, wrote, and approached me with the general theme that they were comforted/surprised/blessed/touched by reading the confession of a full time ministry mom that doesn't have it all together.
I was thinking about all of this and just found myself in tears at the awesomeness of God. It is only God who can take a confession of my unworthiness and unloveliness and just vomit up blessing upon blessing over me and the women in my life. How... ... ...
At the very moment when I was discouraged and feeling like I couldn't measure up, God first spoke and then confirmed His message of grace over and over. And if anyone has ever experienced the delight of touching someone's soul, you can only imagine my overwhelming joy of hearing these testimonies.
If any of this sounds like a pat on the back or boasting, know that is NOT at all my intent or heart. I am simply awestruck with new understanding of the phrase "beauty from ashes." And that is truly not a work I could ever do! I am thankful to God for prodding me to be open and honest about where I am in life and ministry because He has blessed beyond words as a result.