What Delights!

As if it isn’t enough that spring is here (yes, we dodged the snow bullet this go-round!), with all the beautiful daffodils and new green leaves beginning to show up on the trees, my dear friends from China just visited for a couple of days!  When I have opportunity to spend time face-to-face with you precious and powerful women of God, it is like a breath of fresh air to me.  I don’t know any other way to describe it!

Getting more information than we can possibly share via email, along with the heartbeat of God for the people of China or India, lifts me up in the spirit as nothing else can.  It takes effort not to get a bit down after you leave because, in some cases, I don’t know when I will see you next.   Then Holy Spirit gets me back on track, reminding me to stay strong in prayer for you as you live day in and day out in those lands I only visit from time to time – and I get back up, shake myself off, and get back in my given position.  After each visit with you, my dear friends, I’m standing taller and stronger than before!

Thank you for brightening my life like the emergence of spring!  I love you!

They Are In You

I’m re-reading The Shack, by William Paul Young, though I finished it for the first time only a couple of weeks ago.  It is an amazing read, one of those works of fiction that is filled with so much Truth you tend to forget it’s a “made-up” story.  The author has such a revelation of God and His unconditional love and has been given a gift of writing so He can make it easy for all to understand; meanwhile, the Truth continues to work long after the book is put down.  Though this isn’t to be a review of this book, I highly recommend it to anyone who longs for an ever-increasing revelation of God’s love.

At the beginning of Chapter 15, Festival of Friends, is a quote from Telling the Truth, by Frederick Buechner, that made me think of you again, my precious sisters on the mission field.  May you be blessed by its sentiment.

You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.

To You, My Friends

I’m going to try to paint a picture for you of my day today.  I’ve been sitting at the computer for quite a large part of it, trying to get this blog into a form that I like and that I think might work.  In addition, I’m continuing to transcribe the two most recent completed journals so that I’ll be all caught up.  I find, when I am in process of doing this job (typing entry after entry), I try not to write new journal entries so I won’t have to do so much typing later!  Like that’s really going to happen.

I have the windows open, though I’d rather use the AC.  The temperature is 80, which isn’t bad.  We’ve already had one heavy rainstorm, and there is enough moisture in the atmosphere to bring on more, so it’s pretty damp in the house.  The windows are open because the new ones are being installed.  The men are doing very fast work – trying to beat the rains.  In the process, there is a lot of pounding in various areas of the house.  At least Sandy has quit barking every time one of the men comes onto the front porch or even comes inside!

I looked at a book about friendship to find something for this first post, but decided that, for today, I’ll just be me and tell you both how I cherish your friendships.  You are such powerful women of God, whom I admire and in whom I see Jesus.  You also are just plain great sisters and friends!  Thank you for being in my life and letting me be in yours.