Tag: friends

Girl Tribe

I have this group of girlfriends that I’ve come to know and love over the past year. The Lord brought them into my life when I needed life-giving friendships and encouragement more than ever before. These women represent the true heart of God. They are transparent, they are open, they are love, and they are full of joy. We laugh, we cry, and we have fun. And what is most unique about this group…every single woman WANTS to be there for the rest. When someone’s child is getting baptized, we’re there, yelling and clapping the loudest, taking video or taking pictures. When someone is going through a hard time, we’re there, praying and comforting and texting to check on them. When I’m struggling or having a hard time with something, they’re all there, not with judgment and condemnation, but with love and support and encouragement. These are the women that I want to walk beside and share life with.

Thank you, Lord, for bringing these women into my life with their beautiful souls, love, laughter and hearts of gold.

I didn’t want this Christmas season to pass or this year to end without expressing my deepest gratitude for the gift they are to me.

To Shana, thank you for welcoming me to your group, for leading our group with your insightfulness into God’s Word, and allowing me to be me (even the crazy note-taking part of me!).

To Kristel, thank you for opening your home each week to all of us and not only allowing us to be open and transparent, but also by checking on us throughout the week or even weeks later to see how things are going.

To Tanya, thank you for the amazing prayer warrior that you are. Your prayers are so full of the Spirit, it’s as if angels sing every time you pray!

To Stacia, thank you for your strength. I don’t even know your full story yet, but to hear how you encourage everyone in the group, despite what you may be going through yourself, your strength in the Lord amazes me all the time.

To Maddie, thank you for bringing youthfulness to our group. I love that our group spans many ages and seasons of life. You have wisdom beyond your years and I’m so happy to have you as a dear friend.

To Lacy, thank you for inviting me to the group. I know that meeting you when I was a youth leader was God-appointed and I’ll forever be thankful for you and the friendship we’ve developed over this past year.

To Mary Ann, thank you for your smile. I love being around you; you are always so happy and full of joy. There’s always laughter when you’re around and I love that about you so much!

To Natali, thank you for being genuine. You don’t ever hesitate to share the good or the bad, the struggles and the victories. I learn so much by listening to you, and I also love hearing what you’re reading about in the Bible. You help me to see being transparent is a good thing when you’re with the right group of women.

To Kristina, thank you for all you’ve done for me inside and outside of the group. I love watching you with your girls and your family. You have a beautiful spirit about you. Not only am I blessed to know you, but I know your family is as well.

To Jennifer, thank you for your words of encouragement. You have a way of offering just the right words when someone is struggling. You’re not ashamed to draw from your past to share God’s love with everyone around you.

To Patricia, thank you for sharing God’s Light to every person you meet. You have a unique business and gift and I love hearing about the women you encounter and how you help them and heal them.

I think God for each one of you. Thank you for your beautiful friendship!

Proverbs 27:9 (NLT), “The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.”

1 John 4:7 (NLT), “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.”

Goodness of God

Do you ever get down in a rut and feel like everything around you is just harder than normal? That’s where I am right now.  Everything just feels hard…marriage is hard; being a mom is hard; even my easy-going work place is suddenly just hard. It feels like nothing is going right, my schedule is all out of whack, and I can’t do anything right. For instance, the other day I got home, turned off the alarm (or so I thought), went to get my dog & the alarm sounded off.  Rather LOUDLY, I might add!  I got it turned off, but then had to call my husband to figure out how to clear it out so I could set it again and leave the house.  Then, as I was told later, I forgot to actually lock the door when I left!  Geez! Everything just feels hard, and nothing is going according to my normal schedule.  And to top it off, I tried to fast last week and EPICALLY FAILED at that!  I mean, I can’t even be a good Christian right now!! 

EVERYTHING.

IS.

HARD.

BUT GOD.

GOD IS GOOD.

HE IS SO, SO GOOD!!!

In all the hard mess, I forgot the ONE THING, the EASIEST thing…give it to God (I believe I did say I was failing at being a good Christian.).

I went to my weekly bible study group this week…to my group of transparent Christian women who love me and accept me for who I am. When I needed a place to land and some new friends, they welcomed me with open arms. When I walked in this week, I was carrying the weight of feeling like a failure at all the things; feeling like as soon as I opened my mouth, I would be a puddle on the floor. But that feeling quickly faded as we took turns sharing about our week. When it was my turn to share, I told them how I’d been feeling and all the failure qualities going on in my life. They didn’t judge me or condemn me…they loved on me, they encouraged me, and they reminded me of God’s grace and mercy and unconditional love.  

After sharing about our week, we took some time talking about different songs that have affected us in some way. Songs that helped us through hard times, through tough situations, or that just brought back good memories. I’ve been soaking in some good worship music since we met, and I wanted to share some excerpts from the different songs shared in the group.

For Kristina (Oceans, by Hillsong UNITED)

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders

Let me walk upon the waters

Wherever You would call me

Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander

And my faith will be made stronger

In the presence of my Savior

For Jennifer (Praise You in This Storm, by Casting Crowns)

And I’ll praise You in this storm

And I will lift my hands

For You are who You are

No matter where I am

And every tear I’ve cried

You hold in Your hand

You never left my side

And though my heart is torn

I will praise You in this storm

For Mary Ann (Lord, I Need You, by Matt Maher)

Lord, I need You, oh, I need You

Every hour, I need You

My one defense, my righteousness

Oh God, how I need You

For Maddie (Same God, by Elevation Worship)

O God, my God, I need you

O God, my God, I need You now

How I need You now

O Rock, O Rock of ages

I’m standing on Your faithfulness

On Your faithfulness

For Kristel (How Great Thou Art, version by Carrie Underwood)

Oh Lord, my God

When I, in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder

Thy power throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee

How great Thou art, how great Thou art

For Stacia (In Jesus Name, by Katy Nichole)

I speak the name of Jesus over you

In your hurting, in your sorrow

I will ask my God to move

I speak the name ‘cause it’s all that I can do

In desperation, I’ll seek Heaven

And pray this for you

I pray for your healing

That circumstances would change

I pray that the fear inside would flee in Jesus name

I pray that a breakthrough would happen today

I pray miracles over your life in Jesus name, in Jesus name

For Shana (Great Are You Lord, by Casting Crowns)

You give life, You are love

You bring light to the darkness

You give hope, You restore

Every heart that is broken

Great are You, Lord

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour out our praise

We pour out our praise

It’s Your breath in our lungs

So we pour our praise to You only

For Natali (Show Me Your Glory, by Third Day)

Show me Your Glory

Send down Your presence

I want to see Your face

Show me Your Glory

Majesty shines about You

I can’t go on without You, Lord

For Lacy (The Gift, by Garth Brooks)

Then a voice spoke to her through the darkness

Maria, what brings you to me

If the bird in the cage is your offering

Open the door, let me see

Though she trembled, she did as he asked her

And out of the cage the bird flew

Soaring into the rafters

On a wing that had healed good as new

Just then the midnight bells rang out

And the little bird started to sing

A song that no words could recapture

Whose beauty was fit for a king

Now Maria felt blessed just to listen

To that cascade of notes sweet and long

As her offering was lifted to heaven

By the very first nightingale’s song

And Me (Trust in You, by Lauren Daigle)

Letting go of every single dream

I lay each one at Your feet

Every moment of my wandering

Never changes what You see

I’ve tried to win this war, I confess

My hands are weary, I need Your rest

Mighty warrior, King of the fight

No matter what I face, You’re by my side

When You don’t move the mountains

I’m needing You to move

When You don’t part the waters

I wish I could walk through

When You don’t give the answers

As I cry out to You

I will trust, I will trust, I will trust in You

And for anyone still reading this blog, I hope you heard the music as you read each song snippet and God spoke to you through the words.  Sometimes just a small touch of God is all we need to get over the hump, to get through a rough patch, or to bring some joy into our day. Is there a song that you’ve clung to through a hard season or difficult time in your life? I’d love for you to share it with me.

Before I go, I want to leave you with one last song, the Goodness of God, by Elevation Worship. The day after my bible study, I listed to this on repeat and asked God to rain His goodness, His peace, His mercy and His grace over me.  It’s already getting better. =)

I love you, Lord

For Your mercy never fails me

All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands

From the moment that I wake up

Until I lay my head

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

I love Your voice

You have led me through the fire

In the darkest night

You are close like no other

I’ve known You as a Father

I’ve known You as a Friend

And I have lived in the goodness of God

All my life You have been faithful

All my life You have been so, so good

With every breath that I am able

Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God

Friendship Memories

Awhile back I wrote a blog about this being the year all my friends and I turn the wonderful age of 40 (see The year of 40). I talked about how despite the negative connotation that comes with turning 40, I would refrain from using any of it on my friends, because as we have all learned, we’re only as old as we feel!!

I frequently get lost in thought and sometimes my mind wanders back to the days of simpler times…times when I wasn’t concerned about what day is payday and when my bills are due and other fun stressors that come with being an adult. On those days when I get lost in thought, sometimes my mind wanders back to the days of being a kid and a teenager and all the fun I had with my friends growing up. So, as this 40th year of life comes blasting forward, I thought I’d share some of my childhood memories with you and my 40 year-old friends!

To Tosha, I remember the countless hours we spent on that lemon twist jump rope toy you had. We would jump around on that thing for hours trying to see which of us could get the most jumps in a row.

To Tammy, I remember having fun being neighbors and playing jokes on your little sister, Sherry and how we NEVER got away with anything because she ALWAYS told on us!!!

To Mandy, I remember riding our bikes up and down the street and then me going across the street & you climbing through your back fence to play in the park that was just for our neighborhood. We’d play for hours & have the best time with everyone else in our neighborhood.

To Leah, I remember playing with Barbie’s at your house. I was always so jealous because you had the coolest Barbie accessories, like the Barbie dream house, the Ken doll and Ken’s cool car!! We’d also swim and lay around your pool for hours.

To Melody, I remember when you first moved to Lampasas in 1st grade and we did that Easter skit in our class. I think I played the Momma hen and you were the baby chick that broke out of the shell (the trash can) at the end and went, “Peep, peep!”

To Barbara, I remember the play we did in the 4th grade, although for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it. But, you played the main character (the damsel in distress) and you were hilarious in that role!!

To Delana, I remember when we were in Kindergarten and I tried to help you put toys away so we could start class and you got mad at me and punched me in the mouth!! Hmmm, maybe that was the start of my dental problems…hahaha, just kidding!!

To Marci, I remember the playhouse in your backyard. That was the coolest playhouse. We would spend hours playing in there with our tea parties & whatever else we made up while we were in there.

To Janna, I remember sitting in your room, listening to music and playing board games. I think we played the Game of Life more than any other, dreaming about how we wanted our lives to turn out…our husbands, the number of kids we’d have and our dream jobs.

To Carrie Jo, I remember all the band trips, parades and practices in the wonderful (ha!) and humid August summers.

To Kellie, I remember sitting next to you in band in junior high when I thought it was a great idea to switch from the trumpet to the French horn. Not only am I glad I came to my senses on the instrument, but also that we became fast & lifelong friends with too many memories to name!

To Cristy, I remember walking around your neighborhood and playing at your house. I also remember the nice Mustang you had when we were old enough to drive…it sure was fun cruising Key in that car!!

To Dana, I remember all the times we used to drive around in your little gray car during lunch and listen to “Black Velvet”. Every time I hear that song, I always think of you!!

There are just too many memories to name! Cruising Key on Friday and Saturday night, walking to Storms after school when we were in junior high & also going to Gattis and ordering cinnamon breadsticks. I thought of those and so many others while reminiscing over these memories!! We’ve been friends for so long, I just pray our kids are taking the time to make memories with their friends that they’ll remember for a lifetime.

Thanks for indulging me on my trip down memory lane! And to my 40 year-old friends I mentioned, what memories do you remember!?!

The year of 40

As 2013 is quickly reaching its end, it’s the year that my friends and I all turn 40! When your birthday comes this particular year, everything is black instead of bright party colors. Balloons are black, cake icing is black, and guests wear black to your party; plus, all the cards you receive talk about you being “over the hill.”

Since we’re turning 40 and not 100, what’s with all the black!?!?!!

What is 40, really? It’s a number. When referred to almost anything, it’s just like any other number, representing whatever it’s paired with…minutes, hours, days, weeks, etc. When referred to a person, it becomes an age.

Now that I’m quickly approaching 40, it’s not near as old as I once thought it was. I’m still young! I’m still vibrant! And the hill…well, it just gives me a better vantage point to see all of God’s beautiful creation!!

So, to all my friends that are turning 40 before me, thanks for paving the way! In return, I won’t send you any black balloons, I won’t make any references to your age on Facebook and I won’t send you cards referring to you as “over the hill.” But, I will note that if I do wear black to your party, it’s only because I’m trying to look skinnier, not because I think you’re old!!

P.S. Can someone please remind me of my good humor on turning 40 on June 4, 2014? That will be 24 hours before the BIG 40!!!