Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Encouraging Women

Today was another Beth Moore day at church. I always come away from there feeling so refreshed. I woke up feeling pretty miserable with a cold that has been looming for a couple days. I thought about skippin the session, but knew I'd be so happy if I went. It was another great message, but the thing I felt most encouraged about was the kind words from a couple of the women in my breakout group.

Of course as you know if you read at all regularly, I put myself out there. I wear my emotions on my sleeve, not just in my writing but also in real life. I was so encouraged that one of my sisters (in Christ, as I have no blood relative sisters)had asked me for my blog address. I was happy to share it. Her words today were so encouraging to my heart. I am blessed that people read what I write, but also very humbled. The blessing came because she was able to relate to my words. When ever I dream of writing I always think, "I would only want to write if I were certain that others could relate." I loved what Beth Moore said in todays message. She talked about how vital it is to let God's Word and words change you. Don't just listen and do nothing. Let them penetrate your soul. She said, if writing these studies and doing these talks does nothing to change us, then what's the point?
That's how I feel when I think about writing. Only if there is a greater good to be gained... not for me, for the Kingdom.

So, my friends this morning encouraged me in this way, that perhaps I could touch a life with my words.

My Dream House


Okay, I know I've said it before, but let me just say again for the record how expensive it is to live here. It's disheartening, I'll be honest. And though I've maybe never said so in these words, we've grown out of our current home. I'm not saying I hate our house, but we've grown out of it. There are some things I like about having a small space. Like, for example, it's relatively easy to clean. I can pass the vacuum through our entire downstairs in less than 10 minutes. Probably closer to 5 minutes to be honest. And that includes the linoleum in kitchen. If you knew every thought that I had about material things, I have no doubt that you would think that I am purely materialistic, but the reality is that I think more than I feel. In other words I have a lot of thoughts that even I know are unrealistic and at times a little sinful. So, when it comes right down to it, there are some things that I really desire to have in a house and home, and still some that are and will in all likelihood remain tiny figments of my imagination. Here are some of the realistic things:
- A house that isn't attached to 6 other ones and is a few more than 10 steps away from my neighbor, even 20 steps would be good.
- A yard that isn't concrete paver stones where I can trust my kids to be without worrying that they'll bother someone else's property.
- 4 bedrooms so that either each kid can have a room of their own, or we can have a guest room
- A basement that we can use as multipurpose
- At least one extra room downstairs so that we aren't constantly on top of each other every waking moment.

So, those are some of my things that I really don't think is asking too much. Some other things are desirable but not all together necessary. Things like a front porch, 3 car garage, back deck. Even though they aren't all together necessary, I still don't think they're over the top extravagant.

I found a house that I must say comes the closest to being the house of my dreams. I'm really not looking for something of mansion proportions. Cause if I had that, I am certain that I couldn't afford someone to clean it which means I'd have to clean it. This house that I found is truly just a hop, skip and a jump from where we live now. But it's got everything I want only the price is more than double what we can truly afford here. What I plan to do is hang on to the listing and hope and pray that one day God will choose to bestow this type of blessing on us.

Please, don't get me wrong, I don't think that God isn't blessing us here. Oh, he is. I have seen the hand of God at work in so many ways. This is just one other thing that I will add to my list of desires and go to God with. He says you have not cause you ask not. Don't worry, I know the context is a little skewed. I'm joking a little bit, but not in praying about it.