Who are we?

“When you argue against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

     As tired as I was this morning, God pointed to my chair in His classroom and asked me to take a seat.  I barely had the energy to sit down, but I know when I obey life just feels right.  So I took my seat and opened my book.  I believe a lot of the teaching God gives us isn't as much new subjects, but the same subjects on a deeper level.  It's just like in school growing up, the math I learned in first grade didn't even resemble what was taught on a college level.  Take love for instance.  I started out believing that God loved everyone else, but there was something wrong with me that made it impossible for Him to love me.  There were times I even believed I was evil.  I remember asking Dave how Jesus could live in such a dark place as my heart.  Through stages I have come to realize that God loves me in a way I can not always understand.  I know He wept for me now.  I know He waited for me with an even deeper longing than that of a parent with a lost child. 

     I was blessed to get together with three ladies today and just spend some time talking about God and what He is doing in our lives and the lives of others.  As I listened to each of them I realized something pretty big.  Big to me anyway.  We walk into a church believing that everyone has it together.  Thank God they don't or I would never fit in.  Christians should always be nice.  Christians should always love.  The sad part is we expect other believers to be something we are not.  Or possibly that we think we are.  The good news is, we are all learning.  We are all at different stages and that's where I really felt blessed today.  Each of these women have been through their own battles, their own growth spurts, their own journey with God.  Each of them was in a place I am totally new to, a place where you want others to find the freedom in the truth so badly that you are willing to sacrifice in a way you never have before.  Each of these ladies have their own gifts and their own understanding and talking with them, as open and transparent as they are, I began to understand how God brings different people together for a reason.  It almost felt like we were working on a class project together, chosen each for our own gifts and talents and the contributions we could make not only to each other but to the finished product. 

     I have to admit I have a little male chauvinism in me.  I have trouble with women stepping into the roles that I believe men are supposed to fill.  But today, I have to rethink this "women in the military" thing.  God never said our "Belt of truth" couldn't be pink.  In fact there is something pretty awesome about a woman knocking a demon on his butt and then picking up a baby and holding it close.  There's something that makes me smile when a woman is telling the two kids in the backseat to quit fighting on the way to soccer practice and then calmly swerves to run over the enemy without missing a beat in her discipline.  I have seen some mighty warriors these last couple days, slip off their breastplate, slam a demon against the wall with it and slip it back on before she stepped into the ladies room.  I'm impressed.  They don't have time to flex muscles while they are spreading peanut butter on bread.  And when they worship, don't get in their way.  I think I understand now why Jesus calls the church His bride.  You will probably never see me in pink, but I am proud to fight alongside the women in God's army.  Today after polishing up my armor and washing my bulldozer I was blessed with reading to my grandson out of his brand new bible.  After I convinced him that Noah was not Santa Claus, we enjoyed a little cuddle and I watched him fall asleep.  

     These ladies, the friends that I have made in the last few months are changing me.  I like being with them.  For the first time in my life, I think I'm beginning to like being a ... you know... woman.

     (Papa Smurk - No need for "I told you so")

“Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.” ― Margaret D. Nadauld