This One's For the Girls...

I woke up this morning thinking of a few points made by John Piper in His "Challenge to Women." He challenges us to be devoted to the glory of God; to trust the promises of Christ so fully that His joy and strength can't help but to overflow from our lives. That sounds like a beautiful woman to me, and I long to be her. But somehow I always fall short. My tendency is to do work for the Lord instead of doing work with the Lord. There's a Big Daddy Weave song that speaks against this saying,

"My dilemma is an issue of the heart, when I try to live for you without you."

I think a lot of times as women we disregard the state of being with the Lord so that we can focus more on our results. But the truth is that we can not produce good fruit without disciplining our own hearts to be still before the Lord. It is there in His presence that we are able to soak up His character. Aren't we called to love the things that Jesus loves? He loves the Church, He loves people, Scripture, prayer; and He loves the character of God.

Proverbs 4:23 tells us to guard our hearts above all else, for it is the wellspring of life. I think as women we often use this verse to help us in our "plight of singleness." We use it to ward off men and sometimes we even use it to challenge the men in our lives, saying things like "you have to help me guard my heart" etc. And I do think this verse applies to guarding our hearts against emotional damage that can come from relationships. However, this past week being at the shore with the beach, the sound, a pool, and a hot tub, there is a certain language that has risen up in my heart dealing with water (shocker). And the concept of the heart being a "wellspring of life" has struck me in a new way. Earlier I blogged about the passage in John 4 where Jesus tells us that the water He gives will become in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life. To me that is a beautiful promise. Not only does it promise satisfaction and eternal life for our own hearts but I think it also describes an overabundance that we might share this eternal life with others.

As women, we are physically designed to bear life in our bodies. But I think it is just as true that our hearts also long to give life. We love to talk about our feelings and know the struggles and joys of those we love. We take joy in practicing acts of love towards our friends and family because it is a refreshment to their lives and a glory to our Father in heaven. We have small groups, accountability groups, and best friends because we desire to point each other's hearts back to the life that is in Christ. But what would it look like if we trusted the promises of the Lord so fully that we not only had an abundance of life for ourselves but for others as well? A lot of times we try to offer life out of our own selves, but we end up discouraged and more empty than before because there is not life in that. But there is a "wellspring of life" in Christ. The challenge I want for myself is to be the kind of woman that dwells in that wellspring because she knows that is her only source of life for her own heart and for others. Andrew Peterson sings a song about a family that

"walked in the rain of His mercy-
let it soak them down to bones.
They'd dance in its rivers and splash in its streams as they'd go."

Girls, let's be the kind of people who walk daily in the rain of God's mercy because our hearts fully trust in its life. And let's allow ourselves to be so satisfied that we can't help but to dance and splash and invite others to join us.

Vacation

Yesterday was my first real day of vacation. Ever. In my life. At some point over Christmas break my mom and I realized that our family had never actually taken a "family vacation." Sure we've been down the shore and we used to go to Camp-of-the-Woods for a few weeks when we were little, but we had always gone on vacation with the express purpose of taking care of other individuals in our extended family. We had never gone away just us, just because.

So we sat down and figured out a way to cut back costs (eat out less, don't buy bottled water, etc.) and we saved up and rented a house in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I've always wanted to go to the Outer Banks- all those people with OBX bumper stickers on their car- and I wanted to be part of the cool kids club.

It's official. I've now seen why they are in love with this place, and I have fallen as well.

Our house is off the hook. No joke. There is a pool in the backyard, a hot tub, and we're two blocks from the Ocean. I don't know why I bothered to bring clothes, all you need here is a swimsuit for the day and pajama's at night. I didn't realize real vacation was this amazing. I'm used to waking up at 6:30a.m. by hyper little cousins and their smelly dogs that need to go for a walk. I'm used to four of us in a room, sleeping bags on the floor, no A.C. and a shower if you get lucky. I'm used to having to sit around the breakfast table until 11:30 when everyone was finally finished with breakfast, and then aching to go to the beach but having to prepare a packed lunch first. And then we'd have to leave the beach by 5:30 because goodness knows we need a five course dinner.

Vacation? No I've never really had one. This one tops the charts and may have spoiled every day life from now on. Both mornings that I've been here I've been up with the sun because I know I can take a nap later if I want to. I make coffee and slip outside to watch the sunrise over the Sound. Then it's downstairs to the pool. There are two benches that are built into the side of the pool so that I can sit in the water but still sip my coffee. I just sit there and talk to Jesus and admire the morning He created. Then I usually have an hour or so of swimming and floating around in the pool before anyone else is up. Then for the rest of the day it's laying out with a good book, tackling my brother underwater, body surfing at the beach, or anything else relaxing and fun. Nights are great because we all get showered and either go out for dinner or go out for ice cream. My family is ridiculously quirky and I love to spend time being goofy with them when we are all relaxed and just enjoying life. So this is what normal families have every summer! Note to self: do this again.

My favorite part of the day is the morning. I love getting up to watch the sun, I love coffee, and I love the water. Ever since I was little I loved the water. Rivers, lakes, pools, even showers. Although I must admit I am a pool pee-er. If they ever actually did invent that purple dye to stain the water whenever someone peed, I'd be caught like a fat man at an all you can eat bar. It should follow that one who loves the water also likes to drink water. It happens man. Those public pools always have those signs up asking you to uh, use the restroom, but I was never one to obey rules just for rules sake anyway. The only sign that came close to swaying me was obviously created by a strong-willed, very visual person. The sign said,

"We don't swim in your toilet, so please don't pee in our pool."

The image of everyone swimming around in a toilet was almost enough to make me change my ways, but alas, old habits die hard.

I swam so much when I was little that my dad used to call me his "little mermaid" (which I'm sure every dad calls his little girl) and I loved it because I had red hair just like Ariel. My grandmother's neighbors had a pool that they let us use when we were little and I would stay in that water until I was pulled out. I distinctly remember my dad convincing me on several occasions that blue lips, wrinkled fingers, and the moonlight were all signs that the day of swimming was over. But that was okay with me because I knew that the sooner I got out of the chlorine the sooner I'd get home for my bath. I did not discriminate against water. This caused a problem as I got old enough to shower because I would take a good half an hour in there- not necessarily washing, just standing and enjoying the water. Let's just say my family didn't quite have the same appreciation for long showers as I did. In high school I would often run to the river and just sit there for hours enjoying the peaceful waves lapping up on the shore. And thank goodness for Lion's Bridge in college. The river, the flowers, the birds, the trees; the place was often my sanctuary.

This morning as I was swimming with the morning sun I was reminded of the verses in John 7:37-38

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'"

Jesus calls to anyone who thirsts. As He was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well He tells her that,

"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14

Not only does He beckon us to come, but He promises to quench our thirst and provide a spring of living water to flow from our hearts. This morning it wasn't the abundant life or even the satisfaction of never thirsting again that struck my heart, it was the invitation to come.

Life has been so busy lately. I moved home from school in mid June and the craziness began. There were weddings and funerals and family members in the hospital, not to mention raising support and spending ten days in Wisconsin for training. Somehow when my life gets busy I click into survival mode. My relationship with the Lord becomes like a fast food restaurant; I drive by and get what I need to keep going. But why do I settle for just the bare minimum when I have this beautiful invitation to "Come." He is the God of the Universe and I ask for a parking space.

But something was different this morning. I was floating along in the water just spending some time with the Lord and thanking Him for this time of rest. He reminded me that this is what it's like to just be with Him- to rest in His heart and not just the blessings of His hand. He invites me into rest with Him on a daily basis and I shouldn't need a vacation just to remind me of that (although I'm still thankful that He uses vacation!). There are so many times when I think the solution to my problems is to escape, and sometimes it is good to get away for awhile, but most of the time I need more of Jesus more than I need less of other things. He is the one who puts a spring of living water in my heart. He is the one who invites me to rest and who invites me to be a part of His work. There is joy in being cleansed with the water and there is joy in His waves of mercy.