Have you been to a fast food joint lately? As we traveled a few weekends ago, my daughter and I stopped in to get a cup of coffee and to get her an egg for her GF bagel. We were shocked to see that in this southern town, the McDonalds was actually more crowded than the Starbucks, a huge contrast to what we see in the northern Midwest. It’s been a long time since we have been in an establishment of the fast food industry where it took almost half an hour due to the great number of people ordering and receiving their meals.
I think that in looking back on that, I felt compelled to let people know how we usually travel on road trips, without the RV. It’s not difficult and just takes a little planning.
I shared how we do it in my Family Focus Travel by Sherry website earlier today and I want to share it with all of you. Keep in mind this is only part one and next time I will be writing how we did the same thing driving around Scotland.
I have recently been in touch with some very old friends, and by old, I do not mean in age. They were people who touched my life many years ago of whom we lost touch due to the turning of everyday life. Women who brought me joy, laughter and the safety to be myself. These women have been not long forgotten, and the friendship misplaced for only a period of time. Although Facebook and social media brings challenges, it is also a place to reconnect. From new friends that are destined to be lifelong friends, to lifelong friends that are destined to be new. I am blessed to be able to say that God has been renewing my broken spirit and refilling my empty soul.
The last several years I have been feeling lost in the upheaval of our church, saying goodbye to friends, being the mom of adult children, and just the everyday disappointments of family, earthly life and expectations. Each day, for the last few years I found myself becoming more and more “aged” with critical judgements of all the things that “didn’t go my way” or the “way I thought they should be”.
The Lord was always near and waiting for me to pursue Him with not just my eyes in scripture, yet with my whole heart. Don’t get me wrong. My prayer life has never faltered and my faith never wavered. I just have felt a “quiet” in my heart, that I have not felt in a very long time. Being unable to dance through each day knowing that there is so much more to every day living on earth. Sin is ever rampant, not just in unbelievers, yet also within our Christian community, making my emptiness ever so exasperated and enlarged. I never ask “why God”, nor do I question His will. I do however, sit back, still as a chipmunk who is hunted by the cat, and stare off wondering when will enough be enough.
More recently, I have confessed to the Lord that I needed Him to close that gap and help me to seek Him without distraction. What the Lord did in answer to that prayer, was bring forth a friend of my past whose adult journey parallels in so many ways my own. Her faith has been unwavering. She is a woman of God who has been used to reach out to me, fulfilling that desired hope in human kindness, with a Godly perspective.
The Lord has also helped me to see how often Satan feeds my mind with lies. I have been lost in thought, in everyday life, and in “time consumers” rather than focusing on what is most important. I have felt lost in my worship due to so many unspoken circumstances. For me, it was the bringing forth a new friend who shares a bond of sisterly encouragement. The Lord shared with me, the comfort in knowing that the woman leading our group has a common bond through a bible study that I have so missed. In learning this, my heart warmed and I felt a peace I have not felt in years. The Lord has heard my prayers and has not disappointed. It’s all been in His timing, not that of my own. Praise God for His mercies. Relying on him and trusting in him is all he wants from us. As difficult as it is sometimes, we find peace in the most unexpected ways. He brings forth iron to sharpen iron in the middle of the tea party. He keeps that cup that is tipping from falling off the edge and fills it to the brim with weight that is immeasurable, keeping it stable.
Friend, are you lost in the busyness of life that you have not sought out the One true love of your life? Have you given your time to Him so that He can fill you with springs of living water? Are you nourished so that you may grow? Have you prayed for the Lord to bring you closeness with Him? I encourage you to take all of your cares, lay them at his feet and pray not for him to send you a savior, as you already have one in Jesus Christ, yet to pray that you can see the blessing in every circumstance and that if you are unable to see the blessing before you at this very moment, that you will be given the eyes to see it when the Lord is ready to show you. How about putting away social media long enough to refocus our attention on the one true media outlet that can change out lives, bring us peace and give us grace to overcome all that is before us on a daily basis.
For two dear friends, I am reminded of these verses.
Romans 8:26-30 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercede for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
