Friends…blessings on you today! If you look at the top of my page, you will see a piece called “Catch Me if You Can!” (I put it in the wrong place! Haha!) This is my latest post.It is actually a talk I did 9 years ago at a retreat ..wow! Old Talk but (prayerfully) FRESH PERSPECTIVE on the issue of FORGIVENESS...I would love to hear your thoughts!

May you sense the power and presence of Christ today!

tristie

Psalm 145

Beloved Sisters…I have written many of you about my vision for this blog in encouraging women…of every stage of life.

As I prayed today, I felt led to write to my many single gal pals. I remember Brian saying something to the effect “Pain in trial has everything to do with proximity.” It’s true…when I was single, it was hard. When I struggled with infertility, it was hard. As I try to parent and help with a large church and a lot of people , it is hard.  During singleness, the trial was LONELINESS, during infertility and miscarriages it was GRIEF, and now (especially we age!) it is FATIGUE.

Perhaps some of you are as I was, I thought marriage, great career, children, and a cool church would make me “happy”. I found out all of those ideas were wrong. Isn’t it interesting that we find these things out as He cuts them away? The PRUNING process is one of our greatest gifts. ANY faith I put into an object or person can be idoltary. (And we all know what God thinks of idolatry!)   It is an empty cistern promising refreshment and delivering deceit!

So, how do we struggle to walk through and endure (possibly enjoy?) singleness with GRACE ? I think there are a few things that can be helpful…..

1. ACCEPT LONELINESS. Every human alive has dealt with this emotion (though many like to act like they have not!). It hurts, it’s hard, but it is endurable by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus was lonely, Paul was lonely, Billy Graham (who lost his wife almost 2 years ago) is lonely. Perhaps better word is “aloneness”.  It is so hard to not be like everyone else and experiencing their joy but perhaps God is hiding your diamonds! Let’s all realize that JESUS is the only answer to my thirst and that He hears my prayers. Then, I trust.

2. REALIZE YOUR IDENTITY....you are not a wife, girlfriend, “best friend”, mother, CPA, CFO, or VIP….If you know Jesus Christ, you are a DAUGHTER of the KING. This is the ONLY identity that will STICK with you for the rest of eternity! Everything else is transitory….every phase changes and all people change.  ”JESUS is the same yesterday, today and forever”….isn’t that glorious that (even if the world or others change) He keeps His promises? You are His and truly only His…forever.

3. STAY IN THE WORD AND HANG WITH LIKE-MINDED WOMEN…there ARE women who don’t just talk about men, clothes, and television shows…find them!  Better yet, ask God to bring them to you…HE WILL. James 4:8..”Draw near to God and HE will draw near to you.” ASK HIM, BELIEVE BOLDLY for good, pure, and godly single women friends and you gals revel in the glory of the PERFECTION OF CHRIST with your eyes calmly waiting for opportunities but locked into Kingdom priorities. If it is His will (“good, acceptable and perfect”) He will be the Eternal Delivery Man and you will see His plan for your life unfold. Trust Him now…HE is building you from the inside out.

Everyone is asking me “Who is helping you with your Blog Spot? It’s so cool!” You know what?  The story is even cooler!

Nearly 20 years ago, I met a gal named Gina.  We worked together at a restaurant and became friends.  We drank lots of coffee and ate lots of chocolate!

(Quick opinion on waiting tables and hostessing… every person should do it.  It teaches HOW to serve physically, HOW to have a good attitude and PREPARES you for parenting! The “thank you” comes later!..but alas!  No financial tip!  I will take the HUGE emotional pay-off from my kids instead !)

I digress…which happens OFTEN.  Gina was always special to me because she smiled often, had a cheerful spirit, and a kind heart…but also we laughed A LOT!

As we became friends, we talked about things we believed in.  Somewhere, “between shifts” in the world of the restaurant business, I thought, ”I wonder if my fun YOUNGER (only by 4 years but back then… it was a big deal!) friend knows about my very recent spiritual decision to believe in Jesus Christ alone to get me to Heaven.”

If she’s my friend, I want her to know!

I had ALWAYS thought Christians were boring and basically missing out on a good time.  Randomly, (?) I started reading the Bible and met some fun chocolate-lovin’ Christians! I realized that I had to come to a decision…..either Jesus is who He says He is or He was lying.  Then and there, I trusted that He is who says “He is the  Savior of all the World”…including me 2,009 years later!

After work one night,  (Gina with her “younger than 40 mind” probably remembers this better than me) I shared this with her and read the a Bible Verse from the most famous verse in His Story.. John 3:16…”For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever should believe in Him should not die but have eternal life.” (There was no NBA game, no poster and no multi-colored wig, by the way!)

It was dark, rainy, and simple. I read it, she believed it, and we prayed.

The greatest thing that could happen to her did and the VERY purpose God created her for become reality. She passed from death to LIFE.

Over the next years, we hung out a lot and our friendship grew into a “mentorship” or “discipleship” relationship.  Basically, this means whatever I was learning spiritually, I passed it on to her. (Kinda like sharing REALLY GOOD CHOCOLATE!) As she grew in her faith, she passed it to others.  NOW, 2 decades later, we share this “Divine Chocolate” with everyone we meet!  This Spiritual Chocolate sweetens people’s lives, their character , their marriages and their behavior.

Most importantly, it gives them the  Divine Destiny.  People were destined for all time to be LOVED COMPLETELY and UNCONDITIONALLY , but do they know it?

Now, my friend Gina and I get to live our story every day as we love others, share our story and offer them the Word of God, the Bible.

You know what? Life might just be a box of chocolates.