is someone reading this blog
have a perfect child? or someone who
believes he or she has perfected a piece of living?
being a parent. or wife. or writer or pro football player?
because,
i want to meet you or your child.
just to see what pefection looks like.
all my life, i have wanted to be perfect for
Jesus. strong enough to see my father happy
because, somehow, my brother would become
a Christian. and protect jan, my twin, from harm.
i vowed, in my young adult mind and heart, to never
disappoint the Lord. you know. to stand strong and faithful.
to stay pure until marriage. have an amazing relationship with
my husband, and deliver babies that were going to set the
world on fire for Jesus.
well, my babies were just about perfect. and
today, they are strong. resilient. unbelieveably
precious to me. but they are special because of
Jesus. never ever have i parented perfectly. and
NEVER will they make it without deep devotion to
the Savior. uh-huh...i've failed in almost everything
i had vowed before God to be.
BECAUSE WE ARE ALL BROKEN,
yep, every one of us.
but,
every morning, the sun rises.
every evening it slowly dips down
and touches the long, often golden horizon.
when we need food or friends or a touch
of sunrise in our lives, He provides. comes through.
makes a way. not because we are perfected.
NEVER. just because He so LOVES us. He tells us
to not seek great things for ourselves. that He loves
the meek and the broken. that He understands we are
dust. He knows our frame.
so, for all of you today,
living with the repercussions of disobedience
and sin, i sing to you. a beautiful song. of love and
redemption and the pure chords of deliverance.
you will find the music by reading psalm 91, the Living Bible.
i have messed up alot.
have gotten lost and confused.
but i know it is my difficult journey that
draws us together. i love you. let us sing
the song together. and listen for the roar of the
oceans and see the giant redwoods and laugh with
friends over even silly things, and utterly understand
that nothing is too hard for God. He lives. oh, yes,
He lives.
Thank you Ann. I read your books 30 years ago and shared your enthusiasm. Now, 30 years later, I'm with you too- broken and so aware of my imperfection. And with you, my hope sings. Sometimes sad songs. But still it sings because of the Living God, the One who keeps hope alive and the One who restores the broken.
ReplyDeleteyou write more beautifully than anyone I know <3
ReplyDeleteGod has gifted you in an incredible way; and it blesses others so much! how good He is :)
Thank you for blessing me tonight. I have been struggling with feeling like a failure as a parent and wife.
ReplyDeleteOh Ann, in God's eyes we are perfect. When He saved us, He gave us Jesus' very nature and added the power of His Holy Spirit to live through us.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad that I don't have a relationship with God on my own merit but it's all on Jesus.
You're right. We make so many mistakes in how we raise our children, how we love our mate, how we live our lives.
God keeps loving, keeps working on renewing our mind, changing our emotions and helping us to make His will our own.
So glad you are posting.
So thankful that nothing is to hard for God!
ReplyDeleteWow, this marks my way of reading through all your posts from begining to now the current. Such a delight and such a feast!
The only book of yours I haven't read is "Seduced by Success" I'll have to jump on Amazon and order it. Reading through all your posts makes my want to start collecting all your books and rereading them again. Love to you and a prayer of many blessings to be poured out over your life!
Can HARDLY wait for your next post!