TO MEET GOD

I know we all experience them, we all have them jump on us unawares, seemly outta the blue, blindsided, punched in the gut, dark stormy, beat ya down kinda weeks that leave ya breathless, struggling to lift your head above the crashing waves of life. This week was my week, the struggle to keep swimming even though it felt like the currant was pulling me backward, and the muck sucking at my feet, the anchor tied around my middle, weighting down, down, down, suffocating!

And then………………………………..today God met me right in the middle of the messy, suffocating, agonizing, I’m all alone struggle!!!!!!! Why do I doubt Him? That’s so Him to just jump in the thick of ugly and rescue and throw us a lifeline of hope and love and grace!!

Soooo, after a dark, stormy, week, I was so looking forward to spending the day with my best friend. It was like, that breath of fresh air, cool clear mountain water on parched throat, clean sheets after an exhausting day…………. And then……….Miss Ava empties the contents of her little stomach all over herself and more than enough on the shiny leather interior of Daddy’s new truck, not once but TWICE!!!!! So I tearfully text my date for the day to inform her I was putting daddy’s new rig in reverse and with all windows open returning to my dwelling in the boonies! Finally after stripping child and carseat and putting the washer to work, then showering said child for the 2^nd time in 1.5 and disinfecting daddy’s chariot we sat down in front of a kiddie movie, cause mamas not allowed outta site and "memo" and "megunks"  besides mamas arms, are this lil ones favorite happy place.

And then……my first meeting with God happened, He sent me prayers over text from another precious friend praying for me that I would be protected from evil and experience a personal hug from God!! Minutes after I received her text, I meet God again…. I hear someone in my house, so I cautiously get up to investigate and find my day date, my best friend P. standing there with arms open, and bearing gifts of supper and fruit flowers, and a note saying, you are beautiful, normal and loved, and best of all, her heart and ears and more hugs!! Em said, mom, now that’s a true friend!! J I totally agree with her logic! ( and she found me this time back in the sticks without gps!!! Soul friends grow outta the gps need and follow hearts) J and then while we were sharing hearts God said, I’m still here, and He asked one of my dear aunts to text me and she did, and she said, you are beautiful and this comes from the Father!! And she text me blessings and love!!!! and then, God, in my mailbox!!!! snail mail encouragement and love from my bestie!! But the most unexpected place I met God??!! Was at school!!!! You see we send our kids to a private Christian school, and while I’m so thankful for this wonderful school there are things that annoy me, like having to clean it!! I HATE cleaning school!!!!! And I think as mothers with littles, they usually have more than enough to do!! And today with barfy little the last thing I for sure felt like doing was cleaning school! Did I mention I HATE cleaning school??!! Oh, yea, covered that!! Anyway, I grab my gear and find my way to my designated classroom and begin my dreaded chore, but I barely began when lil Miss Ava awoke from her itty bitty nap and wanted only mama, so my dear Em says mom, you hold her I’ll clean J yes God is in her too! So I proceed to rock and sing and pace, and that’s where I met up with God again, and He was smiling!! And He had love notes to me all over those walls!! And this is what they said, (Yes! I’m gonna read my love notes to you! Cause He’s great like that! He’d want me to!! )

#1.  NOTHING CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM MY LOVE! Romans 8:38,39

#2. EVERY LIVING THING BELONGS TO ME! Job 22:10

#3. I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME! Isaiah 43:1

#4. I SURROUND YOU WITH MY LOVE! Psalm 32:10

#5. YOU ARE MY CHILD!! SEE HOW VERY MUCH I LOVE YOU, FOR I CALL YOU MY CHILD, AND THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE! 1John 3:1

#6. YOU ARE UNIQUE! MAY YOUR LIGHT SHINE, SO THAT OTHERS WILL SEE THE GOOD THAT YOU DO AND WILL PRAISE ME IN HEAVEN! Matthew 5:16

#7. YOU ARE TALENTED! MY GIFTS OF GRACE COME IN MANY FORMS. EACH OF YOU HAS RECEIVED A GIFT IN ORDER TO SERVE OTHERS….USE IT FAITHFULLY! 1Peter 4:10

#8. REST IN ME!! MATTHEW 11:28

And then the  bestest one was saved for last…….

#9. YOU ARE LOVED!!!!! “FOR THE MOUNTAINS MAY MOVE AND THE HILLS DISAPPEAR, BUT EVEN THEN MY FAITHFUL LOVE FOR YOU WILL REMAIN…..”!!!!!! Isaiah 54:10

I left the school feeling awed that even in the places I dislike I can meet God, that He doesn’t limit himself or us to places out of our league, beyond our reach, or in some distant land or only in certain buildings and church services. That He loves us so much that He meets us willingly in the messy and tangled and ugly and doesn’t toss us aside and say, only when you got your garbage together girl, once your beautiful and worthy! As I was driving the last ¼ mile home and pulling in my drive I smiled again, Mark Shultz was playing on the radio….YOU ARE A CHILD OF MINE!!!!

So I guess to anyone out there that needs a bit of encouragement I’d say, when the words are biting, condemning, judgmental, and so off track they rob you of hope and leave you dazed and confused…..when the rumors fly ugly and vindictive and cruel and untrue…..when it feels like, friends, family, churches, Christians betray, overlook, toss aside, skirt and step around, leave you lonely…….when your told your ugly, lost, deceived and without hope keep your heart open to an opportunity to meet God, It’s awesome, however I’ll admit when the dark, stifling, battles hit that’s not an easy goal to keep in focus, but maybe that’s when it’s even more heartwarming, to crawl exhausted and hopeless on shore and tiredly open your eyes and look into light, into the face of HOPE, GRACE and LOVE……..ALWAYS LOVE!!! Always God waiting to meet us…..in the ugly, the hurt, the messy, the dark and the garbage……..waiting with HOPE, GRACE, and LOVE……..ALWAYS LOVE!!