Salads, Quiche and Friends

If you know me well, You know that my husband was in the Air Force and retired several years ago. While we were in the Air Force, we were stationed at some pretty wonderful places that we were fortunately able to see.

What was a big dream for me when I was younger was to see the Eiffel Tower. The first time our family went up it, was before they have the sparkly lights they have on it now. I was mesmerized and that was one of many “Pinch Me, I can’t believe this is happening!” moments.

Being so young and naive, I don’t know how I thought I was going to get to Paris to see it, but I’m so thankful to God that He knew how! I grew up in a small town in Illinois and used to smell the pig farm down the country road from our house and would smell them frequently! So making it to Paris was not even a possibility in my child-like mind.

So sorry, I tried to find a picture of the sparkling lights without a copyright on the Eiffel Tower, but no go. You will have to look it up on You Tube because it is just incredible!

I am so thankful that God had me meet my wonderful, sweet, and caring husband Rick when he was stationed for the first time at Scott AFB which is close to my hometown. Even then, I couldn’t see the possibility of making it to Europe with two young boys and the rigors of motherhood, but when we were asked (really told) :0) to go to Lakenheath, England, it was an adventure I was looking forward to. After all, that is only 346 miles away from Paris…and a boat ride across the English Channel!

My first memories of flying into England were noticing the way the fields in the air reminded me of a patchwork quilt. There wasn’t a right angle in sight!

Beside all these great memories of things I was able to see and experience would be all the different and endearing people I was able to meet along the way. There were so many friends that this post stirred in my heart of people along the way, but it was the “girlfriends” that reached out to mentor me, share their insights of God and his ways over many different lunches, breakfasts, quiches and salads that I appreciated most.

These girlfriends were definitely a life rope sent along the way for me to grab hold of when I needed encouragement to “fight the good Fight” of faith that Paul speaks of in I Timothy 6:12. He says, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”

The girlfriends in my life still do that for me. They are so cherished to me and are life giving. Sharing each other’s burdens and challenging me to keep on keeping on. We all need that!

I Timothy 6:12 reiterates to me this call to keep on going and not stop when we get discouraged with the way life might be going. We are not to give up on living a Christian life when others don’t treat us as we would like to be treated. The love we have for the Lord is to blaze like a fire all around us. We are to shine Christ when it may be hard to show His love to those around us or if we don’t understand why someone did something that breaks our hearts to the core and we don’t know why.

This is especially the most important time, because people will take note of your actions. These always speak louder than words! People will begin to see the peace and blessings you have heaped upon your life and wonder where this comes from. That is when the stage is set for you to share Christ in your own words. It will mean so much more to them when you let them know of just how much He has done for you and will definitely blow their socks off when you tell them He wants to do the same for them!

You might be wondering to yourself if you are enough or if you can even do this. Don’t feel bad if you have to use every bit of your strength just to brush your teeth and start the day. We all have moments like that, but the important thing to remember is not to stay there! Self Pity is a dangerous thing and a lie the enemy of our souls whispers to us trying to entice us from The One who can help us fight those feelings of doubt, unbelief and worthlessness.

God/Jesus/Holy Spirit will be the one to give you the right thing to say. Sometimes just loving someone through an awful time of their lives is enough. Sometimes, that is just the healing balm a person needs, to know they are not alone.

So my word to you now is not very gentle sounding, but I want you to hear this in a reassuring, “snap to it” kind of way. It is time to get your big girl pants on now to do what God has assigned you to do on this earth. I am speaking to myself here too! There are people we know heading in the wrong direction. I would like you to think of your loved ones, the people you know at your work place, and yes, the people on the street. Father God needs us to be His feet now and go where we can go to give them the Good News and oh my, it should probably be called Great News, because it is!

Who else fights your battles for you? Who sings over us while we are sleeping? Who makes a way where there seems to be no way? My God, Yahweh, Jehovah Jireh, that’s who!

Finishing with my theme of big dreams, I would like to say that my biggest dream is to see all of us along with the people we’ve taken along at that Big Dinner Banquet I was talking about in my last post….pass the manna please!