Friends & Mentors

 

"Heavenly Father, “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17), please send godly mentors and friends to my husband. You have placed us on earth in the context of community because it is our interaction with each other that promotes our growth and helps to develop our character. As Your Word says in 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” I praise You for the wisdom of relationships and thank You for the godly men You have put in my husband’s relational circle throughout his life. Please deepen these relationships and bring more spiritual men to him in order to mentor him into a person who exhibits Christ’s character in all he does."

Use that prayer from a devotional this morning to apply to your Partner...or to anyone in your life really.

I love the line that says, "You have placed us on earth in the context of community because it is our interaction with each other that promotes our growth and helps to develop our character.  I praise You for the wisdom of relationships and thank You for the godly men You have put in my husband’s relational circle throughout his life."

I have to take the time out to say this morning that without my best friends (you know who you are) I could not have grown and developed character over the last month.  I was granted their wisdom and, just basically, their love and support.  I was very thankful for the godly women God put in my "relational circle" as this prayer calls it.

"Gracious Lord, please surround my husband with men and mentors who guide him in the ways of wisdom, right living, kindness, commitment, and a deep love for You and for his family. I pray that You bless him with like interests with these men and provide them with learning experiences that they can share together, as well as occasions of fun and fellowship. Help me to be willing to share my husband’s emotions and time so that he can develop and sustain relationships with these men, and I pray that the richness of their relationships will overflow into our marriage and into our home."

I know not everyone reading this post has a husband.  I don't.  But I can use this prayer to pray for my Partner and even for my close inner circle of girlfriends.

Throughout the past month, the Lord granted me time alone to find myself.  Time to grow in closeness to the Cross.  Time to develop deeper friendships with other women in my life I had not known on other levels (other than where our paths crossed each day).  My time of great sorrow miraculously bloomed into a time of independence, growth, maturity, strength, and new friendships.

I am thankful for women and mentors that guided me, granted wisdom, performed acts of service, and showed kindness and a deep love of the Cross as well.  I am thankful for reconnections with old friends.  Travels to cities I would not have ventured off to before.  And spend the night parties I should have had a long time ago.  What an amazing time of growth and learning.

My pathway is not over.  I am still traveling.  I do not intend to abandon the doors God has opened.  I will be traveling back to the cities I live far from.  I will be keeping my friendships close.  I will be having more spend-the-night parties.  I love the love of other women and close friends.  We need and should be mindful of these people and relationships in our lives.

Here is something that Lysa TerKeurst said that struck with me, "Our hope can’t be tied to whether or not a circumstance or another person changes. Our hope must be tied to the unchanging promise of God. We hope for the good we know God will ultimately bring from our situation, whether the good turns out to match our desires or not. And sometimes that takes a while. The process will most likely require us to be persevering. Patient. Maybe even longsuffering."

How true is this!

Your HOPE cannot be tied to a PERSON and their personality, true self, or actions.  It must be tied to GOD.  You can have pain and anguish and hurt and disappointment in people, and in the very same breath, have HOPE for the GOOD we know God is bringing our way and our situation at some point in time.  That GOOD may not match what you have in your head, and that is KEY to remember through your valley.  God ALWAYS brings the GOOD.  Just keep in mind that what He brings may not match what you were thinking.  Keep clinging to the Cross and keep praying!  The GOOD always comes. Be cognizant enough to recognize it when the valley starts to level out and you suddenly realize you are no longer in it; you are now on level ground again.  THIS is your good my sister.

Take the time today to read Psalm 40.  Whether you are in the valley today or level ground.  It is proof that people have already traveled your road and are still traveling it today, 1000s of years later.

"...waited patiently for the Lord...He heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit...and set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth."

Proof that those valleys eventually become level ground again.

Here is one of my favorite Gospel singers, Charlotte Ritchie, singing one of my favorite hymns, "We are standing on holy ground..."

Happy Friday my friends.  The weekend is here.  Pull out the holiday decorations and celebrate where you feet rest today.  Valley or level ground, God is standing beside you.

I love you.

Shifting Prayers

 

Taking a break today from the series of addiction posts.  My loved one has decided to rededicate their life to the Lord and family relationships.  I am praying and hopeful for the best.  

There will be compromises that will require transparencies and a level of trust.  Pray for me as I traverse new roads and pray for our family as we learn, grow, and walk an unfamiliar path together.

Now, let's shift focus and look at a post I ran across this week that I feel needs sharing.  I've shared it on all my social media because it's too important an issue to skim over.  As usual, it's from Proverbs 31 Ministries.

If your social media feeds have gone from preschool pictures and high school proms to college drop offs and grandbabies, this post is for you.  Mamas, our job has not ended.  It has only shifted.  Please enjoy this post about praying for your grown children.  Then bookmark and save it.

Our grown children still need us and our prayers and support.  They may not want it, realize it, or ask for it - but as their Parents, it's the job God bestowed upon us.  

I often wish my Parents had prayed for me.  (I'm fairly certain they weren't huge praying people.)  I'm sure they thought on and of me often, but I never heard them speak of the Lord and his love for me.  I don't want to repeat that generational tradition.  I want to pray for my boys, and I want them to know they are loved and prayed over.

I hope this post blesses you as much as it blessed me.  Happy Saturday my friends.

"Here are three scriptures to pray for your grown children ...

For their faith:

Lord, I pray You give my child wisdom and revelation so that they may know You better. I pray that the eyes of their heart will be opened so that they can know the hope You have called them to! (Ephesians 1:17-18)

For their choices:

Lord, I pray my child will keep their way pure by guarding it according to Your Word. Let them seek You with all their heart and not wander from Your commandments. (Psalm 119:9-10)

For their protection:

Lord, You are faithful. I pray You will establish and guard them against the evil one. (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

No one loves like a mother, and your prayers may be unknown and unseen but they matter, and so do you!"

Healthy Friendships

 

Love this:

"This is why friendship is such a God-designed gift.  You and I are in desperate need of being seen, invited, welcomed. Of feeling alive, safe, and valued.  Of enjoying others and loving others and needing others.  Of being full of life and pouring life out on others.  

You were not designed to live alone with your heart fighting with your feet, wondering if a room has room for you. Or if a community can commune with you. You were designed to have circles widen for you, and to widen the circle. You were designed to see others, and to be seen by others. You were designed for anchoring others, and to be anchored by others. Because you were designed in God’s image: God is the one who sees, invites, and anchors us all.

Let’s be the friend who is aware of the room, aware of the greater heart postures walking around.  The one who can’t wait to widen the circle and anchor a soul.  The one who remembers the feeling of brave feet but weak hearts. 

The one who knows chocolate pales in comparison to friendship."

This is from the YouVersion reading plan, "How to Have Healthy Friendships."

A good reminder to widen our circles and anchor others.

 Proverbs 11:25, "A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed."

"Today, thank God for the friends who have widened the circle for you. Ask God to open your eyes to what friends need: a circle-widener. "