After midnight again!
Jane and Jane-Anne (my two best friends) came over to help pack tonite. It was so great to have them both here pitching in the way good friends do. We’ve done so much of life together and seen each other through many high and low points. Tonight we made more memories. 🙂
I have wonderful friends and wouldn’t dare begin to mention more names for fear of leaving out someone very special to me. I may not be wealthy in terms by which the world measures success, but I am rich in relationships. I love the people in my life. 🙂 As we packed, the girls were chiding me for keeping so much stuff. I admit that I have wayyyyyy too many books but I love books. Although I’m not a knick-knacky kind of person, I can’t possibly part with gifts given to me by loved ones. Everything has a story.
I went to Bible study at the Embassy this morning. It was amazing – as it always is. Pastor Doug’s teaching is rich. Today he was talking about our walk with God. He told of a dream he once had that spoke to him of the importance of our walk. The Coles Notes version is that a twelve-year-old boy in his dream was suddenly attacked by an alligator that swallowed everything but the boy’s feet which were sticking out of the alligator’s mouth. In the dream, Pastor Doug ran quickly to rescue the boy and tried to stab the alligator in the neck – but the neck was so stiff and hard that he couldn’t penetrate it with his knife. Then he thought he’d stab it in the heart, but he didn’t know where to look for the heart and didn’t even know if the alligator had a heart! Meanwhile, the memorable thing about the boy’s feet were his sneakers – new white sneakers with a red tag on the side of each one. At that point, Pastor Doug woke up. After thinking about the dream, he believed God had shown him the importance of how we walk. If we are stiff-necked and heartless, God can’t rescue anyone through our lives. As symbolized by the sneakers, it’s all about how we walk with Him. He wants to have a relationship with us and communicate in a real way.
Pastor Doug spoke of El Shaddai, God’s name meaning “the all-sufficient One,” but went on to explain that the deeper meaning of this name is, “the God of ruin and devastation who is also the all-sufficient One.” In our times of ruin and devastation, God is with us as our all-sufficiency.
I love that. Even in times when we think everything looks hopeless, the El Shaddai shows up and turns things around.
I am waiting for El Shaddai to move – by next Wednesday! 🙂