Robin

Tonight after I ran I was soooo looking forward to going home. I was stinky and sweaty and couldn't wait for a shower and then some of Mike's delicious spaghetti (somehow it is so much better when he cooks it:-)) I was jamming out (yes, jamming) to some cool music, I was thinking about how I might color my hair and how glad I was that tomorrow was Friday. Just petty stuff really.

Less than a mile from the house I see a woman sitting on the side of the road and she is distraught. A man is walking purposefully away from her and her whole body is shaking with sobs. As I drive by her I sense God telling me to turn around and go back to her.

And do what? my flesh asked.

So I keep driving...and then turn around at the light and head back to the person God has called me to. I pull on to a side road, park my car , pray for guidance, and approach her. She is on the phone with a person who I am guessing is her pastor. Let me tell you ,this woman was is in agony. From what I gathered, her husband had just walked away from her for good...sounded like he had been an abuser - physically, mentally and verbally and that he suffered with some mental illnesses. She didn't seem to care that I was listening to her conversation. I knelt down beside her and she grabbed my hand and clung to it. I just rubbed her back and prayed silently as she continued to talk and cry on the phone. Cars were driving by and I'm sure we were getting stares, but I didn't care.

Finally she composed herself a little bit and I offered to drive her anywhere she needed. She asked if I could take her to a friends house (who happened to live right down the road from us) When she got in the car she started sobbing again...gut wrenching sobs that only come from someone who has a broken heart. She told me a little bit of her life story and it broke my heart. We prayed together and it was beautiful.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" - Matthew 5:4

As she was getting out of the car at her friends house,I asked for her name and number and told her I would call her. She gave me her number, said her name was Robin and that she needed prayer. I told her I would be praying. She thanked me for the prayers and the ride and then left.

Tears were streaming down my face as I drove away. I realized how Jesus felt when he saw the crowds and had compassion on them. I think he had compassion because he saw their pain...he saw how life had beat them up and he felt their pain. I praise God that I felt that compassion for someone else. My meeting Robin tonight was NOT a coincidence. I feel so blessed that I was used to encourage a sister who needed a hug, lots of prayers and love.

Then I thought about all the other Robin's in this world. Sometimes they aren't on the side of the road visibly crying. Sometimes they are in the line at the grocery store, or at a childs soccer game, or sometimes they are working women who are trying to hold it all together. Sometimes they are the ones who cut you off in traffic or the person who is rude to you for no reason. The big question is "Do I see them?" Do I see the hurt in others or am I so tied up in my own life that I don't notice anyone else? Father forgive me for being so selfish! Show me how I can minister to these precious women. I encourage you to look for the Robin's in your life...a beautiful woman who may need encouraging...a woman who needs to feel the love of our Savior and experience forgiveness and redemption.

It all starts with a thought

"When you are deep in your own thoughts, you are behind enemy lines"

I heard that quote once and the more I thought about it, the more I found it to be true. My thoughts are not always good. Last night for instance, as I was sitting at dinner with Mike I began to entertain an accusational thought towards him (and if the truth be told, even more towards myself). IMMEDIATELY James 4:12 came into my head with "There is one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you -who are you to judge your neighbor?" I have been memorizing the book of James so I should have been thrilled that scripture was readily on my mind but, you know, Scripture is only good if you apply it to your life and your thoughts! I am sad to say that I pushed it out of my head and found myself in a downward spiral towards the pit of despair...first I started thinking about how I do judge too much...and then how that makes me a bad wife...and then the thought of what else don't I measure up to? And the thought of a failed interview...then something as trivial as failing to pitch strikes at our last softball practice...failed time management...fear of failing as a parent (if and when that happens)...failure after failure after failure came to mind and pretty soon I was just staring into space with tear filled eyes wondering how I got here so quickly. Dinner had started out well and ended not so well. Poor Mike. He started with a good dinner companion and ended dinner with one that he didn't know how to respond to. In the middle of my thoughts I felt the Holy Spirit ask "What are you clinging to? Why are you not clinging to me?" Good question. How do you answer that? "Because I'm a selfish little vapor who only cares about my pitty parties?" Great excuse to give God. Thankfully, God is forgiving and loving and can bring about peace in an instant. Thankfully my husband is quick to forgive me and quick to hug me when I need it.

Today has been good. Started with a 7 mile run. Went better than I thought since I hadn't run at all this past week due to a knee injury from softball. 16 weeks left until my next marathon. Hard to believe this will be my 5th race. I never would have believed I had the ability to run like this. It has been a good growing experience for me. This race will also be fun because we are getting a group together and running together. The more the merrier!

After running, I made my way to EarthFare and spent too much money, but hey, we'll eat really well for a little while, lol:-) I've been trying to eat better and I can really tell a difference in how I feel overall. It's really not that hard. I try to eat at least one piece of fruit at breakfast,I've been substituing fruit and vegetable slices instead of chips in my lunch, drinking more water and trying to limit sweets (very hard for a chocoholic like me though!).

I really must get off the couch now and do some housework, study my Sunday school lesson for tomorrow and run a few errands.

Happy 235th birthday!

America, you are still a baby compared to other countries! While I am sad with some things that are happening , you are still my country and I pray that the ideals you were founded on would make their way back into the hearts of your citizens. May we drop the hypenation that we have clung to for so long(African-American, Irish-American, German-American, Latin-American, etc.) and see ourselves as just AMERICAN'S. May we take pride in the fact that we are American's...and more importantly, may we ACT on that pride...to stand up for those who can't stand for themselves, to stand for moral issues and to treat our fellow man with the utmost respect and honor.


"Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea" - John Gunther

"My favorite thing about the United States? Lots of Americans, one America" -Val Saintsbury

"We on this continent should never forget that men first crossed the Atlantic not to find soil for their ploughs but to secure liberty for their souls" - Robert J. McCracken

"We dare not forget that we are the heirs of that first revolution" - John F. Kennedy

what's that you say?

I get to sleep in tomorrow?! oh yeah! After a super long week, this 3 day weekend is much appreciated:-) It was VBS week at church and I spent it with eleven 4 year olds. Whew! Fun, but exhausting! I slept in yesterday just a little and then did a bunch of nothing (other than a couple errands). Today church was really good! We received quite the history lesson which I LOVE and made me so proud and blessed to be a Christian who is priviledged enough to live in the United States of America. This past week during VBS we had missionaries come talk to us and one night a precious woman from Uganda spoke about her experience of being smuggled out of Uganda after her husband was arrested and imprisioned for 3 months. His crime?He was a Christian. After being released, he ran. If he was caught again he would be put to death. And since he ran, his wife had to run because they would come after her. For 7 days she was inside a large bag on a train, fearing she would be discovered and also praying that her husband was still alive and would meet her in Egypt. They were reunited and came to America. I wish you could have seen her enthusiasm! The joy in her eyes as she said "You don't know how blessed you are...to be able to go to church and to shout 'Praise the Lord' whenever you want". I felt so spoiled and so weak in my faith. What have I lost for my faith? What trials have I really gone through because I'm a Christian? So many of her family members have been killed because of their faith and also through the horrible wars they have had. I wasn't aware of this, but next week South Sudan will be declaring their independence and Christianity will not be persecuted as it is now.

The rest of my weekend has gone well! Church was good, lunch at Mema's was yummy (duh!), I took a nap (yay!), had coffee with Tiffany and then went to see Something Borrowed with her and Starla. We ran into some girls from church which was a nice surprise. The not so nice surprise was how the movie ended. Absolute horrible ending! Oh well. Now I am at home with Mike watching Despicable Me:-)