Sin Stained

When I was two, I received a Christmas gift that became very special to me as I grew. This special gift was a baby doll that I named Jeannie somewhere along the way. This is a picture of our instant bond the day that I got her. We became inseparable.

Where ever I went, Jeannie was a tag along. I played with her, slept with her, ate with her, laughed with her, and cried with her. Even as I gaze upon her today, her features seem so pure and precious.

Before I started Kindergarten, my mom and my “Nanny”, which was my dad’s mom, worked together at the local shoe factory. My Granddaddy was retired, so he became my babysitter. One of my most vivid childhood memories was one afternoon when Jeannie and I were playing out on Granddaddy’s carport while he was in the utility room. There was this, what seemed to me at the time, HUGE puddle of oil on the carport. As I pranced around the carport, Jeannie in hand, I remember very distinctly thinking to myself What would I do if my Jeannie fell in there?. I remember being saddened at even the thought of how stained she would be if she wound up in such a mess. As children do, though, the thought quickly left my mind and I continued imagining and playing with her on the carport, next to the grease puddle. How often do we dance dangerously close to grease puddles?

The next memory I have is both seeing and hearing her kerplunk, face down into that grease. I really don’t remember how she got there, whether she slipped out of my hand, or what, all I know is that she was there. My worst thoughts had happened and my little heart broke. I yelled for Granddaddy, he probably thought I had severed my arm or something because of my frantic state, he stepped down the porch steps and scooped her up, assuring me that everything would be ok and that he would do the best he could to clean her up.

I remember being so sad. Even at that young age, I already knew that grease stains were permanent and that she would never be as good as new.

He scrubbed her and then tossed her into the washing machine. After a few cycles and much effort, he told me it was the best that he could do.

She wasn’t the same, but I loved her anyway.

If you look closely in this picture, you can see the stains on her little legs. I remember often looking at her wishing that day had never happened. I guess that was the first time I really experienced regret, and I still don’t like to experience it today.

Even though, I am sin stained, even though God rescued me from the greasy pit, oh how He loves me anyway. Even though Granddaddy couldn’t remove the stains from my baby doll, God has washed me and washed you white as snow. There is not a blemish one upon you. Not one.

Many years later, our Sunday School Class had a special dinner for Valentine’s Day. Each husband was instructed to bring something sentimental as a gift to his wife. Upon arriving, I was seated at the table designated for us, and as instructed, there was a very special gift there for me.

My husband had purchased me another Jeannie doll, and she was just like brand new.

One as white as snow, and one tattered from everyday life.

Jesus purchased you, and you are just like brand new, my sweet sister. He loves to gaze upon your face, your features so pure and precious. Relish in that thought today. He wants you to.


Royal Princess Daughter Of The King

Growling

My stomach is growling, a sure sign that hunger is about to set in. Good thing it’s time for dinner and good thing I am blessed to have something to put in my stomach. God designed our bodies so that they will tell us when it is time to eat. He’s a pretty smart guy.

We’ve all heard the word growling in relation to our stomachs, and we have also heard the word growling in relation to someone’s attitude or demeanor. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I have heard this question after two people encounter each other while one of them was, shall we say, not so pleasant. “What was he growlin about?” or “What was she growlin about?” And yes, sadly, sometimes it has been said in description of me.

Sometimes my stomach growls, more importantly, sometimes my soul growls. As my stomach alerts my body of physical hunger, my attitude growling is an alert that my spirit is hungry. If I don’t feed my growling stomach in a reasonable amount of time, the growling progresses into hunger pangs and those are painful. Let’s be honest though, we, as Americans, don’t have a clue about true hunger pangs in a physical sense. Regrettably though, I fear that we are often at the top of the list when it comes to spiritual hunger pangs. I starve myself spiritually sometimes so severely that everything within me hurts, and because I hurt, my attitudes hurt other people. We have so much that falsely fills us, taking the place of our true nourishment, leaving our hearts in a starved state, unable to ward off impending spiritual sickness.

How sad to live in the richest country in the world, yet be starving.

By our own doing.

It doesn’t have to be that way though; we are not doomed to a life of starvation like many are physically. We have such a great gift in the freedom of worship. It’s as if God, through our forefathers, prepared us a buffet of the finest choices, yet we settle for the drive thru version. Instead of prime rib, we chose a TV dinner. Although the TV dinner will stop the pain for a little while, we aren’t satisfied. The next thing I know, I’m growling at someone I love. This should be a red flag to me that it’s long overdue for me to fill my spirit with the heart of God.

Jesus has this to say,

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

He will satisfy. He will fill us. He will stop our hunger pangs.

He also tells us in John 6:35,

I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

All I have to do is come to the table.

God, I pray for more of You. Fill me to overflowing with your bread of life so that my spirit is not growling from hunger at the ones I love. I pray that my spirit be one with yours, honoring You, giving example of You to the ones I come into contact with every day. Bring to my remembrance, Holy Spirit, this analogy in the days to come as a reminder to make eating from your table a priority everyday. I have no excuse to live in hunger when you have a feast prepared for my consumption, completely accessible to me. I come to you today, ready to be filled.


Royal Princess Daughter Of The King

Surpassing Comprehension

Let me start off today by telling you that I truly experienced God’s peace and presence as I stood in front of many women on Friday night speaking at Unveiled Faces. This was the first time I have done anything of this sort and I was very apprehensive, yet excited at the same time. Boy did God come through, as He always does. I cannot explain to you His mighty right hand that held me up. Any other time I have made an announcement in front of the church or shared with the congregation in relation to a special song, I have been literally trembling in my hands; my knees have felt that they would buckle. However, on Friday, I don’t know what happened except to say, I experienced the peace of God that passes ALLLLL understanding.

I experienced Philippians 4:6-7.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I will not lie to you, there were moments in preparation for Friday night where I was nervous, I was anxious, and as I told the ladies to whom I spoke, I felt very inadequate to stand before them. I took those anxieties to Him several times in the days leading up to Friday, and each time I did, His peace came over me. I was nervous as I sat in the sanctuary waiting for the rally to begin, but when I stepped onto the platform, something happened and it surpassed comprehension. I still can’t wrap my mind around it.

My God is so good to me, He is good beyond measure and I do not doubt for one second that He was my hands, my feet and my voice, because left to myself, it would have been nothing. Being the emotional open book that I am, I would have never made it through the first sentence without blubbering so terribly that no one could have understood my words.

This past week, actually, this occurred on “Testify Tuesday”, I received a delivery at work. I have been so excited to tell you all about it. Knowing that the rally was only a few days away, the message was constantly in the back of my mind. I wanted so badly to find some extra pockets of time to review, to go over, and “practice”, but those pockets of time were few and far between. You know what? He knew that would be the case before the days of last week unfolded. On Tuesday, a beautiful floral arrangement was delivered to me at work. This was the most beautiful arrangement of flowers I have ever received. It contained red roses, pink roses, gorgeous white lilies, and many other flowers. As my co-workers gathered around, like we girls do, I opened the card and here is what I read:

Be Blessed.

Philippians 4:19

Love,

Jesus

Philippians 4:19 says this:

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

Needless to say, I got goose bumps, and of course, I bawled like a baby.

He knew that my days and evenings would be too crowded with homework and mommy stuff to commit the amount of time I thought it would need. He knew that I had need of Him for Friday night. And He supplied richly. Not only did I experience His peace beyond comprehension as Philippians 4:7 describes, but I also experienced Him supplying my needs according to His richness. He was enough.

I am awestruck at His hand.

Know what?

That hand reaches out for you too. He doesn’t love me anymore than He loves you.

He wants to boggle your mind.

That’s a neat place to be.

Father, my Supplier, my Peace, be those very things to the people whose eyes fall upon these words. Boggle their minds, God, with much of you. May they be unable to wrap their minds around the peace that You fill them with as they face many things. Some of the things my friends face are very difficult, some are life altering things, but as large as they seem to us, they are not large to You. I pray for a supernatural trust to well up within us toward You. A reliance upon You like never before, so that You can be the Peace that surpasses comprehension, at the same time You are supplying their needs through your richness. Praise be to God.




Royal Princess Daughter Of The King