Still...

Even if this season isn't going as planned, Lord, 

and if it's not at all what we hoped,

and if "we're* not yet quite what we hoped, 

 and if life's not unfolding to our Plan A 

and if it's not even close to Plan B 

and if the diagnosis is not great 

and if the forecast is not good 

and if not... and if not... and if not... 

You are still...

You still are Good and You still are God. 

And we will be the people who will still... 

The people who will still rest in it and sing it into the dark: 

"and if not, He is still Good. He is still God... 

so we can still and be and be at rest." 

 [Ann Voskamp]

Psalm 46:10 ... Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. ❤

Wait-ers.

Bring on that new week, Lord, because we've got You, and you "energize those who get tired, give fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God... 

The wait-ers on God get fresh strength. Those who wait and still and pray and seek and keep their face turned toward Him and listen for His heart beat to set theirs. Those who *wait* on God get fresh strength for their mountains, get new courage for their race, catch a fresh wind for their course. The wait-ers on God are the ultimate winners. 

 [Ann Voskamp]

Isaiah 40:31 ... But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.❤

Four Women

These four women: Tamar, Rahab, Ruth and Bathsheba have something in common. They are grandmothers in Jesus' family tree! Grandmothers! Some had affairs, were prostitutes, they lied and were truly not the starry eyed perfect princesses.  But God chose them. These four broken women.  And that's why I gave them crowns. A symbol of grace and love from our Creator and Redeemer.

The family tree of Christ startlingly notes not one woman but four. Four broken women, women who felt like outsiders, like has-beens, like never-Been. Women who were weary of being taken advantage of, of being unnoticed, and uncherished and unappreciated; women who didn't fit in, who didn't know how to keep going, what to believe, where to go, women who had thought about giving up. And Jesus claims exactly these who are wandering, And wondering, And wounded, And worn out, As His. 

He grafts you into His line and His story and His heart, and He gives you His Name, his lineage, his righteousness.

[Ann Voskamp]

Romans 11:19 … Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.❤