I Was Inspired...

Hey, mamas. Here I am again, scurrying on a Sunday afternoon to try to get a blog written. I spend the whole week praying and asking God to give me the right message and I just can't write until I feel like I have a message from Him. Sometimes that happens on Tuesday, just after the previous blog has been published. Or other times I don't get it hammered out until Monday morning, just before it's supposed to be released...sometimes five minutes after it should have been published...or an hour late...

But my intentions are good, I promise. I don't just want to haphazardly throw words and platitudes at you, I really want to bring to you ladies what I feel like the Lord is putting on my heart to share. This week I didn't get the message until this morning at church.

We had an amazing service today. It's funny, because it really wasn't a tradition service: the worship happened in bits and pieces, there was no official sermon, and it was actually much shorter than our normal time. But it was so deep and moving. We spent the time alternating between worshipping God and praying for each other. It was what we all needed. Many in our church are battling health issues (my own father and our pastor especially) and they and their family members needed the love and support that prayer brings.

At one point I looked up and saw a woman being prayed for, surrounded by four other women who were loving on and interceding for her, and I knew that is what I needed to write about today.

In Luke chapter 5 there is a story of friendship that is just so powerful. There is a guy who cannot move his body. His friends know of a man who has been reported to heal people. So they take their sick friend to the house where this guy is, but the house is too full and they can't get the sickbed anywhere near the Healer. Do they shrug their shoulders and head back home? Do they patiently wait to see if there is a chance that they can catch the Healer on the way out of the house? Heck no! They are persistent. They first find a way to get their buddy onto the roof (that doesn't sound like very easy feat to me), then tear the tiling off the top of the house (I wonder how they did that without hurting anyone), and finally lower their friend's bed down right in front of the Healer. 

These friends were determined to bring their friend to Jesus. There was no other option in their minds. They knew what their friend needed and were not going to stop until he got it. And the Bible tells us that Jesus heals this paralyzed man because of the faith of his friends.

Mamas, I usually am encouraging you about your motherhood in this blog but today I want to encourage you in your friendships. Our power of influence, love, and support is not limited to our parenting; we have another area of influence that can be so effective and it is in our friendships.

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Women need each other. There is a way we can help and support each other that is unique to our sex. Your husband should be your best friend, but he cannot be your only friend. If you are limiting your interactions with other women you are limiting the way God can move in those relationships. Don't do that, mama. When you do you are taking the blessing from yourself and are hindering the way you can bless others as well.

I know it can be scary to join a new women's bible study or MOPS group or approach another mama at the playground or library and try to start a conversation from nowhere. I am so timid and awkward about it, trust me, it's a struggle for me, too. However, I can tell you that it is worth it. 

It is such a blessing to be able to bring your friends to Jesus in prayer. To support and encourage them as they go through struggles and hard times. And to rejoice and celebrate with them as they achieve victories. 

You have probably experienced how lonely motherhood can be. We need each other. So find your tribe, mama.

Lots of Love,

Lee