Ladies/Girl's/Women's Prayer Group 1

One of the pivotal growth points during my Christian life has been girl's Prayer Group. Started in Tallahassee during my FSU undergrad years by a rag tag group of girls...we met to share, pray, talk, and eat. Prayer Group was known to last hours....and looking back I count those precious times as some of the best times of my life as a Christian woman. I call our first endeavors Prayer Group 1. Today through God's grace and his gifts in me I started Prayer Group 3 in Athens and it has already been a good thing:) I also was blessed to be involved with Prayer Group 2 in Tallahassee during my working years. More on those later.

Prayer Group 1 showed me so many things. It helped me see that I am an integral part of my faith. Faith does not happen to you, with you just riding along. No, the faith and truth I discovered with others girls who were growing in grace.....that was a process where I had to show up. I had to come and make the time, and soon it was not even hard to make the time because it was the place I wanted to be! I saw that the differences in our life were not anything compared to an almighty God who created us all. Who cared for us all and who gave us words so that we could talk to him.

Prayer Group 1 was our little mission. Our church was large (to me) but our group was the perfect small size. Small enough to share, small enough to have accountability. A small home grown movement that was just what we needed. And because we were all Southern we ate a lot during those times:) Today....years later, that first group has grown up and moved on. I still pray for my ladies. I still cherish them dearly. The diversity of our group continues to grow and yet our hearts connected years ago and that type of thing is something that is lifelong.

I know that I would not crave time in prayer with other women now if I had not had such a profound experience early in my adulthood. I like to think now that God bought the Prayer Group to us. That he smiled when he heard out voices lifted in prayer, thanksgiving, concern, and more.

More Planting

Beauty from here

With midterms, work, projects, and planning for Spring Break the week has morphed and zoomed away from me. I will be Jacksonville starting Saturday for my mini Spring Break with my friend and cohort- mate Stacey!! OH I CANNOT WAIT:)

Before that however, I wanted to finish my thoughts from earlier about Planting. It poured today but just like clockwork I can be assured the blooms that will come from today's rain will be breathtaking.

So to finish my thoughts I wanted to finish my garden of Fruits of the Spirit. I mentioned Joy, Self-Control, Peace, and Kindness here.

To me LOVE would be the rain. Love is so vital and if done right (yes, that does mean that it can be done wrong) so refreshing! I can just see Love misting my garden and helping the other plants grow and stay alive.
I also think, what if I rained Love on others like God rains it down on me....what a difference it would make. If I was not selfish with my Love sometimes....only keeping it for those who show me their Love first. Only being Loving to those who do things how I like them to be done....birdwalk....sorry!

Oh the flower of PATIENCE! I see it as a winding, tangling, growing grapevine. In some seasons the grapes it produces are luscious, and sweet. In some seasons the vine is withered and brown. In all seasons however the vine does not let go. It clings to walls and trellises and continues to climb and cling faithfully....just like real Patience needs to do.

GOODNESS would be a deep, rich, purple rose. Purple, besides being my favorite color is/was often the color for royalty. Goodness is needed by all people and all people possess some goodness in them somewhere, though we may never see it. Roses seem like abiding flowers to me and that meshes well with Goodness which is an abiding trait.

A rare blossom is GENTELENESS. It's quiet beauty masks a secret strength. Do not be fooled....it's roots are deep! The flowers of Gentleness comes in all shades. Sometimes in the garden you might look right over Gentleness....but it continues to grow and reach out to brighten the days that seem hectic, too much and hurtful. Gentleness can work with those feelings and many more. And one cool trick about these flowers is that when you lean close and really embrace their presence you will reap the calming benefits. Trust Gentleness more in your life, Ms. Sabrina:)

Don't worry, I did not forget FAITHFULNESS! How could I forget such an elemental and substantial plant. This plant is rare, and sought after by many gardeners just like myself. I often see the sprouts of Faithfulness as I sit back, breathe deep and reflect on my life. I have seen Faithfulness in a hospital waiting room in Jacksonville, and an acceptance letter from UGA. It's kind of everywhere....but we don't usually recognize its many forms.
²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Gal.5:22-23

Planting

photo by Roberta Mislevy Photography 

Blessed are the seeds waiting in the darkness for the call of Spring. March quote from my calendar.

Spring cleaning does not have to just be confined to the house. Oh no...I want to think a little about my yard as well:)

Planting is the title of this post and Planting has been on my mind recently. You see, the snow has melted long ago and the cold rain has produced some absolutely gorgeous blossoms around GA. They got me thinking about true beauty (God's definition). Then in church recently the talk and discussions have been coming back to the fruits of the Spirit (a personal favorite!).

Picture if you will, if JOY was a plant. I see it being vibrant, glowing, and happily waving in the soft Spring breeze.

What if SELF-CONTROL was a tree? I think it would be tall and majestic and so very sturdy. It would be the perfect tree to climb with a good book in the late Spring evenings. (I would plant these trees all over my yard.)

How about PEACE? I can clearly see a shimmering, ethereal, pale yellow flower that grows alone. It does not want to be right smack dab in the middle of the garden.

KINDNESS would be the most soft, lush, fragrant green grass. Your toes would just sink right in as an inevitable smile graced your face.

To be continued.... (I get happy just rereading and writing this. YAY!)

Cleansing my Eyes

Verse of Note: Matthew 6:22-23 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Song of Note: Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

To begin, you learn something new every day. I do not know why I had such a strong feeling that there was a Bible verse about the eyes being the window to the soul. What I really meant at the end of yesterday's post was a reference to the verse above. The eyes being the lamp of the body. Oh well, you live and you fact check and you learn:)

Our sight is a gift. Vision is amazing. And these eyes are so delicate yet powerful.
This one thing I know for sure. As a part of my Spring cleaning I HAVE to be more mindful of what I am watching. Let's dig deep here....I don't exactly mean the usual things like TV shows and movies (though I do need to be careful....as many a hilarious comedy (my weakness) often sneak in things that are in direct opposition with God's word).

I am talking about the fact that I need to be watching the right things. People. I cannot get so caught up in myself that I forget my purpose, which is to spread God's message. People need me to see them. There are loads of sick, troubled, helpless, angry, confused, sad, lonely, frustrated, mourning, abused people all around me. They have needs and I need to cleanse my eyes so that I can see and serve.

I know what works best for me. When I read my Bible more and take time for Bible study my cloudy, distracted, weak vision is cleared and refreshed. It is not easy to admit that in the past few weeks I had let my vision get cloudy. Being stressed and busy and tired are the keys to waste in my spiritual life.

With the growth of Spring beauty all around me in God's creation, I will open my eyes and allow the light to shine. It is going to expose some dusty areas....because hey that is what light does. But it will also, I pray reflect some strengths:)

Spring Cleaning of my Spirit

Spring is coming.....I can see it in the gorgeous blue skies. It is right around the corner.....I know because I got a pedicure (the Sabrina sign that open toed shoes are coming!).

However, this Spring I realized more than ever I think, that my soul and spirit need a Spring cleaning. Sabrina the Christian woman/girl was getting kind of sluggish and distracted.

I thank God continually that he is so forgiving.....and yet takes me to the mat when needed. I need both of those parts of him.

You see as I am reading the Bible through chronologically I reread the 10 Commandments the other day. And I was humbled when I realized I was letting graduate school (which I love) sort of start becoming another god in my life. I DID NOT mean for that to happen, but honest reflection tells me it's the truth. And I need to face that truth as a part of the Spring cleaning.

In the last few days I was reminded, I am needed in the Kingdom. God has blessed me with gifts and I need to be using them. They will not grow if I don't. I was reminded that there is love, harmony and praise in meeting with other believers. And I crave that!

So here is the plan.....this week I hope to post some specifics about the cleaning that needs to go on in my life. Tomorrow I will start with cleaning the windows (aka my eyes and what I am watching/noticing). I invite you to come back if you find this topic interesting or maybe have stories to share about how Spring cleaning has brightened your walk of faith.

Bible Verse of note: Exodus 14:14- The Lord shall fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.
Song of note: This is the Air I Breathe