The Grove

Window Peeping

I have a confession to make.  I'm somewhat of a window peeper.  Before you start judging me and making sure your blinds are closed tight admit it- you do it too! 

You know how it is, you're driving across town in the evening and it's just too easy to glance up and see what people are watching on TV, what colors they painted their dining rooms and, this time of year, how they decorated the Christmas Tree.  It's not really my fault.  God just made me curious I guess. 

A few weeks ago I was driving home from getting groceries and I was stopped at a stop light right across from one of those 24 hour fitness places.  Right there in the middle of the gym was this young guy sitting on one of the weight benches.  He was all by himself working out when suddenly he finished up the set of exercises he was doing, stood up and walked over to the mirror.  He started flexing and looking at his arms and I couldn't help but find the whole thing funny.  I mean- last thing I knew it didn't quite work that fast.  He really seemed to be looking for immediate evidence of his efforts though.

And then I realized something- I do that too, and so do you.

It may not be with weight lifting of course, but many times in our lives we've all started something and wanted instant results.  That project you meant to just spend an hour on is suddenly your entire kitchen torn apart because you couldn't leave it "unfinished".  That time you started a diet and did really well for one whole day and felt like you'd been starving for a month and were upset when you didn't see anything happen on the scale the next morning.  How about those "get rich quick commercials" that sounded so convincing?

It seems like a common thread among women is that we're never quite where we want to be.  We're never the kind of mom we hope to be or the perfect wife that we think we "should" be.  We put a time table on not only day-to-day events, but on our own life process.  We think we should be able to read a good parenting book or attend a marriage conference and "BAM" everything will be in order. 

In the real world, we know that real change doesn't happen overnight.  We get in a hurry though and forget that good lasting changes take time.

We have a word for that kind of change in the "Christian" world too.  It's called "sanctification".

Sanctification is the process by which Christians are set apart from the rest of the world by God to be used for his purposes.  We are sanctified before God the moment that we enter into relationship with Him- that change is once and it is final BUT the result of that change in our lives takes a liketime to complete.  Each day as we live in relationship with Jesus, the Holy Spirit, who lives within the hearts of those who belong to Him, will teach, counsel, convict and encourage us to live lives that look closer and closer to Jesus day by day.  

The Bible gives us a beautiful picture of this change in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18:

But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord.  And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. 

Much like that man I saw working out will probably have to wait through a few more workouts before seeing the results he's looking for, you and I will have to give ourselves a little grace in becoming the woman that Jesus has made us to be.

Paul confirms to us that it is a life long process:  I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection.  But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  Philippians 3:12 

Finally, we can get excited with the knowledge that we have everything we need to be more and more like Him daily:  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.  2 Pet 1:3-4

Keep pressing forward friends.  Your "best version" of yourself is not the perfect person you picture in your mind through your best efforts, but the flawed person living in total reliance on Jesus and His efforts for you.

 Blessings Friends,

Mandy Sherwood

And don't forget to leave your curtains open for me!

 

Broken Glass

In case you missed it, this Tuesday we were all gathered together for The Grove fall session closer at Prairie Lakes Church.  A special thank you goes out to the many hands who came together to make the morning possible.  We had a nice breakfast and a sweet time of fellowship.  My favorite part of the morning, as it is every time we gather as a large group, was hearing the testimonies of a few women from each class. 

As I was listening throughout the morning, I was struck by the way that God seems to weave a common theme through the session each time.  This session it was all about growing.  It is amazing to me to watch women take steps of obedience in growing closer to God by following his promptings in choosing a study, following through with faithful attendance each week and being open to sharing what God has been teaching them with other women. 

Since Tuesday, I've been thinking about the way that God bringing all of you women together from different ages and stages of life and different races and economic classes is creating this beautiful picture of His love.

If you know anything about stained glass or mosaic art, you know that before anything is made from it it's really just pieces of broken glass.  It comes in all different shapes and colors and when it's held up to the light each piece in it's own unique way, and all on it's own, is beautiful.  But when it's all put together, by the careful loving hands of an artist, something incredible is created. 

It's us in a way, that broken glass.  We are each unique.  We are different shapes and colors and sizes, and all on our own we are beautiful-especially when we let the light through.  But when we gather together the way we do on Tuesday mornings at The Grove, we become the art.  In the hands of a loving artist, the God of the universe, He bends and molds and places each piece just where it was meant to be.  And just like we do, when we come together at the end of each session and listen and look at whats been created over the last weeks as we've gathered and studied together, He leans back and looks over what he has created and proclaims, "It is good!"

Thank you for sharing your lives with us at The Grove over this past semester.  You can preview what we will will be offering next session HERE.  I hope that you will plan to join us beginning January 10th and that you will make sure to being along a friend or neighbor who can become a part of the next great masterpiece we will create together!

Blessings friends,

Mandy Sherwood