Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A Youthful Soul...

Vickie has really done VERY well with the surgery she had on Monday. Praise God! I will, on her behalf, thank you all for the prayers you have lifted up for her over the past few days. Please continue to do so.

As Vickie and her mom, Shirley, were getting in the car to leave this morning, Vickie pulled a frog puppet out of the trunk and made it say something to Melinda and me. Then she said, "maybe I'll grow up some day and then I'll probably die". I know she was talking about playing with the puppet and maybe growing out of playing with toys, but I haven't been able to get her words out of my mind since they left. Maybe it's because I've had so many thoughts lately about how I still feel like a little girl inside and can't imagine that little girl having responsibility for grown up things. Maybe it's because I'm seeing my oldest son turn into a man and my second son right behind him and can't imagine them not being little boys anymore. I may not be playing with a frog puppet on the outside, but I still feel like a little girl on the inside. My "jar of clay" is grown up and has been patched many times, but I still feel like a little girl on the inside. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." Above this verse in my Bible, the words are written "youthful soul". There's no date, no pastor's name, nothing else, just those words "youthful soul". So, yes, Vickie, the day we're grown up, is the day we'll die! Or to clarify, our "jar of clay" will die. "We" will be forever with our Father. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 finishes by saying "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes NOT on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." The difficulty of being responsible for grown up things, for watching your children grow up and the sadness that accompanies that, that our bodies are growing older and wasting away (and requiring surgery) - those are the SEEN. We can fix our eyes on what is UNSEEN and ETERNAL.

Praise God that Vickie has a "youthful soul" - Help me God to keep a youthful soul!

Please continue to pray for the retreat in the undisclosed location planned for the Fall.

Wendy Stotts

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