I love to read. Anyone who is reading this already knows that! My husband graciously pays the fee to Amazon each year for my free shipping :) I like to get my own books so I can highlight and share them with other people.
I love it when other people put words to something I had been thinking or feeling, but just couldn't express. I feel connected when that happens- like I'm not alone. I think that is one of the main ways my heart really began to trust God- because I would ask a question in my head- not even pray it really- and God would answer in this intensly personal way that only He and I would know. Alot of times that happens through a book, or through my Bible.
I wanted to share some quotes from this incredible book my dear friend Jan gave to me- one of my many fellow journeyers on this narrow path. The book is called "The Hidden Life: Revelations from a Holy Journey". It's written by Kitty Crenshaw and Catherine Snapp, but it's actually about the life of Betty Skinner. It is a beautiful story about how God brought her through depression by His grace and mercy. I have been underlining like crazy. Below are a few quotes that I love because they remind me of my own "awakening":
"She began to experience a few of what she calls moments of heightened perception. It might be a beautiful sunset, a stranger's smile on her walk to town, or the sound of a child's laughter over the lake. In the past, she had failed to notice these things, but now when she was given these moments, she would stop and pay attention...all of this was strengthening her spirituality by taking her outside of herself...'I was beginning to feel comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my life. It was so simple, but it was the most tremendouns thing I had ever experienced. I wasn't feeling so guilty and inadequate anymore. I was experiencing a tiny bit of freedom from my prison of fear, and it was enough of a crack in the prison door to keep me moving toward wholeness. Slowly, I began to claim for myself more love from God, which is the key to all freedom.'" (pgs 78-79)
"Nothing on our spiritual journey is ever final; it is an ongoing process moving us deeper and deeper. It is a continuous change of movement from what is good (the place where most of us live, desiring to love and serve God) to what is best (an open and intense desire to hear God) to what is best (when all of our prayer becomes service and our service becomes prayer). Most of us stay in the good and never attain the better or the best because the inner work of change is so difficult, our fears are so great, and there are so few to love and guide us there. " (p 83)
"There is within us all this strong desire for the freedom to live and be whole, but it takes enormous courage and discipline to make the choice to trust God and do the difficult work this requires....Change and growth are synonomous. We have a choice and our choice is critical because it is either life-giving or life-draining. Failure to change keeps us trapped in old behavior patterns that obviously haven't worked so why not take a chance on trust? Old behavior patterns are hard to break, because they are deeply rooted in our childhood wounds and like a stubborn weed their thorny vines choke out our life. The more we develop new behavior patterns, though, the easier the work becomes because we slowly begin to see our life bear fruit. We feel better physically, so we begin to feel better emotionally...I deeply believed that God would help me get well, but I began to see that, to be well and whole I had to submit and accept the struggle of change. I had to truly trust Jesus as Savior." (p 92-93)
May you be blessed by these words.
Love-Kirsten
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