Well, here you are.
A woman. A mother.
How do you feel today? Beautiful or boring?
Well-groomed or well-worn?
Are your kids ready to name you Nag of the Universe because it’s “that time of the month”? Or is your husband ready to name ovulation a national holiday because it’s “that time of the month”?
Are you feeling flabby and overweight? Or tan and toned?
Are your friendships building you up and giving you courage? Or have they left you raw and lonely?
Is your heart in a good place and filled with strength and confidence? Or are you carrying a wilted spirit?
Me?
My brain is mush today. I can count on these days, every month. There are three of them. I’m extra tired. I’m thirsty like I just ran a mile. (Believe me, it’s been years!) I have a dull headache. To my husband and kids I am a dull headache! I feel a little lonely. I’m weepy. And my brain…what was I just thinking…yes, pure mush!
But catch up with me in a few days—I’ll be back on top of the game again. Energetic! Confident! Thinking a mile a minute even if I couldn’t run one if my life depended on it. Enjoying my fabulous family.
Can you identify?
We women certainly are…well, I’ve heard it termed “emotionally wealthy”! I like to think of it as little seasons of emotional change.
Sometimes it’s a mini-season like a day or two of a hormonal shower. Sometimes it’s an extra-long winter that just won’t warm up—brought on by the loss of a family member, the loss of a job, the rebellion of a child or the sickness of a spouse, the death of a dream, the judgment of a friend.
I had one of those long winters last year. Loneliness. Rejection.
Numbness. Tears. A loss of direction.
During that long winter of growth, my friend visited.
“What do you sense in me?” I asked, wondering if I was as bad off as I felt.
“A wilted spirit,” she said, empathizing. Tears flowed.
I felt pretty wilted.
She prayed specifically for God to water my soul. Funny thing— He did! The next morning I just happened to read Isaiah 55. (I’d been making my way through that particular book of the Bible.)
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters…As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace.” Isaiah 55:1,10-12
The watering began.
Three days later, as I completed my Bible-study homework, that beautiful passage was reintroduced to me with a new freshness…from God the author’s perspective. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters.”
I came.
The watering continued.
Oh, the fresh outpouring of God’s Spirit during those seasons of emotions!
Can you identify? Have you found the fresh outpouring of His Spirit during those short mini-seasons like bad-hair days and PMS? Have you felt it overwhelm you like an ocean during those long winters of emotional pain?
Again and again, have you returned to the Word of God to find that it has the power and authority to arrest your unhealthy emotions and replace them with His truth about your value…your beauty… your purpose?
You may have picked up this cute little book with the intent of helping your daughter, but I’m praying that it will renew you and me too. That it will bring us back to the simplicity of soothing our emotions in Him as we train our sweet girls for the seasons ahead.
Won’t you return to Him right now?
Bring the wilted parts of your heart to Jesus and ask Him to water them?
Just stop for a moment and ask the precious Holy Spirit to make you a well-watered place of refreshment before you go any further. After all, how can we bring that refreshment to our daughters if we’ve not first found it ourselves?
***
Dannah Gresh is an author, a speaker, and the creator of the True Girl live events. She has sold over 1.5 million books, including Six Ways to Keep the “Little” in Your Girl, A Girl’s Guide to Understanding Best Friends and Mean Girls, 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters, the bestselling And the Bride Wore White, and Lies Girls Believe. She and her husband live in Pennsylvania on a hobby farm. www.dannahgresh.com.
Her new book, 8 Great Dates for Moms and Daughters (releasing next month), includes fun mother-daughter get-togethers, perfect one-on-one or for a small group of moms and their energetic 8-12 year-old daughters. Each date focuses on one topic surrounding beauty and modesty and is full of fun while at the same time imparting a life and faith-enhancing message.
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