“And we, who with
unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his
likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the
Spirit.”     2
Corinthians 2:18

While many people in the Heart of Dixie welcome Fall with open
arms, happy to see the end of another hot and muggy summer, I actually feel sad
to see it come to an end.  Each leaf
falling is a wave of good-bye from a dearly loved friend I know I’ll miss. For
months, I’ve started my day with coffee and the Lord on my front porch watching
the sun rise, afternoons on the back porch with a good book watching it set,
and time in between watching kids swim, play and explore in it’s warmth.

And though I care nothing about getting a tan, my hours in
the sun are evident by my darker skin, lighter hair (I always promise my
hairdresser I’ll wear a hat to protect her work but somehow never end up doing
so), freckled face, sun spots and even wrinkles! Yikes!  You’d think the wrinkles alone would be
enough to keep me indoors but I just can’t stay away from the sun I love.  Perhaps it’s the endorphins it produces or
the Vitamin B it provides but problems seem less problematic and life seems
sunnier in general after a little time in the sun. 

And can’t the same be said for time with the Son? 
Recently, one of my dearest friend’s son, Zach Dimmock, was asked to
join Christian rapper DPB on stage for an impromptu rap.  Can you imagine?  Now, if it had been me, I probably would have
fainted at the thought of performing in front of an audience.  Or at the very least asked if I could join
him back on stage in a month after having adequate time to type something up,
over analyze every word, practice hours on end and put together a stage-worthy
outfit. But at 15 years old, Zack has a boldness for Christ like few I’ve ever
seen.  He takes advantage of every
opportunity the Lord provides and uses his talents as a song writer and rapper
to reach others in a way that a sermon, blog or book may not.  He sure reached me as one particular lyric
has played over and over in my heart.  “Man, I’m always with the Son, you’d
think I’d have a tan.”  See, isn’t
that cool?

Just like my time in the sun is apparent to others around me
by my physical appearance, our time with the Son (or lack thereof) is just as
obvious. Have you ever been around a Christian who lights up the room or feels
like a breath of fresh air came in with them? 
Joy shows all over their face and their countenance is robed in peace
and contentment.  There’s no other way to
describe it other than to say it is obvious they have spent time with the
Son. 

I want that, don’t you? 
Exodus 34:29 says, “When Moses came down from Mount
Sinai with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, he was not
aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken to the Lord.”  Psalm 34:5 tells us that “Those who look
to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.” That same
radiance is available for each of us when we make spending time with the Lord a
priority.  Just as the moon produces no
light of it’s own but merely reflects the sun’s rays, we as Christians are
incapable of producing light and must reflect God’s glory to those around
us.  The only way for that to happen is
with direct Son exposure.  We need daily
breaks from Sonblocks like TV, work, friends, busyness and worries in order to
spend time in God’s Word and time in prayer and praise. It won’t take long
before others start to notice the effects of us being Son Worshipers.      

Let’s Get Glowing Challenge: 
Commit to spending 45 min a day with God and God alone for the next
week.  See what a difference a little
time with the Son can make.

My husband and I have been blessed with two children who
have taught us more than we could ever teach them.  Our son, Jackson, was born to us 11 years ago
and our daughter, Gracie, came to us through the foster care system 7 years
ago.  At some point, I would love to
share more about our adoption process but today it’s on my heart to share a
lesson I learned in the waiting.  There’s
always so much to be learned in the waiting, isn’t there?

When God called us to be foster parents, I knew it would be
difficult but I never imagined the mix of emotions that would pour over me from
day to day as I held the precious girl God had put in our hearts years
earlier.  You see, when you agree to
foster a child in your home, you often don’t know if you will have them for
days, months, years or like in our case, be able to adopt them into your family
at some point down the road.  From the
first time I held Gracie in my arms, there was an undercurrent of peace in my
heart that she would always be a member of our family, but often what rose to
the surface were waves of fear; fear that I might be misunderstanding God or
inserting my own desires to keep her, fear that I would love her with all I had
only to have her leave, taking my heart with her as she went.

It was during one of these fearful moments when I was on my
front porch literally crying out loud to God that I learned a definition of
“daily bread” I’d never considered before.  I had been telling the Lord I didn’t think I
could love this child with abandon like I’d planned because it would simply
hurt too bad if she was unable to stay with us. 
I desired to do something life-changing for someone else, but in these
moments, all I could think about was myself. 
As I cried, I heard Him tell me that she deserved to be loved
wholeheartedly and unconditionally because we might be the only ones who would
ever give her such love.  Every child
deserves to be loved so deeply.  It’s a
vital step towards being able to accept God’s perfect love.  He also reminded me that Jackson wasn’t mine any more than Gracie and that
both their futures were in His hands.  He
showed me that if Gracie left, I would still have a husband and a child who
loved me.  I would still have a roof over
my head and a relationship with Him, but Gracie might not have any of those
things.  In that moment, I committed to
love her with all I had while I had her but I also knew I wasn’t capable of
doing so on my own. 

From that day forward, I met Jesus on my porch each and
every morning while my babies still slept. 
Each day, I arrived fearful and spent but left hopeful and filled.  I had always taken the “daily
bread” portion of the Lord’s Prayer for granted because I had no real
understanding of what it meant to trust God for my next meal.  But what happened in that year and a half of
waiting changed how I saw “daily bread” forever.  I now feel it can be anything you are
completely reliant on Christ for (which shouldn’t that be everything?).  For me, it was “Lord, give me this day
my daily portion of unconditional love for Gracie.” Your “daily
bread” may be strength to care for a loved one, money to keep your
business open another day, patience with a child who is testing you, love for
someone who isn’t acting very lovely, etc. 
We often just want the problem to go away or have so much excess that we
don’t have to worry, but there is something so special about relying on the
Lord for that daily portion.  I’m
reminded of the Israelites in the wilderness. 
God could easily have chosen to grant them food that would never spoil
and warehouses stockpiled with whatever they could need, but He chose to supply
them with one days worth of manna at a time so they would learn to trust and
rely on Him.  I can’t promise you mammoth
amounts of manna but I can promise you that God will supply all your needs day
by day.  He will be your portion and He
will never fail to equip you for what He’s called you to do.       

We’ve all seen him, whether in a movie or on our daily
commute to work downtown; the homeless man that stands at the busy intersection
or on a crowded sidewalk with his outstretched cup.  He’s hoping a passerby will be gracious
enough, will slow down enough to give him the change they will never miss but
could help him make it through another day. 
It’s a humbling sight each and every time I witness it and I pray my
heart never forgets such images.

I’m blessed to have a roof over my head and more food than
we can eat before the expiration date but spiritually, I have been just as
bankrupt.  The sad part is, it’s always
of my own doing.  I remember one time in
particular.  I was eight months pregnant
with our first child when my husband and I decided to move, leaving behind all
of our college, church and work friends. 
We only moved a couple of hours away but to this people-loving girl, it
might as well have been to the dark side of the moon. 

At first, I wasn’t concerned.  I just knew I would make new friends and all
would be right with the world.  Well,
months went by and making new friends wasn’t nearly as easy as I thought it
would be.  It takes time to build solid
relationships and soon I became desperate for companionship.  Let me
just stop right here and tell you that any time you are desperate for anything,
you are in dangerous territory, my friend! 
My longing for the thirty minute phone conversations and laughs over
lattes that I had enjoyed in my old town quickly became a recipe for disaster.

My friendship cup was empty and rather than turning to God
to fill the void, I became like that beggar. 
I extended my cup to anyone and everyone who was willing to fill
it.  How dangerous!  Whatever area of your life feels lacking or
incomplete (friendships, a romantic relationship, a missing father, an empty
womb, etc), you can bet your bottom dollar that if you aren’t turning to God someone
or something will step in to fill the emptiness and it will leave you worse
than empty when it’s all said and done. 
I gained “friends” alright but those relationships were never
the way God intended.  They weren’t bad
people, they just weren’t the people God set aside for me.

I vividly remember a conversation I had with God during this
difficult time of my life where I begged Him for close friends.  His response was simple…I would not have
close friendships until I learned to make Him
my “best” friend.  He needed to
be my top priority, the One I sought after, the One I turned to first.  Oh, how thankful I am for that life-changing
conversation.  I finally took my empty
cup to the Lord and boy did He fill it!!! 
Luke 6:23 talks about the type of filling God does as “a good
measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”  Whoo, I feel full just reading that!  It’s the part that “runs over” that
showers onto people around us, giving what is needed to maintain
“healthy” relationships.  See,
I wanted to take but I was so empty that I didn’t have much to give.  If only I had gone to Him sooner.

If you are empty in an area of your life today, I challenge
you to read the story of the Woman at the Well found in John chapter 4.  The Samaritan woman came to the well with
nothing but an empty bucket and an even emptier heart.  She left her time with Jesus filled and if
you spend time with Him, you’ll leave the same way.  He is the only one who can fill you!

P.S – It took some time and a lot of learning to trust God,
but now I am honored to call some of the most encouraging, God-seeking women
I’ve ever known, my friends!  I still
need the occasional reminder to make sure I’m spending time at the well with my
Savior getting filled rather than relying on others but I’m moving in the
Wright direction little by little.