Dear Blog,
I think I'll start by including a poem that I read while reading a book called Disaster Status by Candace Calvert. The poem is not titled but I think that you will agree it should be something like, A strong woman or A woman of strength.
A strong woman works out every day...
but a woman of strength kneels to pray, keeping her soul in shape...
A strong woman isn't afraid of anything...
but a woman of strength shows courage in the midst of her fear...
A strong woman won't let anyone get the best of her...
yet a woman of strength gives her best to everyone...
A strong woman makes mistakes and avoids the same for tomorrow...
a woman of strength realizes life's mistakes....thanking God (Papa to me) for the blessing as she capitalizes on them...
A strong woman walks headfirst with no doubt in her mind...
but a woman of strength knows God will catch her when she falls...
A strong woman wears the look of confidence on her face...
but a woman of strength wears grace...
A strong woman has faith that for the journey she'll have enough...
but a woman of strength knows it's in the journey she will become strong.
From this day forward I sooo want to be known or have the characteristics of "a woman of strength"! I can look back in my adult life and see bits of me in the "strong woman" portion of this poem. Thank you Papa for the growth that you have inspired. BUT the journey is no where over or near finished. I have sooo far to go in all my areas of maturity (my family is screaming, "AMEN!" : ) ) Would I have chosen this path I've traveled on lately? Absolutely NOT!!! I would prefer to still be answering 911 calls as a firefighter/paramedic running 90 to nothing, with my pants on fire. (just an expression) See, I'm an adrenaline junkie. And, I like it that away. Do I think that Papa caused my Sargent to accidentally open & shut the nozzle too fast on the firehose causing a water hammer and an out of control firehose so that I was was hit in the knee and throwing me 5 feet, causing major damage and ending my career as a firefighter/paramedic? 100% NOOO!! I do NOT think Papa makes bad things happen to us. But I do believe that He ALLOWS those things to come in our life, but if we belong to Him, He can used them in either our life or another's for the overall greater good. It's taken me a very long time to get that concept. I never thought Papa caused the firehose to hit me, but I was angry for years because He did not stop the firehose. It was not my error but I lost my career due to the injury from that error. Papa could have stopped the firehose from hitting me, because He is who created us & the entire universe. But we live in a fallen world, corrupted by sin. So bad things happen. I don't like that fact but I chose to trust that Papa is in control, and as bad as I want to know everything in advance, A-Z, typed in triplicate, its not gonna happen. So I need to stop stressing and say, "what are we going to do today, Papa?" And trust that with His help, I can and will accomplish what He places before me to do as long as I don't try to do it in my own strength and I do rely and lean heavily on him. God is good All the time. More later....Kym Farrow
