Chrystal’s Chronicles Repost (10/01/13): As I think about the journey of  Kingdom Woman, I think about how easy it can be to get distracted from what’s really important in life as we face with so many different messages from the world on what a good woman should look like.  The reality is that I find my journey as  Kingdom Woman in the small things in both the daily challenges and gifts that He allows me to experience. This experience is one of those that teaches me how to look for God in the everyday.

 

Fall Leaves 2 larryjohnmcnally sml
Photo credit via: nythoroughthelens.com


I was driving today and happened to pass through the old neighborhood I lived in when I was in elementary school. Things haven’t changed too much in that neck of the woods and so I always feel a small, slow rise of emotion as old memories come rushing to the front of my mind. One of those familiar things in my old neighborhood is a park that my parents would take me and my siblings to for a “romp and a frolick”. I’m sure this was to assist us in burning off some steam so that we would be ready to bathe and go “night-night” once we got back home 🙂

I have fond memories of that park especially during that season of the year when the tall oak and pecan trees  start to shed their leaves, dropping dead, but yet gorgeous, multi-colored foliage on the ground. We would run through those mounds of leaves, many times falling on nature’s cushioned padding. Sometimes, our goal would be to bury ourselves under the crackling piles, only to burst out of them soon after. The absolute most fun in playing at that park was enjoying those leaves with my parents who would engage with us, throwing leaves back and forth, scooping up piles for us to fall in, and helping to bury us up to our chins.

I want to be gorgeous.

I want to be gorgeous as a die to myself and allow myself to be used as God sees fit.

All leaves start out as buds that form on the along branches.  Their growth and development is dependent on their connection to the tree.  Those leaves don’t turn green without being connected.  They don’t grow to their full size unless they are connected.  They don’t provide shade or beauty unless they stay connected to the tree.

I can’t do my job as a Kingdom Woman unless I stay connected to the Lord Jesus Christ.  There is no way that I will be able to fulfill my calling or destiny unless I am fed by the source of life that created me, determined my unique characteristics, and provided a way for me to bring covering or enhancement to my own life and the life of others.

Connection requires consistency.  Those leaves don’t do a whole lot of jumping around.  They stay put.

And I learn that my process of maturation will take A LOT LONGER if I am not consistently staying connected to my source.

And that’s not all…

The most beautiful women I know, the ones with the most color, the ones that allow me to enjoy their lives with them, the ones that allow me to learn and grow as they share their journey’s with me…

They are the ones who have are living lives surrendered to God.

Fall Leaves NYThroughtheLens

Photo credit via: larryjohnmcnally.com

After spending time connected to God, growing and learning from Him, their willingness to sacrifice, be available, and even at times to go unappreciated has allowed me to SEE.  I circle their lives like I circled the park in my car and then am drawn in by their beauty.  It is because of the their willingness to live their seasons well, that I am blessed by their grace and gorgeous display.

I want to be that woman.  The woman who lives life well by staying connected.  That allows her design and destiny to be shaped by who God has created me to be.  I want to live every season well and then I desire for each of those seasons to provide the platform for me to be a blessing to others.

My takeaway…

Live my current season well.

Live my seasons well-connected.

Knowing that as I live those seasons connected to God, He will allow my sacrifices and my surrender to be used now and in the future for my good and His glory.