It's the one thing I'm sure I can be without fail...

I'm battling the sins of comparison, perfectionism, and the not-good-enoughs, and in my weaker moments, I'm tempted to give up.

You would love my friend Lisa. She's glamorous, articulate and gifted in the many ways I am not. Lisa has led the women's study at church for years, and it's more than intimidating for a simple, often tongue-tied, country girl like me to take the lead from Lisa this fall.

I've considered buying new clothes {as though I could remake my sixty-something self to look as elegant as Lisa}, but that would only amplify my sin with poor stewardship. Like it or not, we're all stuck with me.

So I'm pressing on - laughing at myself because the opportunities are numerous and it's better than crying. Mostly I'm preaching the gospel to myself and believing that God's promises to Paul are mine, too.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

And anyway, it's Jesus, not Lisa, that I'm to follow, and that I can do and be without fail, because...

The only thing that qualifies us to be followers of Jesus is that we are sinners who need grace. Sinners are the only kind of people Jesus calls.

~ Jon Bloom, Out of Sight

{Photos - early September in my neck of the woods}

When with Christ we stand in glory...

I'm never more aware of Grace than in this week of intense remembering, for it was Easter that was a tether in my wandering years, pulling me back with a longing I could not explain. With senses at the edge of spilling over, my voice trembles even at the reading of Leviticus, I'm acutely aware of the sun's warmth in this unseasonable burst of winter here on Pollywog Creek, and I see the enemy roaming about looking for cracks in our veneer.

As I grieve for the wandering church, I throw no stones, but repent of my own lack of love and pray that you and I will lay aside our personal agendas, leave our ghettos, and fully embrace the pull that tethers us to this irresistible Grace and binds our hearts together in the love of Christ - that we will be conduits of the Grace that heals every wound, repairs every brokenness, redeems lost souls and restores what the enemy has plundered.

We know the outcome is secure
And Christ will have the prize for which He died
An inheritance of nations
O Church Arise