Strength

Cesar Chavez once said, "You are never strong enough that you don't need help."

My mom-figure sent me a postcard two weeks ago that said, "thinking about what a strong woman you are." Which made me feel so good about myself until I read the next part, buried under the postage barcode marks: " ... strong Swedish stock!" Well, not that that's anything to be ashamed of, but I was hoping she meant my character was strong, as opposed to by body.

I do think I am pretty strong, but that strength isn't due to myself. Rather, I've simply seen God be strong in me, especially at certain times. The joy of the Lord is my strength. I simply have no other source.

As I am living in a season of missing the ones I love, one most of all, I am not blind to the new love and zest for life that He is putting in my path even now. Even though I am away from home, I am coming to regard this new place, the cite of my new productivity and growth, a new kind of home- a home that will incubate me and develop that same strength, the kind of strength that glows reassuringly under the surface. It's not bold (at least I can't see it that way right now, anyway), but it is persistent and sure. This strength I find in God will not fade. I can always use His help, even on the day when it seems everything has been provided for me.

In the week ahead, may that strength well up and be visible and winsome...