Please welcome Edie. She is a mother of four children ages 8,9,17, and 19. She gave up her career in medicine to be home with her children full time and homeschools the two youngest . Edie blogs at lifeingrace about family, faith, decorating, reading and crafting.
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Mothering has taught me to be vulnerable.
To cease trying to protect myself and to instead, open my heart to others.
John and Stasi Eldredge, in their book Captivating, describe the essence of a woman as beauty; that ‘Eve’ (woman) is the very incarnation in human form of the beauty of God. And they go on to describe that beauty is not some ‘conjured up’ set of external qualities, but is instead the essence of what God has already put inside of us. We don’t strive to ‘gin up’ beauty, we simply 'let down the veil'—to our hearts—to the part of us that inspires, comforts, speaks, invites, and nourishes. We let down our guard to the beauty God has placed there, making ourselves available and vulnerable. And we do that by being ‘at rest’, ‘at peace’ with who God has made us to be. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters……Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” Isa. 55:1,2 Eldredge says, “A woman of true beauty is a woman who in the depths of her soul is at rest…..she exudes a sense of calm, and invites those around her to rest as well……she speaks comfort….she offers others the grace to be and the room to become. In her presence, we can release the tension and pressure that so often grip our hearts…..Her spacious beautiful soul invites other to come, to be, to taste see that the Lord is good…A woman who makes herself vulnerable and available for intimacy invites others to do the same….in her presence, you can breathe again, you are free to be you….she unveils her beauty and invites you to life."Oh, how I long to be a woman like that. A mother like that. So often our hurts and insecurities keep us from unveiling the beauty in our hearts. We fail. We protect ourselves. We draw the curtain tight so that noone will have the chance to hurt us. But God invites us to His table, where we once again obtain forgiveness and find the strength to make our hearts available. If there is one thing our families and our children need, it is to see us without the veil-----offering our hearts and our presence ‘full of tender mercy and gentle vulnerability’. It will invite them to true life. It will captivate them. It will awaken their very souls to the beauty and paradox of God’s redemption.
How I need to be more 'at rest.' And I love how you say that we already have that we have that peaceful beauty inside of us. I tend to bury it much too often with busy "stuff." Thank you for your beautiful post, Edie!
ReplyDeleteI love Edie's blog - and this was beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post!
ReplyDeleteI love that book too and oh how nice it would be to be that woman it is always such a journey to arrive there!
oh hi Jess!! {commenter #2 is a real life friend!}
ReplyDeleteI love Edie's blog too and I am in the process of reading Captivating right now. Love it so far.
Kathy k.
Oh, I love Edie. She is truly a woman of TRUE beauty. I know, I've met her and she's lovely inside and out!
ReplyDeleteThanks for guesting here today, Edie!
This reminds me of being a Proverbs 31 Woman. We all have "baggage" that we seem to spread to our husbands and children but don't mean to. I find that being a first generation Christian has made me break the cycle but I still have a lot of insecurities that cause me to sin. I thank God that each day He gives me another chance to right the wrongs I have done. I just need to make sure I do that.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this as it is very humbling!
Great post and I love Edie's blog!
ReplyDeleteWow. Those are some powerful ideas. Thank you.
ReplyDeletePS My word verification is fartable. I wish my kids were home to share that with!
I love Edie...and her heart for God and her family...thanks for inviting her over to your place!
ReplyDeleteI'm new here...so glad to "meet" you!!!
What a wonderful post. I needed this post today.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am feasting this morning, on beautiful uplifting words. This post makes me want to be a better mother.
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