Refresh with “1000 Gifts” by Ann Voskamp

When women lay down the threat of insecurity, give up the need for competition, and stop letting self-doubt be what it is–a weapon–truth will arise and friendships will emerge. Fears are feudal… and self-defeating. We weren’t made to be in opposition, rather, for community. Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper as his complement.” Genesis 2:18.

So God created man in His own image: He created him in the image of God: He created them male and female. Genesis 1:27. We who are made in God’s image weren’t created to strike blows, inflict wounds, and spew blood from ones soul, rather, we are to mirror God’s image–reveal all His glory to a world filled with darkness, a world that desperately needs the light of the Lord.

Women can champion one another, breath life not death into another’s soul, and be friends to women who are in need of a friendship–women who are so lonely their very souls ache with the need, who are desperate for love and acceptance.

Women’s hearts bloom in the presence of friends–friends are like a bouquet of flowers, each uniquely different, all beautiful. When the waves of life wash over and threaten to pull us under friends are the beacon that light our way to solid ground.

Friends encourage when our hearts are heavy and life appears dark–always cheering–spurring us on as we climb out of the shadows of despair. They bringing us hope for a better day to come.

Friends help us to discern the paths for which the Lord would have us walk. They keep us in their prayers–praying not only for us but our families as well. Friends pray when our need is as great as the wound, and yet, we can’t seam to find the words.

Friends remind us to laugh, not to take ourselves too serious, and to have fun–smile. They love us on our bad days and on our good days.

Friends do life with us.
When women come together in a circle of friendship souls are refreshed and spirits are renewed. Hearts that are blooded and broken–mend. Growth occurs and souls return to flight. The walls of division come down and they learn how much more similar they are than different–that all women fight the same battles, the same anxieties, and the same doubts.

A few weeks ago that’s what a group of twenty plus women did at my church. We titled it Refresh with “1000 Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. We shared testimonies, counted gifts, and fellowshiped–did community just as God intended.

Blessings, Kasey