spiritual ingenue

Merry Christmas, one and all!

I know it's been forever, but I feel the writing juices slowly thawing, and hopefully it will prove to be a productive year for Spiritual Ingenue. This blog has been the neglected stepchild of my blog family, so to speak, in that I have been giving all of my attention to another of my offspring. For the last 5 months or so, I have been writing a bible study on Psalms 23, over at Sacred Space For Women. I have loved it, and have had over 40 women participate at one time or another. If you get a moment, pop over to read what God has been laying on my heart.

How was your holiday? Mine was wonderful, stressful, overextended and beautiful, all at the same time. We spent the holiday with my husband’s family in South Carolina, which could have been an experiment in torture had God not been on the scene. It was a season to celebrate miracles, from my father in law’s continued state of healing from his cancer to my sister in law’s ability to get along with her mother. God led the sequence of events down a path I did not anticipate, and it was an overwhelming display of His ability to restore. Quite the birthing season it was, I must say. Here are a few of the highlights:

-My father in law is still healthy and cancer-free after a bout with stage III colon cancer. Mom shared with us that usually, 80% of patients with his kind of cancer are dead by this point. What a gift to listen to him preach on Sunday morning, and to see God’s fingerprints on his life has he shared the Gospel in that sweet and simple way that he has.

-My sister in law left her emotional baggage at home and came to visit with no chip on her shoulder. Wonder of wonders, miracles of miracles, she didn’t pick a fight and get her feelings hurt over the way Mom asked her to pass the mashed potatoes. We had a secret code word that I would whisper if I saw her getting worked up: “ice cube”. I didn’t have to use it once!

-My father in law asked me to read the account of Jesus’ birth from Luke during his message on Sunday morning. I got to read it from my mother in law’s bible, which made it extra special. It was hard getting it out, but I managed. Another miracle there for you; I’m usually a huge crybaby when it comes to that stuff.

-My sister and brother in law got to have time away from the Katrina ravaged area they live in. Their lives were completely uprooted by the hurricane, so after moving into a new place, getting their children adjusted to a new school, and trying to reclaim some sense of normalcy, they were ready to get outta Dodge for a while.

-My father in law said he never once thought that the visit needed to end, and asked the three women of the family to solidify plans for next Christmas so we could do it all again. Now that is proof that God does indeed exist- no one was counting the minutes until it was time to leave!

That’s just a taste of what God did over our Christmas visit. I still haven’t shared the amazing story of what happened after we opened our gifts, so I will do that next.

Thanks for reading, and I pray you had a beautiful holiday.

Love,
s.i.

// posted by spiritual ingenue @ 9:26 PM