Girl Meets Paper

Monday Morning Meditation: Matthew 28:5-6

By Jane · Comments (2)

Monday, April 1st, 2013

“I know you are looking for Jesus…He is not here.”

I’ve been swimming through life’s storm-tossed sea with a hurting friend lately, and am struck by these words today:

I know you’re looking for Jesus, but he’s not here.

My friend is looking for her savior, too; the savior she loves.

She’s searching desperately for the man who promises to rescue and save and restore.

She’s clinging to the hope that resurrection power will shine brightly once again.

But today it seems so elusive.

Don’t we so often search in dark caves and behind mammoth rocks for the things we assume ought to be there? We claw through dirt, toss our questions, and strive in our fleshly humanity for the Jesus we think we’re going to find — the Jesus we think we’re supposed to find, only to come up empty.

Perhaps that’s because we fail to listen for the words of the angel.

We fail to read to the end of the story, and instead spend our lives searching, returning to old haunts and replaying events that shroud us and leave us cloaked in death.

This Easter, I’m reminded that maybe Jesus is right around the corner, hiding in plain sight.

Just as he appeared to Mary and remained unidentified until he spoke her name; just as he walked the road to Damascus with those he loved while their hearts “burned” within them.

This Easter, Jesus shines in the places where we least suspect.

Jesus walks along the dusty roads and appears to frightened women and those nearly drowning in storm-tossed seas.

He has far flung the grave clothes and announces freedom for those who believe. Freedom from our past. Freedom from our shadows and the nagging voices that bark from the storms of Friday.

Today we have the hope of Sunday.

Because today, he is RISEN.

If you are joining us today and would like to participate in our link-up, we’d be honored to have your voice in the conversation! Just make sure that your blog post or comment is relevant to today’s Scripture passage.

Simply:

Write a post on your own blog that incorporates a story or your thoughts about this verse and its application in your own life. -OR-
Enlighten us with your theological take on the verse. -OR-
Post a photo that captures the essence of this verse.
Leave a comment with the same if you don’t have a blog to link up!

THEN…

Follow the linky button below to “link up”! Once you’ve linked up you must visit the person ahead of you in the list! Let’s be encouragers!

Also, would you be so kind as to reference this blog as the “home base” for Monday Morning Meditations? I’d love to grow this community of writers!

Comments (2)

Categories : Monday Morning Meditations

Tags : Christian Easter, Resurrection of Jesus, the death and resurrection

3 Things The Eye Doctor Taught Me About Envy

By Jane · Comments (0)

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

She had been complaining about her vision off-and-on for weeks and was thrilled to hear that mom had finally made an appointment at the eye doctor.

As a recipient of glasses myself when just freshly out of the womb, I secretly hoped that my daughter would not be prescription-clad while still enjoying the fancy-free single-digit years of life.

However, with a super cute best friend enjoying crisper vision thanks to super cute glasses, something told me that there were more than a few layers to this trip to the optometrist.

There may have been “glasses envy.”

Have you ever wrestled with your own version of this?

Maybe you wanted braces as a kid, or couldn’t wait to get strapped into your very first bra as a growing young woman. No one told you about getting pizza stuck in your brackets at lunchtime or about the pinching of elastic around your midsection.

Or perhaps in sixth grade you decided that life wouldn’t be complete until you shaved your legs … only to realize that mom was right: you’ll be doing it forever and it will add hours to your personal grooming time.

Or right now, as a mom, you yearn for the career, the clothes, the freshly-vacuumed and artificially-scented vehicle, free from crushed Goldfish mashed into the seats.

Don’t we all yearn?

Do you ever wonder how often we long for things that really aren’t that awesome? Or things that we really don’t need?

3 Things We Can Do When We Want What We Don’t Have

Sometimes I’m convinced that God must shake his head at us like the Father he is, saying:

“Why do you keep striving? I know you think you’d love that ________ , but it’s not a good fit for you right now. Will you trust me to provide when it’s time?”

So if you find yourself there today:

Read Isaiah 30:1-2. I stumbled on this today and thought it was so applicable to my situation. Am I trying to “carry out plans that are not [God's]? Am I going down to “Egypt” looking for protection or provision outside of Christ? Pray through these verses, asking God to show you where you’ve neglected his leading.
Write out your petitions, goals, or dreams, and record how God has opened doors and/or provided for you already during your season of waiting. Find ways to praise him and foster gratitude.
Surrender those petitions, goals, or dreams to God. Pray for peace as you give up control. Believe that He will give you what you need, when you need it. But realize that he may never give you what you want. (a case study of Leah will show this).

Can you be okay with that? Can I?

Are you struggling in a season of envy or waiting? What has helped you through it?

[photo credit]

Comments (0)

Categories : Devotions, Faith

Tags : envy and jealous, eyewear, reading glasses

Monday Morning Meditation: Mark 15:18-20

By Jane · Comments (6)

Sunday, March 24th, 2013

Lenten Series:

Tonight I am the one struck.

Again and again, I consider the awful price paid by Christ to redeem me, to present me faultless, to set me free.

And again and again I retreat in tear-filled wonder at how it could possibly be that Jesus, fully God and fully man, would willingly walk into Jerusalem that Sunday long ago, stumbling through littered streets on a borrowed donkey, moving to his death beneath fanning palms and a hot desert sun.

I wonder how he could possibly stand silent before his accusers, allowing Pilate to wash his hands and send him into throngs of hate-spewing men for whom he would give his very life.

I wonder how I can ever live with enough gratitude and generosity to capture my thankfulness.

This Lent, this eve of Holy Week, has picked the scab on my heart as I’ve come face-to-face with my humanity. I’ve wrestled with questions and prayers that seem to hit the ceiling and fall silent.

Yet, in his great mercy, Jesus has drawn near in precious ways this week. I can’t help but wonder if angels fill the kitchen when my eyes are blinded by messy countertops and dishes that spill from the sink. While silence folds in and the world is swallowed up in his presence, I know that Lent does draw me closer to the cross.

Lent Brings Me Closer to Jesus

Perhaps the angels in my kitchen showed up because my husband was out of the country for ten days.

Perhaps not.

Either way, I’ve kept this song by Meredith Andrews on repeat, praying each line. My spirit swells with words I could have never penned myself, but now cling to as my banner of love.

And when I ponder Mark 15 and consider the immense love of Jesus, the gift that unravels our selfishness and contempt, I can only life my voice and sing these words again:

“You saved my soul…

by your blood.

And I’m undone

by your great love.

You made a way…

so I could come

just as I am

to you my God.”

Because I know that again and again, he did it for me.

***

Simply:

Write a post on your own blog that incorporates a story or your thoughts about this verse and its application in your own life. -OR-
Enlighten us with your theological take on the verse. -OR-
Post a photo that captures the essence of this verse.
Leave a comment with the same if you don’t have a blog to link up!

THEN…

Follow the linky button below to “link up”! Once you’ve linked up you must visit the person ahead of you in the list! Let’s be encouragers!

Also, would you be so kind as to reference this blog as the “home base” for Monday Morning Meditations? I’d love to grow this community of writers!

Comments (6)

Categories : Monday Morning Meditations

Tags : Crucify, girl meets paper, Jane Graham, Lent, Lenten Season, Mark 15, what is Lent, who is Jesus

Why You Should Throw Your Husband A Party Tonight

By Jane · Comments (16)

Friday, March 22nd, 2013

If you’ve been married for more than a couple of weeks, I think you’ll agree that the husband-wife relationship can be compared to caring for a house plant.

I know — some of you are worried since you killed your poinsettia at Christmas, but hang with me.

House plants need to be watered regularly and pruned every once in a while. They need sunshine and dusting. Sometimes they even need the added “encouragement” that can only come from Miracle Gro.

Couldn’t the same be said of our marriages?

We all need regular watering: affection, conversation, and interest. Putting your marriage in the corner and forgetting about it will get you a wilting relationship while opening the door to bigger problems.

We also need to be pruned by those who love us most: held accountable and gently called out when we act like idiots.

We need joy! And we need “dusting.” Ladies — brush your hair and get out of your yoga pants for crying out loud. Make an effort to be the babe he married.

And of course, we all need encouragement.

So tonight, throw your husband a party when he gets home. Because celebrating him “for no reason” is the best reason of all.

Pick up the house.

Make the meal you know he loves: get out the grill and splurge on a couple of Porterhouses.

Put on some lipstick.

Enlist your kids to make signs and banners that thank him for his hard work each day.

Hit the dollar store for some balloons.

Tell him you love him.

Make him feel noticed and appreciated again, like he’s the man who took your breath away the first time you saw him.

Kiss him like you mean it.

Your efforts to honor your husband say that he is still worth celebrating.

Show him that he is still the one who makes you feel whole.

And that you’d still do it all over again …

with him.

What would it mean for your marriage to do a little more celebrating?

Comments (16)

Categories : Family, Marriage

Tags : dad ideas, Family, girl meets paper, Husband + Wife, husband and wife, ideas for dad, Jane Graham, marriage

Monday Morning Meditation: Titus 3:4-5a

By Jane · Comments (6)

Sunday, March 17th, 2013

Lenten Series:

Lent is a season when many of us try a little harder.

Sacrifice more.

Pray with greater focus.

Reflect on our sins and shortcomings a bit more honestly.

And I think all of those things are important to our faith walk.

I’m a fan of anything that brings us closer to God our Savior.

I’m a fan of walking the hard road: of calloused knees and worn Bibles and the doors of our homes swung wide.

But I’m in love with a God who sees our sacrifice, witnesses our try-hard life, hears our prayers, and isn’t tempted to give us brownie points for any of it.

I’m in love with a God who didn’t come to save us as a payback for the work of our hands or the straining of our human hearts. I’m in love with a God who didn’t come to settle a debt owed us or to win favor in the eyes of the world.

Instead, this gift of salvation is birthed in love and bathed in kindness and mercy.

This Lent I remember that my salvation is not about me.

It’s nothing I’ve done or could ever hope to do.

That’s love, friends: “That while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Ro 5:8).

And that’s what Lent is all about.

***

If you are joining us today and would like to participate in our link-up, we’d be honored to have your voice in the conversation! Simply:

Write a post on your own blog that incorporates a story or your thoughts about this verse and its application in your own life. -OR-
Enlighten us with your theological take on the verse. -OR-
Post a photo that captures the essence of this verse.
Leave a comment with the same if you don’t have a blog to link up!

THEN…

Follow the linky button below to “link up”! Once you’ve linked up you must visit the person ahead of you in the list! Let’s be encouragers!

Also, would you be so kind as to reference this blog as the “home base” for Monday Morning Meditations? I’d love to grow this community of writers!

Comments (6)

Categories : Monday Morning Meditations

Tags : God and Love, God is kind, God is love, God Love, Monday Morning Meditation, Titus 3:4-5

Five Minute Friday: Rest

By Jane · Comments (16)

Friday, March 15th, 2013

Today I’m participating in Lisa-Jo Baker’s “5 Minute Friday,” which challenges us to write for five minutes without stopping to correct or re-think or backtrack … on the topic of rest.

So I’ll set my timer and share my heart.

GO:

Nights seem to drag on between sheets of inky darkness when my husband is gone. I roll through waves of sheets and don’t find him. My mind plays tricks and my heart begins to wonder.

“Is he safe? Did he get there safely? Was the flight turbulent?”

I wake up, eyes snapping open, and run to the computer, setting up the marvels of technology to try to reach him in the land where cell phones won’t.

But he is not there.

Padding through the living room and then down the stairs, I flip on lights that bellow my arrival. The boys are still sleeping, until I rouse them to say, “We’re going to try to talk to daddy again.”

And then, in that moment, I hear the twinkling of the computer. I hear it chirping and calling me. So I run, just in time to accept my husband’s invitation.

We all huddle around the screen, happy and nearly teary-eyed to see him there, safe and sound.

He sends his love, and then — suddenly — he is gone.

That was it — a few tender reeds of time, not enough to hear about the trip or the food or his hotel, but enough to know that he is safe.

Enough for a wife’s heart to find rest.

Stop.

Comments (16)

Categories : Family

Tags : finding rest, Five Minute Friday, girl meets paper, Jane Graham, Lisa-Jo Baker, rest, The Gypsy Mama

Why I Stink at Waiting and Trusting

By Jane · Comments (2)

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

I am Jane.

Yet…

I am Abraham lying to Pharaoh when he didn’t trust the Lord to protect him and Sarah.

I am Rebekkah taking charge and forcing Jacob to deceive his brother and position himself for the birthright.

I am Jacob stealing Isaac’s blessing rather than waiting for God to fulfill his promises.

I am Leah, birthing sons and waiting for Jacob’s heart and longing for acceptance.

I am Laban, separating the black sheep and speckled goats in attempts to puppeteer his outcome.

I am Jane and I’m racking up reasons I should get what I want and why it should happen now.

I’m the two year old on the floor next to her mother’s shopping cart, bellowing and crying and throwing myself around in protest.

:: :: ::

And then, during lunch, I hear it:

his soft whisper

“When the fullness of time had come, GOD…” (Gal 4:4)

Those words, no longer empty, but bubbling over with hope and promise.

Those words, exactly what my heart needed, in exactly the right time.

I am Jane.

I am the daughter of the King who longs to give me every good and perfect gift.

So I’ll wait for the fullness of time.

I’ll wait for God.

Comments (2)

Categories : Devotions, Faith

Tags : Abraham, Bible Study Fellowship, BSF, Galations 4:4, Isaac, Jacob, Laban, Leah, Rebekkah, waiting for God, waiting on God

Monday Morning Meditation: Psalm 42:1

By Jane · Comments (4)

Sunday, March 10th, 2013

Lenten Series

Music floated between columns and through booths at the dimly-lit restaurant while we agonized over our selections.

Would we toss our workouts to the side by ordering french fries? Dare we feast on a whopping collection of calories piled between two slabs of grilled sourdough?

Yes.

And why not add some dipping sauce while we’re at it?

The mere mention of a gourmet hamburger with cheese…and avocado…and bacon… was enough to have us salivating over our menus. Just the thought of what we were preparing to enjoy was something akin to the bridal experience, and I was ready for the wedding night.

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Reminded Me to Draw Near to Jesus

The moment our server rounded the corner, forks flew to fingertips and napkins were situated hastily on laps.

My friend, enjoying her first burger in months, gleamed that lovely protein-glow as she sliced the behemouth mound in two.

“Oh my word,” she said, aflutter. “ I don’t even know where to start! The fries?? The burger?? I haven’t even had one bite yet and it’s like I can’t even wait!“

My thoughts exactly.

That’s when it hit me: that’s what it must be like to pant for God. That’s how we should feel every time we come to the banquet table to feast on the Lord.

As women drool over a meal with fried food and avocado on one plate…

As the deer pants…

Devouring my meal that night drew a stark contrast in my mind. I knew I could not truthfully say that I feasted on the Word with as much anticipation or enjoyment as I did on that hamburger. I knew that the delight I experienced from pages of Scripture did not compare to the delight I felt hovering over my plate.

God wants my affection and delight. He patiently waits for it, yet I how often am I quick to trade it for a hot meal?(Hmmm…Esau, anyone?)

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Impacted My Lenten Season

The blissful hamburger night occurred just before Lent got underway and I’ve thought about it countless times. It reminds me to “pant for God”:

To place him before the idols I’ve erected.

To love him above the temporal.

To crave him above my fleshly desires.

As I seek to “gain” more of Christ, I’m convinced it all has to start here:

With memories of a cheeseburger and fries.

***

If you are joining us today and would like to participate in our link-up, we’d be honored to have your voice in the conversation! Simply:

Write a post on your own blog that incorporates a story or your thoughts about this verse and its application in your own life. -OR-
Enlighten us with your theological take on the verse. -OR-
Post a photo that captures the essence of this verse.
Leave a comment with the same if you don’t have a blog to link up!

THEN…

Follow the linky button below to “link up”! Once you’ve linked up you must visit the person ahead of you in the list! Let’s be encouragers!

Also, would you be so kind as to reference this blog as the “home base” for Monday Morning Meditations? I’d love to grow this community of writers!

Thank you!

Comments (4)

Categories : Monday Morning Meditations

Tags : AsTheDeer, girl meets paper, Jane Graham, Marty Nystrom, Monday Morning Meditation, Psalm 42:1

Is It True That “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves?”

By Jane · Comments (0)

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

I’ve been sitting in this hazy limbo for a while, trying to figure it out. Trying to understand when my efforts meet up with God’s sovereign plan, and when my actions are wheat and when they’re sifted as chaff. I’ve been trying to understand “my part” and “His part,” but mostly wishing that we operated in an economy where I could check the boxes on my to-do list and then have God deliver a glittery box of my-dreams-in-a-package, right to my doorstep.

UPS, UPS delivery, front door delivery, God, dreams

There they are: my dreams in a box.

But it seems God is not working for UPS this year.

I’d like to think that life is a series of X + Y = Z procedures. That if you do this “list” of things –and especially if you do them well– then you’ll be positioned to reap a list of predetermined outcomes.

But hard work and diligent effort have not produced that coveted (and possibly hypothetical) list of outcomes. It has not polished the brass ring and readied it for my clammy, white-knuckled, yearning finger.

Apparently I know nothing about algebra or brass jewelry.

What Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob teach us about “helping themselves.”

September began with our Bible Study diving into the book of Beginnings. I’ll admit that I’ve been troubled at how often God levels discipline upon those who do not wait on him.

Despite desiring God, we see these godly men make critical errors time and time again:

Rather than waiting for God to show up and blind everyone with his majesty, they take matters into their own hands and wreck everything.

God, it seems, wants our trust, not our help.

And even when the path seems clear and inviting and manageable to us, we are called to trust and relinquish control.

So is it true? Does God “help those who help themselves?”

I’d like to think so. (after all, he still blessed Jacob — even after his goat-skin trickery)

I’d like to think that God is honored when we use our gifts and when we work hard.

I’d like to think that he wouldn’t prefer us to sit around waiting for the UPS man. That instead, we’re planning and dreaming and working on the dreams that He placed in our hearts.

I guess the hitch is that we can’t do all those things in our own flesh and without constant prayer. Instead, in some mystical union of human desire and divine will, our work marries with God’s been-there-since-the-creation-of-the-world Plan for our puny little lives.

These lives that are mere breaths — that are barely a blip on the radar of this world.

Isn’t it amazing that God even cares about our dreams?

That He even notices our work?

Yet He does.

And when we trust and pray and pray and trust…we get to be witnesses when God shows up to blind everyone with his majesty.

That’s a box I can’t wait to unwrap.

Comments (0)

Categories : Devotions, Family

Tags : Abraham, BSF, Genesis, girl meets paper, God helps those who help themselves, God is sovereign, Isaac, Jacob, Jane Graham, waiting on God

Monday Morning Meditation: James 1:5

By Jane · Comments (5)

Sunday, March 3rd, 2013

Lenten Series:

With ink pen stilled and heart thumping loudly in my ears, I sat listening to the lecture with fresh conviction.

“Do you hear what God is saying?” my Bible teacher said with joy on her face. “If anyone lacks wisdom, all we have to do is ask.

So next time you’re struggling and don’t know where to turn, ‘James 1 – 5′ it! If you’re confused and need wisdom for your next steps, ‘James 1-5 it!’ – and believe it will be given to you.“

I clicked my pen and stared at the notebook on my lap, sure my blushing cheeks would reveal that too often I didn’t ask God for wisdom; sure that I would be found out for too-often depending on my own strength.

Do I go to the phone…or to the Throne?

It’s a weakness of mine. Prayer, that is. It’s something that I’m working on day by day, but boy do I stumble a lot.

I stumble when I need wisdom, mostly because it’s just so easy to toss a question out on social media or call a friend when really what I should be doing is taking my concerns to God. After all, as my teacher reminded,“If we are to ask God for wisdom and guidance, we need to be spending much of our time before the Throne–not on the phone.”

Even though…

…it is so tempting to skip the prayers and head right to that familiar voice on the other end of the line
…we get an immediate response when we dial a number

God says, “Come to me and I’ll give you the wisdom you seek.”

What James 1:5 Can Teach Us This Lent

As I shared with you last week, this Lenten Season I’m focusing on gaining rather than giving up. I’m seeking to know Christ more intimately and love him more deeply.

I’m finding that to do that, I need God’s wisdom.

I need the clarity and understanding that can only come from him.

And so this Lent, I’m asking more. And waiting a little longer.

Believing that it will be given to me, just as He promised.

***

If you are joining us today and would like to participate in our link-up, we’d be honored to have your voice in the conversation! Simply:

Write a post on your own blog that incorporates a story or your thoughts about this verse and its application in your own life. -OR-
Enlighten us with your theological take on the verse. -OR-
Post a photo that captures the essence of this verse.
Leave a comment with the same if you don’t have a blog to link up!

THEN…

Follow the linky button below to “link up”! Once you’ve linked up you must visit the person ahead of you in the list! Let’s be encouragers!

Comments (5)

Categories : Monday Morning Meditations

Tags : girl meets paper, James 1:5, Jane Graham, Lenten Season, Lenten Studies, Lenten Study, Monday Morning Meditation, prayer, Praying for Wisdom

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Monday Morning Meditation: Matthew 28:5-6

3 Things The Eye Doctor Taught Me About Envy

3 Things We Can Do When We Want What We Don’t Have

Are you struggling in a season of envy or waiting? What has helped you through it?

Monday Morning Meditation: Mark 15:18-20

Lenten Series:

Lent Brings Me Closer to Jesus

Why You Should Throw Your Husband A Party Tonight

So tonight, throw your husband a party when he gets home. Because celebrating him “for no reason” is the best reason of all.

What would it mean for your marriage to do a little more celebrating?

Monday Morning Meditation: Titus 3:4-5a

Lenten Series:

Lent is a season when many of us try a little harder.

Five Minute Friday: Rest

Why I Stink at Waiting and Trusting

“When the fullness of time had come, GOD…” (Gal 4:4)

Monday Morning Meditation: Psalm 42:1

Lenten Series

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Reminded Me to Draw Near to Jesus

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Impacted My Lenten Season

Is It True That “God Helps Those Who Help Themselves?”

What Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob teach us about “helping themselves.”

So is it true? Does God “help those who help themselves?”

Monday Morning Meditation: James 1:5

Lenten Series:

Do I go to the phone…or to the Throne?

What James 1:5 Can Teach Us This Lent

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Me, take 2:

3 Things We Can Do When We Want What We Don’t Have

Are you struggling in a season of envy or waiting? What has helped you through it?

Lenten Series:

Lent Brings Me Closer to Jesus

So tonight, throw your husband a party when he gets home. Because celebrating him “for no reason” is the best reason of all.

What would it mean for your marriage to do a little more celebrating?

Lenten Series:

Lent is a season when many of us try a little harder.

“When the fullness of time had come, GOD…” (Gal 4:4)

Lenten Series

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Reminded Me to Draw Near to Jesus

How a Cheeseburger and Fries Impacted My Lenten Season

What Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob teach us about “helping themselves.”

So is it true? Does God “help those who help themselves?”

Lenten Series:

Do I go to the phone…or to the Throne?

What James 1:5 Can Teach Us This Lent

Looking for something?

Free MMM Printables…

Subscribe for inspiration delivered quietly to your inbox.

Popular Posts

Link Up Each Monday!

Share my Badge!

Shamelessly Promoting:

Writerly Topics

Archives

Me, take 2: