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Brenda Bradford Ottinger

Encouraging Women to Live Rooted in the Sacred

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A Girl I Once Knew

Doesn’t really seem like it was that long ago…..

I once knew a girl who had a baby boy…a beautiful blond-haired, blue-eyed little one he was.  Her heartbeat, she called him.  Then two and a half years later, that girl I knew, she had another darling son.  This one, olive-skinned with the biggest eyes you’ve ever seen on a baby boy.

This girl – she loved the whole “baby thing”.  She was good at it too, I think.  Changing diapers didn’t bother her; she knew the best baby food to buy, and when the cute infant clothes were on sale at the mall.  And – rocking sleeping babies in her arms – she lived for those moments.

Four years later, this girl I knew was overjoyed to welcome a third little-one-in-blue into her world.  This one slightly plump with the most incredible smile.  Sometimes, when she would look at the baby pictures of her third-born and her first-born sons, she’d have to do a double-take.

That girl I knew, she adored every second of having little ones in her home.  Those boys of hers grew into toddlers and preschoolers, and she laughed and loved them through it all.

Mysterious how that girl walked so quietly out of my life.  She never said “Goodbye”, she never slammed the door closed behind her.  She was just gone.   There are days when I, so very much, miss that girl I once knew.

Today, I am getting to know another girl.  A woman she is.  A woman who is mother to teenaged treasures.  This woman I know, she can still look into the face of her nearly 20 year old son, and see a giggly, red-cheeked little boy playing peek-a-boo.  This woman–she’s also blessed to call another 17 year old precious soul her son.  That son, he still has those big, big eyes.  Those eyes that she always saw in her own reflection and never appreciated—she now sees them in her son and admires them—and the spirit behind the eyes ever so much more.  Oh, and this woman that I know…God smiled on her for a third time allowing her to be mom to yet another sweet cherub who is right on the heels of teendome.  He’s straight from heaven.  He’s all hers; he’s her baby and she adores him.  He’s turning 13, and she wonders—where, on earth, the years have gone?

This woman I know, she’s grateful—ever-grateful—for her three beautiful sons.  And yet, she can’t help but fondly remember – A girl she once knew.  flower

 

“How’d it get so late so soon?
It’s night before it’s afternoon,
December is here before it’s June,
My goodness how the time has flewn,
How did it get so late so soon?”
~ Dr. Seuss  flower

 

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Never can there be too many magnolia pictures. . S Never can there be too many magnolia pictures.
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Says the lens of my eyes; of my soul.
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(“Not so,” says my iphone storage, but that’s a tomorrow problem.)
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Every time I leave my house, I can’t not stop, not stare, not take another jillion pictures.
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This magnolia tree of mine, she keeps a record of time, reaching farther into the sky with each passing year.
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In all her southern glory, she lifts leaves and limbs toward heaven, pointing to the One on whom all glory rests.
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Boldly, yet elegantly, she speaks of a Creator who, year upon year, grows lovely things under the banner of His care in the lives of His own.
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Even in times when life doesn’t feel full of lovely, may we listen to the magnolia’s anthem.
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She doesn’t question the winter, knowing full well that her Maker has yet to deny spring its beauty.
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I wonder how breathtaking magnolias must be in the City of God. ✨
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“Not to us, O, LORD, not to us, but to Your name goes all the glory for Your unfailing love and faithfulness.” Psalm 115:1 💕
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#magnolia #spring #beauty #glory #godsglory #wordship #praise #faithfulgod #riseup #showup #christianwriter #ministry #amwriting #leadership #influence #serve #growwhereyoureplanted #pictures #grace #bible #weary #listen #joy #life #lovely #plants #garden #majesty #southern #naturespeaks
The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts The May calendar has a way of turning our thoughts toward home, doesn’t it?
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Perhaps, for you, that’s a beloved Home State where the soil smells like childhood and dreams.
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Or, maybe the humble shelter of your youth, where boo-boos were kissed & fairytales carried you into dreamland.
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Perhaps you’re like me, and yesteryear’s home holds heartache and rejection, insecurity and confusion.
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Far too much of my past I spent chasing roots, not sensing an inheritance of belonging within the halls of my kin.
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Layer by broken layer, though, the Lord is healing me from within, showing me that…
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What our hearts long for can’t be satisfied with what our lives long for.
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The temporal can’t pacify the eternal.
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We’re so prone to searching for home in containers not meant to carry its calling—whether in place or people, title or position, acceptance or belonging—that we seek to satisfy its longing with lesser things.
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Having a sense of home within our circles is beautiful and sacred, but—it’s a shallow substitute for the inheritance we have in God.
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No place, no person, no position—no earthly brand of belonging—can ever claim home to your soul like the Haven of Him.
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Quiet your spirit in the shadow of His covering, dear friend, for never will He stop calling you His own. 💕
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#home #mothersday #belonging #longing #rejection #insecurity #questions #confusion #heartache #brokenness #leftout #healing #acceptance #inheritance #haven #soul #rest #childofGod #included #christianwriter #ministry #influence #leadership #amwriting #abandoned #forgotten #loveofgod #youreenough #comeasyouare #faithfulgod
Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a p Dear friend, do you feel like you’re etching a prayer into the ear of God, day upon year upon decade?
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You’re asking “why,” and “when, O Lord,” yet the situation your heart plays on repeat at the altar of God, remains seemingly unchanged.
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Oh, friend, I understand; me too.
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Sometimes those miracles we’re waiting for, they come at the expense of years of prayer.
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Not because God is cruel, but because God is thorough. He phones nothing in; takes no shortcuts with our hearts.
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The life-mending, soul-touching, supernatural work of God takes time to witness from our perspective.
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Oh, but take heart, dear friend, for God hears the cries of your heart.
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That outcome you’re praying for? Your God is already there, working out the details ahead of you.
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Even when it feels like you’re crying yet one more prayer into the silence, He hears and is moving ahead of you in ways you can’t even imagine right now.
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Hang on, my friend; keep praying, for those prayers are a worthy sacrifice to the only God who is altogether able. 🙌💕
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#questions #confusion #heartache #uncertainty #weary #prayer #miracle #godisalreadythere #faithfulgod #hope #praise #remember #waitongod #trust #faith #patience #ministry #serve #influence #leadership #godisable #christianwriter #amwriting #worthygod #exhausted #drained #grateful #struggle #stress #bible
I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you I wonder, friend, do the demands of life leave you feeling downright weary at times?
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If so, I understand. Me too.
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Oh, that our souls would rest in remembering that Jesus also knew what it was to feel weary as He walked this earth in human flesh.
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You are not alone.
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This one’s for the weary. 💗
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Head over to Proverbs31ministries.org. to read & join the conversation! 💕
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#weary #exhausted #tired #spent #hope #jesus #rest #weariness #busyness #struggle #serve #ministry #leadership #servantleadership #influence #humility #godknows #godcares #legacy #boundaries #wisdom #prayer #makeadifference #sacrifice #peace #faithfulgod #proverbs31ministries #followjesus #itsgonnabeokay #godisnear
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