Milestones

Happy Anniversary to The Shepherd's fish!  Today marks one year since we eight women started on this journey and began to share with the world our own personal stories, in the hopes of being able to connect with others and encourage them in their life's journey and spiritual walk.  

A little more than a year ago, I received an email from Christine inviting me to join her and some other women from various seasons of her life in this adventure.  Her mother had been my high school English teacher, and instilled a love for reading and an enjoyment of writing in me, and her precious grandmother had been one of my favorite childhood Sunday School teachers, whose love for the Lord and the children truly impacted my life.  I felt very intimidated at the thought of writing anything that others would read, and hesitated so long that Christine had to write me again.  My husband read her email, and encouraged me to take her up on the invitation, so I hesitantly agreed.  So began the adventure!  I began to write and to get acquainted with the other women in our group.  For myself, this has been a year of learning and growth and stretching out of my comfort zones, but it has also been a year of increasing grace and building new relationships, which have affected the way I view others, and hopefully the way in which I touch their lives.

Last week, I ended my post about my word for last year by alluding to the word that I have been sensing for this year, which is ENCOURAGE.  My own anniversary is coming up in just eight days, and ever since I became Philip's wife, I have had a growing passion to encourage other women, both married and single, that it is possible to cultivate a loving, grace-filled marriage.  I have learned from my own past failures and brokenness, and I have shared some of that here at The Shepherd's fish.  It is my prayer that in every way possible, my life and my words would bring only grace and encouragement to the hearts of those who are wounded and broken, and that the love of God would pour out of me to embrace them and point them to Him.

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah!  Father of all mercy!  God of all healing counsel!  He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us.  ~II Corinthians 1:3-4 (MSG)