In Sickness and In Health

I have been out of order for the last 10 days.  Sick as a dog.  What started as a sore throat, morphed into some of the worst pain I have experienced.   I couldn't eat, sleep, read, work, listen to music, drive or even play.  I was down. The infection that was initially in my throat made it's way into my ear and on a flight home from Austin wrecked havoc on my inner ear canal.  Ear pain, THE WORST! Finally, I have been granted some relief today after being loaded up on steroids yesterday.

Being down is for the birds.  Not my favorite thing, I don't do forced relaxation well. I have too much to do to not be doing something. I run a home, a business,I'm part of a growing women's ministry, I have my blog, I have my Church body, I have many roles in the Church, I have bible studies to do and bills to pay.  I have all the things.  I cannot be down for 10 days.  I mean who can?  So, I aggressively prayed and frantically pleaded for God to take all this sickness away. To make me feel better. To relieve the painful pressure in my ear, I was seriously in mind numbing, mind loosing pain ya'll.  He, however, did not choose that path for me.  Instead he sent me love.

Love the poured out all over me these past 10 days.  No, Jesus did not show up at my door step and give me a big holy hug (but can you imagine, I would be geeking out!) But instead he gave me a husband who poured himself out for me for 10 days.

He did all the things. He transported kids, cooked dinner, grocery shopped, held me while I sobbed in pain, he drove me to the ER where he had to endure me screaming and crying and snotting and puking and shaking and more.  He sat with me in the hospital and kept me calm. He was my calm in the storm.  He was unconditionally loving me in all the ways I have prayed my husband would. He was romantic. He was caring and also stoic.  He was on my side and by my side.  He waited on me hand and foot, even laying out my pills for me when it was time. He came home early from work just so I didn't have to be alone.

Let me tell you, this is God's great work in my husband. My dear sweet man is not known for being caring and nurturing, he's a true man's man. A rub some dirt on it and get back out there kind of man.  So if you are reading this and feeling envious and jealous I want you to read the following and apply.  I have prayed that Adam and I would learn to love each other the way each other needs to be loved. That God would teach us how to serve each other well.  After 5 years of marriage, we are still working on this.  If you long for this in your life, you must be willing to pray about it and to change the way you are serving to reflect the needs of your spouse (or spouse in waiting).

God saw favor on me by equipping my husband to step up to the plate and knock it out of the park. To be the hands and feet of Jesus, to serve and love me well. Though I'm not sure I would EVER repeat this week again, the silver lining and blessing in it all is to have been cared for and loved well by the man God gave me for so many reasons that I could not begin to list them all.  Sometimes we wonder why God pairs us with these men, we could not be more different right?  But when the rubber meets the road, when the tough things happen, they balance us out and we get to move forward together.

If you are in a season a tough times in your marriage, can I encourage you to pray about your role in your spouses life. How can you love them well? How can you serve them best?  It's probably not the way you want to to be served, but do it anyways.  I promise it will reap great rewards, if even just within your own soul.  Bring those things to the Lord, he will guide you if you let him. After all, he made you in his own image FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY and so BEAUTIFULLY designed to love and serve others.

Much Love,
Chrystan

PS- I am not the perfect spouse, I am self preaching here as well!  Thank the Lord for grace and new days to try harder to live out my vows well!

Fiercely For You

There’s enough. Did you know there’s enough to go around?  There’s enough space, there’s enough topics to cover, there’s enough room for blogs and articles on news feeds. There’s enough speaking podiums and passionate stances to be shared.  There’s enough words for compliments.  There’s just enough for all.  We don’t have to compete for air time, Facebook reads, blog post views, who is the prettiest, who wore it best, who sung it better. I mean there’s just enough. 

I have a group of girls.  We champion for each other.  We each have different God calls that focus on different areas of life and you know what we do, we hoist each other up each ladder rung.  Sometimes one girl is shining in the light and sometimes none of us are. Sometimes one of us makes a HUGE break through and sometimes 2 of us do and 1 doesn’t.  I mean who stinkin’ cares.  The gospel is being shared, the love is being poured and Jesus wins. 

Ladies let us stop.  Can you just HALT this with me?  The girl next to you who is shining in her role on this earth, can you champion for her please?  Can you lift her up so high today? Cause you know what, she needs it because this world is harsh.

I am a boot girl.  I loves me some cowboy boots. Not just any cowboy boots but Old Corral CowboyBoots (yes maybe I am a boot snob, I’m working on it).  I love beautiful boots on my feet.  I save and hoard gift cards and gift money to buy a pair of boots.  I love my light brown lace style boots, it’s rare I see them on anyone else and I get compliments on them all the time.  Love them.  The other day I was at an event and someone else had the same boots on.  So instead of being snotty about it, as if I wear them better, I walked over and told her she was rocking those boots. We laughed about being boot twins and it was so fun.  Girls, ladies, women of the world we can celebrate each other today.  If a girl is rocking an outfit I could never wear, I want to be the first to go to her and say dang girl you look gorgeous today!  If I see someone shying back and looking less confident I want to go and give her a compliment, tell her she’s looking lovely, tell her she has a great smile.  Let us be only for each other all the time.  There is no time to sit back and be harsh.  There is no room for pushing and shoving and holding down each other. Let us be FIERCELY for each other!

Believe me, I’ve been mean, caddy, unkind, snobby and self-centered (I can maybe still be all those things in my head).  This is a newer me.  A me that has seen and felt the support of what real women do.  Real women champion each other.  Real women lift up not pull down.  Let us all be REAL women.  The kind of women that support each other in all the things, that will sit down so someone else can shine.  I am learning to shine the light outwardly instead of on myself. There is no perfection here, but I will seek this with my days. I will be FIERCELY for you!

Ephesians 4:31-32

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.

You are God’s girls, he looks on you with abundant love each day, let us do the same for others.  Treat yourself as if you BEAUTIFULLY, FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY MADE in his image, because that is truth.

Much Love,

Chrystan

The Story of Ruth: God's Perfect Timing

Have you ever missed the bus, taken a wrong turn or had a flight cancelled?  Did you praise God for that event...hmmm...probably not.  This morning I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription. You see here at Ferrell Farms we don't live right in town, it's a little bit of a jaunt to get to the grocery store and the pharmacy.  So, when I go into town I am intentional with my errands. This morning I had 4 tasks; kids to daycare, Pharmacy, UPS and coffee.  When I arrived at the pharmacy the drive through window was still closed, 30 minutes after their opening time.  I called them as I sat there and the manager informed me they had a sub coming in, he wouldn't arrive for another hour.  Bummer.  Remember, jaunt and to do list. As I drove away I began to be frustrated, this was not part of the plan this morning. I need to get home, now I have to come back!  Then I had a sweet reminder of my study of the book of Ruth.  I was reminded of God's perfect timing and I smiled.

In Ruth chapter one we meet Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi after great tragedy has struck their family.  Three women were left to fend for themselves.  Orpah, Ruth's sister-in-law, has left the picture.  Ruth has insisted Naomi let her stay by her side, no matter what.  Chapter one closes with a very BIG detail that we as readers can easily gloss over:

"So Naomi returned from Moab accompanied by Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, arriving in Bethlehem as the barley harvest was beginning."

God has brought these two women back just in time!  There were two harvest times, spring and fall. The women were returning during the spring barley harvest, which was a time of hope and plenty.  Bethlehem was a farming community and because it was the time of the harvest there was plenty of leftover grain in the fields.  This grain was left out for the poor of the community to collect (glean) which they then made into food.  Do you see how God is providing? Do you see here how his timing is so perfect!?  It get's better... (read Chapter 2 of Ruth)

In chapter two we meet a man, a good man name Boaz.  Ruth goes to glean in his field for her and Naomi.  She is such a hard worker she caught the eye of this great man.  Exhibiting admirable qualities in our lives is so important, we never know who is watching and who is taking notes.  Boaz saw these great qualities in our girl Ruth and he admired her from a far.  Because of the qualities of Ruth and because God is so good, Boaz found favor in her and began to give her a little extra throughout the remainder of the barley harvest.  Let's walk away from today with two great take homes:

1. God's timing is perfect and way better than ours!  Even though there was tragedy. Even though they had to leave Moab and journey into the unknown, God provided much more than these two ladies could have ever dreamed!  He continues to provide for them greatly, he remembers Ruth and finds favor with her.  You sweet girls are no different.  He remembers you.  Continue to seek him, follow hard after his ways and walk his path. There is blessing in that, I promise!

2. Good character and reputation go far.  Chapter one showed us Ruth was loyal. Chapter 2 showed us Ruth was hard working on top of being loving, kind, faithful and brave.  Ruth's life exhibited admirable qualities consistently and it was noticed.  It turned the head of a good man and played a part in how God moved and worked in her life.  Boaz is going to change Ruth's life and redeem her. The story gets pretty exciting!

Ruth's life was changed by God.  His timing was perfect, her qualities were more than admirable.  Let us all rejoice this week in God's perfect timing for our lives and thank him for always having our best interest in mind. His ways, not ours, are the very best!  I pray this week that each of us reflect on the qualities we are exhibiting and adjust accordingly.  Strangers, friends, boyfriends, husbands and our children are watching us to see what our character is.  Let it be said of us that we are loyal, hard working, loving, kind, faithful and brave....and don't forget FEARFULLY and WONDERFULLY MADE in our good God's image!

Much Love,
Chrystan
PS- Chapter 3 gets good...more coming soon!