BLESS HER HEART

In the south, women often comment about other women and add a "tag" phrase ending with "Bless her heart"!  It sounds sweet and thoughtful, complimentary in fact.  But actually, it usually means something totally different.  For instance, if a women were walking down the street wearing a dress two sizes two small, cleavage showing waaaaaay too much for what would be considered a woman NOT of the "evening" and strutting herself with great confidence, another woman having lunch at a sidewalk cafe with friends would look up, and upon seeing her might comment, "look at that sweet women...bless her heart!!!"  In this case, it would mean, OMG!  What a TRAMP!  See, sometimes OUR words don't often reflect what they mean.  Our yes' are not always yes and our Nos are not always no.

However, we can always depend on God's yes being yes and His no being no.  His Word NEVER fails, is ALWAYS true and always means what He says it means.  I am grateful He is faithful, dependable and reliable.  I am grateful His Word is ALWAYS true.  YES it is!

RIPPING MADE PERFECT

Now that I have granddaughters, my interest in sewing has increased.  I never liked it when I was younger.  And since Jimmy and I only had boys, I never needed to sew.  But since having little girls in the family, I have begun to love sewing for them.  As my interest in sewing renewed, there was one distasteful memory about sewing that quickly came back to mind.  "Ripping"!  Yes...since I'm not the pro my mother and sister are, I tend to do a lot, and I do mean a LOT, of ripping.  For those of you who are not familiar with the term "ripping", it is a process of removing a previously sewn seam and re-sewing it again.  It sounds easy enough....but not so much.  And when you must "rip" over and over again...it gets tedious!  NOT my favorite part of sewing in the least.  Ripping is done when there has been a mistake made and one must alter the garment, making adjustments to make it right.  It seems harmless, easy enough by the maker.  But even then, there can be seen, small holes in the garment where it had been previously sewn (scars). 

Sometimes God has to "rip" out, or convict us of, our old sin nature to make us right with Him.  It must seam tedious to Him to do it over and over again.  But when He finishes, we are perfect...just right....His creation.  Our sins, previously sewn could leave scars.  But with His touch, those holes (scars) are removed and the garment of our lives are made whole and beautiful again.

I am so grateful he doesn't leave us as ugly, filthy rags but makes us into beautifully, perfect garments!