Remember growing up and having a friend over to spend the night? The giggling, staying up until the wee hours and the "girl talk"! We discussed in detail, makeup, clothes and most importantly….boys! Well, I'm all grown up now with a husband and two children and yet I still like to have "girl talk" and more importantly, I need it. From birth, our gender is more talkative and more relational than the other gender we so love to talk about!! We crave relationship, connection and we so enjoy the sweetness of friendship. My heroes are my friends who have encouraged me, laughed with me, cried with me, prayed with me and most of all lovingly set me straight if needed. Choosing to share your heart with a friend is a step of faith, but the rewards are incredible. God is a god of relationship. He recognizes our need for relationship with each other. Proverbs 27:9 says ‘Oil and perfume rejoice the heart; so does the sweetness of a friend's counsel that comes from the heart.’ We need to share our life’s journey with others. Someone may need to hear your struggle just so they know they aren’t alone in their struggle. There are hurting women that God brings across our path. Will you risk your heart to capture the heart of your Father?

On my way to Starbucks to have wonderful “girl talk” with my friend Sumer, my little girl Olivia asked if she could go. I had told her it was a "girls talk" meeting to which she promptly replied….."Well I'm a girl". In an effort to get out of the door with minimal fanfare, I said, "I know you're a girl, but you have to be a Mom to go to this meeting". Undaunted, she pursued me out the door, saying, "Mommy, how do I become a mommy?" I laughed as I looked in those big blue eyes and cupped her face in my hands. “Someday, sweet girl, someday, you will be a Mommy and you will be able to meet a friend for "girl talk"”. Surprisingly, this seemed to satisfy her as she ran back in the house to her dolls and I headed to Starbucks for so much more than coffee!

A thousand times I’ve failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I’m caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

This is a verse from Joel Houston’s song “From the Inside Out” and it’s poetry has ministered to me over the past year. I’ve failed God so many times, more than a thousand, and I’m struck by the fact that when I fall, He catches me….ALWAYS. His arms of love wrap me up and set me on my feet. In my thinking, I believe He must be done with me; I’ve messed up so. But that is NOT the heart of a Father to his daughter. Joel Houston’s song continues….

And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

Everything that governs me and moves me comes from the outflow of my heart. When my Father lovingly deals with me, it is with my heart. For change to occur it must be from the inside out. No matter my feelings, my heart must obey, it must be softened and it must be captured by the Lover of my soul. We women wear so many hats, and we’re expected to know all the answers of life, and to know what we want and what makes us happy. But in reality, we don’t have all the answers and sometimes I’m not sure what makes me happy. But the one who breathed life into me knows what will satisfy, what answers I need for everything that I face and most of all what hat I should wear for each and every moment of the day. Gals, God just wants to be with us, to walk with us, to do life with us, to hem us in and cover us with His wings. Our mission is to keep our heart soft, pliable and obedient. Falling down is not the issue, getting up is our goal! Let Him that fashioned you in that secret place capture you once again and change you from the inside out! Let your soul cry out to Him today!