Thursday, October 11, 2012

Loving Someone’s Backside by Guest Blogger Tracy Steel


Hope all are having an amazing day! Tracy Steel from One Degree Ministries is providing some awesome inspiration on Teagan's Travels today!


The Bible teaches that there is a time and purpose for everything under Heaven (Ecclesiastes chapter 3). The older I get, the more I realize and embrace the time and purpose for each backside that I encounter…

Besides being a mother, I am a military wife and mentor. These privileges have given me countless opportunities to make new friends and to talk about God and His Word with women all over the United States.

Unfortunately, at some point our mentoring season ended or my husband’s assignment in that city ended. Though I still remain in contact with these women via phone calls, Facebook, or Skype, I still had to hug them, say “see you later,” and watch as they turned and walked away.

These bittersweet backside moments left me wondering:

Did I encourage her?
Did I help or comfort her in any way?
Did my friendship bring glory to you, God?

A One Degree moment:
I love someone’s backside and the change it symbolizes. I am learning to embrace “see you laters” and am finding freedom from the need for life to remain the same.

Life just isn’t going to remain the way it is now. I need to allow the Holy Spirit to help me let go, so I can embrace what God is doing now.

So next time you are watching a friend walk away, or when you watch your child achieve a milestone, I encourage you to pause. Rejoice over their backside and remember that life is not going to remain the same. The people in your life will change, and so will you.

May we allow God to help us embrace change and fill our hearts with joy despite our bittersweet tears.

Ok, so I have to pray ALOT for God to help me rejoice when saying “see you later.” (BTW, I dislike saying the words “good-bye”) I also assume that I will bawl my eyes out as I watch my children graduate or move away. Who am I kidding? Moving and change stinks. However, letting go is often a process. I am finding that change is tolerable once I allow the Holy Spirit to help my heart adjust. Go figure, right?

“There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on earth… A right time to cry and another to laugh… A right time to embrace and to part… A right time to hold on and another to let go…”
~Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4a, 5b, 6b The Message



Tracy is proudly married to Chad, a pilot in the United States Air Force.  Whenever they are not being relocated, she loves to drink green tea and watch re-runs of LOST. She also enjoys chasing their two children, Jackson (3) and Katherine (1), throughout their toy-infested home.  Tracy graduated from Phoenix Seminary in 2005, and served as the Director of Student Women at Scottsdale Bible Church from 2005-2007. She is also the author of Images of His Beauty, a newly released Bible Study, for young women who struggle with self-image issues and eating disorders. You can find out more information about the study and follow her blog at www.onedegreeministries.com. You can also connect with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/OneDegreeMinistries, or chat with her via twitter @tracy_steel.

1 comment:

  1. I have enjoyed your blog during the last few weeks and just wanted to express that through giving you the Liebster Blog award. It isn't easy to keep a blog going with all the other things we have going in our lives. I know that you bring encouragement to other moms out there in cyberspace without ever leaving you home, like me. It is good to use the internet in such a good way to get godly encouragement to other women. Since you probably don't know what the Liebster Blog Award is, I invite you to stop over to WholeHearted Home where I explain it and the fun begins!!

    Blessings!!

    ReplyDelete

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