Lolo was criticized for accepting sponsorship from two very visible companies. The author of a story claimed she was marketing herself. She does have a degree in economics, but accepted the sponsorships so she could prepare for the Olympics; something she wouldn't have been able to do if she worked a 9-5 job. This is a common practice among Olympians and something she had to do to reach her dream.
Gabby Douglas was criticized for how she did her hair. I love that, even though she was surprised by the twitter comments, she blew it off saying that she really doesn't care what people think about how she does her hair. I would like to see any of the people who felt free to criticize Gabby walk the length of the beam, let alone do any of the gymnastic stunts that she does. I also love how vocal she is about her faith. She is definitely someone for our girls to look to for an example.
Speaking of love...
I've been slowly reading through Romans. I say slowly because I keep getting stuck on the truths I'm being reminded of or discovering. One of those truths I found is in chapter five, verse five.
and hope does not disappoint; because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I've been learning a lot about the Holy Spirit in the last year and how He works in our lives. I do have to be honest and say that I have found discrepancies in charismatic practice and what God's Word says about the Holy Spirit. I have also discovered that there is more to Him than what I was exposed to growing up in a conservative Bible church.
As I've been learning about the different manifestations of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life, the same question kept popping up in my mind. What is the purpose, especially, of a prayer language? What do you know?! I found the answer in the above verse. Shocking, I know...
Manifestations of the Holy Spirit in our lives, through His gifts, is evidence of God's love for us that He pours out in our hearts. God is very personal in how He expresses that love to us and He uses the Holy Spirit to show us just how much He loves us as individuals and as the body of Christ.
Let me tell you a story to explain what that can look like in someone's life. I was at a women's group at church when a testimony was shared about a woman who felt led to ask God what He calls her since He is her Abba - like a pet name a parent would give a child. He answered her with a very specific name that fit her relationship with Him. We were intrigued by her testimony so we decided to pray silently as a group and ask God if He would reveal our names to each of us. When our leader closed the prayer, there were several of the young women with tears running down their cheeks and huge smiles on their faces. Our leader asked if anyone wanted to share if they had an answer from God. One by one, we all shared the names God had given us. It was amazing how perfectly each name fit each one of us and was so personal. One of the young women summed it up by saying, "God really does love us, doesn't He?!"
I am planning on making some subway art with the name God calls me along with some of His Word and song lyrics. I will post pictures when I get it finished. It will be a wonderful visual reminder of how much He loves me. It still blows me away...
Craft
When the girls were home, they took over the kitchen table and crafted to their hearts' content. Subway art is very popular right now so they decided to tackle a few projects in that genre using stencils, sticker letters and acrylic craft paint on some scrap wood they found in their dad's garage.
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