One of REVO’s local strategic ministry partners is Salem Pregnancy Care Center. They exist “to serve Jesus Christ by promoting sexual purity, and through life-affirming ministry to those touched by a crisis pregnancy as they make decisions regarding pregnancy, parenting, adoption, and relationship issues.” We’ve been volunteering there before we even launched back in February 2011.

I am pretty sure at some point in the last year I have mentioned my friend, Erin Etheridge, aka the Fierce Beagle. She had a great idea several months ago – make blankets for the babies of the women who turn to Salem Pregnancy for help. Her name for the blankets…Wrapped in Love.

I fell in love with the idea and wanted to see something she has been dreaming of for a long time become a reality. In the beginning of the summer we hashed out some details, sent out emails, spread the word and got started making blankets. Anyone could come and learn how to sew, crochet or knit. Beginners, experts…all were invited.

We started back in August with around 8 of us making blankets. Erin’s goal was to have 15 of them by September. We have one more week of sewing, crocheting, and knitting, and we are going to end up with over 20 blankets.

 My friend, Amber, is at the head of the table in this picture. We’ve all been trying for about a month to figure out how to work her sewing machine. I think Erin’s grandmother, Mrs. Alice, who is to the left of Amber, figured out how to thread the machine. We’ve all struggled with this machine. Hopefully, it’s up and running now.

This is Ms. Mary, Erin’s other grandmother. Shes’ Irish. She says such words as “wee” and “lovely”. She has become one of the highlights of my week. I look forward to Tuesday because I know I will see her. I purposefully bring my crocheting so I can have an excuse to sit by her on the couch as she works on her knitting so I can talk to her, not that either of us gets much work done. She has lived an incredible life, seen amazing things, and is one of the loveliest people I know. She reminds me of my grandmothers, and I guess sitting with her for a couple of hours every week makes me somehow feel closer to them. I absolutely cherish this wee, lovely, Irish woman.

Lily is having an allergic reaction that is covering her entire body…

the doctor said to give her antihistamine medicine and it should be gone in 3-4 days…

it’s going to be a long 3-4 days for my sweet, allergic-to-something-but-I-don’t-know-what girl.

Concerned but trying to not worry,
Mom of the darling child in above pictures

There are so many movies that are great, epic movies…movies that are on every “Greatest 100 Movies Ever Made” list…movies that everyone knows quotes from even if they never saw the movie…movies that you can’t believe your friends or spouse or family members have never seen.

A few of these movies would be “The Godfather”, “The Untouchables”, “Taxi Driver”, “Midnight Cowboy”, “Pulp Fiction”, and “Good Will Hunting”. The list goes on and on. I, admittedly, have not seen all of these movies, but I do know some of the best lines. Who doesn’t know “Hey, I’m walkin’ here,” from “Midnight Cowboy”?

What I find with so many “great” movies is that they have an incredible amount of foul language in them. “Good Will Hunting” was an great screenplay but I couldn’t focus on it because of all the bad language. We just watched “Silver Lining Playbook” and again, a really good screenplay, but so much unnecessary bad language. Both movies would have been perfectly good without it.

So why is it there to begin with? Why do we use them. I suggest that “bad” words are used to describe or give emphasis. But who said those words were “bad” to begin with?

That made me think about other words we use, like awesome, glorious, great, majestic. All of these words are used to describe God. I use them to describe Him and things in everyday life. For example, I might tell Paul he took an awesome picture or if I have something really good to eat I might say it is glorious. But these are words used to describe the God of the universe. The One who is holding me together as I type these words. Why would I use the word glorious to describe food in one breath and in the next use it to describe Him?

Maybe it’s that I don’t know the definition of these words. Let’s define them.
Awesome – Expressive of or inspiring awe. These leads one to define “awe”, which is an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime. 
Glorious – possessing or deserving glory; marked by great beauty or splendor
Great – notably large in size; remarkable in magnitude, degree, or effectiveness; eminent, distinguished; chief or preeminent over others
Majestic –  having or exhibiting sovereign power, authority, or dignity 

It seems simple to me to call a wave totally awesome now. Not that I do that, but I am sure somewhere in the world there is a surfer on a beach who has called a wave totally awesome today. Does it undermine the word glorious when I use it in reference to God and a slice of pie?

What would it look it if we did the same thing for words that describe God that we did for “bad” words at some point in history? We made “bad” words have a “bad” meaning. Why not have “Godly” words have a “Godly” meaning again?

Wondering if I can understand dogs better now,
The mom of Lily Puppy

When you go overseas on a short term mission trip you expect some God-sized moment, an emotional response to what you see and experience, to never want to leave, to hear God more clearly…the list could go on.
While in Cuba the people around me were having these moments. It’s not that I wasn’t. I just don’t think I ever had a HUGE moment. I had small whispers of moments.

When we were sitting around in the hotel room in Miami for our first team meeting Meredith and Ashton started playing and singing. They weren’t one phrase in before the rest of us joined in. That moment brought a team who had only know each other for a few hours into a closer relationship with one another. That was the moment we became a team. But it came in a whisper of a moment.

Watching the sun rise over the ocean was magnificent. Before the sun ever reaches the horizon, its rays are taking over the darkness and not matter how much the darkness tries to stay it can’t. The light from the sun is just too strong. The grandness of who God is and that we can see Him in every part of creation hit me…in a gentle whisper.

Sitting with one of my teammates as she poured out her heart at the sadness and hurt she was feeling about not getting to see the children we’d spent two days with was heartbreaking and encouraging. It was heartbreaking because she was hurting. She loves big, with all she has, with no hindrances. That was encouraging. And God spoke in a whisper to me as I spoke with her that it is okay to love even when it cost us something. After all, that’s how Jesus loves us.

Listening to a Cuban pastor explain the wonders of God and worshiping Him as we all sat crowded and sweating in small living room was one of the highlights. The words were almost whispered as he spoke them.

Watching my teammates as they interacted with children and teenagers was encouraging. I couldn’t help but stand back to watch them, smiling to myself. Seeing that God uses the quiet and shy of us, the outgoing, the funny, the enthusiastic. I realized this on a Thursday afternoon while my teammates played thumb war with children they couldn’t communicate with and again, it came to me in a whisper. 

Seeing a woman who’d been very quiet and meek during the week boldly leading her church in worship. Unashamedly boasting in Christ as she led in the praise of her Lord, Savior, King and Redeemer. And although everyone was singing loudly, I heard a soft whisper.

Spending time with my teammates, laughing, sharing, crying…knowing that something special was happening and we were experiencing it together. That created a bond that I don’t think will ever be broken between us. And it all happened in whispers of moments.

Realizing that I wasn’t spending my time thinking about my children, missing them, crying for them, longing for them was something that happened when I got back. And I heard in a whisper Christ is sufficient in all things.

Seeing Paul baptize people in the sea. While everyone around me was cheering with excitement, I was still, listening to a whisper say that I would never forget that moment because it was a moment God had orchestrated.

We often overlook whispers, not realizing how much God can teach us about Himself in those moments of softness.