Over a Cup of Coffee

The familar warmth  invaded my nose and soul, enveloping me as I entered my favorite coffee shop. I Ordered my usual and waited for my "appointment."  I sipped the hot beverage with a heavy heart. The young woman who I was meeting, was in the middle of a crisis, she had recently discovered her husband had decided she wasn't enough.

As the petite curly headed blond sat down across from me, her hands visibly shaking trying to hold onto the the warm cup, my heart ached. We sat for a moment as she gathered her courage to share her heartbreaking story with me. Her marriage of 8yrs was on the verge of crumbling.

She had questions and I prayed I would have some answers to comfort and encourage. I was not here as a marriage counselor, they had already begun that process. I was here to speak truth into a shattered soul. The truth only God can bring into these kinds of situations. The truth that says the God of the universe is crazy about you. He won't leave you He won't disappoint you and most importantly YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH.

Paul said it best "Long before he (God) laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son" Ephesians 1:4-6

Tears rolled down her face as I spoke these simple words. I prayed silently that they would pierce through her pain and straight into her heart." YOU ARE ENOUGH. When God looks at you He see your full potential, he sees everything you were created to be. He literally sees His son Jesus in you, and He was willing to give up His son so you would see the truth. It doesn't matter what others have said about you or done to you. It doesn't matter what you have done or said to yourself. He is madly, passionately in love with you."

I want to shout it from the mountain tops to anyone who will hear. God is crazy about you, because when you begin to believe it everything changes.

 My new friend finished her latte and as I hugged her good-bye I whispered. "You are more than enough because of HIM. "

“You never really know a man until you understand things from his point of view, until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1960

This past week I spent a few days in Cape Town South Africa, a city full of breathtaking beauty and heartbreaking sorrow. I went to be inspired and encouraged and to spend some time with 4000 other women attending the Hillsong Colour Conference for women. This fabulous event did inspire and challenge me even more to expand my heart to God's amazing love for his women around the world, but in the midst of the heart pounding worship and frenetic if not expectant crowds God gave me a glimpse into some inspiring lives as we sat and had tea!

Coffee/Tea is the equalizer of women. One of my dreams is to have coffee or tea with women all over the world, When we women sit together over this simple ritual, barriers no longer exist and a common sisterhood emerges. This trip I had several opportunities to sip exquisitely made lattes and cappuccinos, to sit in a fabulously decorated lobby of a grand hotel tasting wonderful Robois tea but my absolute highlight was the incredible privilege of being invited into the home of a women know as Auntie Baby. Auntie is an 83yr old colored woman who has lived her whole life in Cape Town South Africa.

Auntiebaby

Neatly kept small homes surrounded by gates greeted us as we entered the township of Ladismith, a couple of turns and we pulled in front of a small perfectly kept home. We were ushered in with hugs and kisses by several beautiful women. There were cousins, nieces and aunts and great nieces all speaking at once to one another, My friend Theresa who brought me explained that they had not seen each other in many years. Though I am not fluent in Africans ( in fact only know one word) I was keenly aware of what they were saying,, as all women of the world their conversation centered around how family was,who had gotten married, who had had babies and who had passed. As the pleasantries turned to a deeper conversation Auntie Baby prepared the tea and brought it out in her beautiful yellow and green tea set and served it with mouth watering homemade coconut  biscuits. It was at this point that they began to go between English and Africans so I picked up on the seriousness of the conversation.

Theresa and I

The history of South Africa and Cape Town in particular is not always a glorious one and there are several distinct classes of people.During the Apartheid Era blacks were evicted from properties that were in areas designated as "white only" and forced to move into segregated townships. Separate townships were established for each of the three designated non-white race groups (blacks, coloureds and Indians) These distinct classes still exists and unfortunately the coloureds are still marginalized.

My new friends were discussing the challenges that they faced with lack of education and the fact many young coloureds have little or no desire for change. These women had seen so much in their lifetime and could have easily come to the conclusion their job was done but discussion heated up as they discussed how things must change and the only way change could come would be for this generation to see how valuable they were and the only way was for them to realize they had purpose was through a relationship with Jesus. I could not help but think of the young women in the US who face a similar challenge. Women who do not understand how precious they are in God's eyes.

Humbled and honored to have been allowed into what I felt was a sacred circle of women that day, we left but not without Auntie Baby giving me a gift of a beautiful table cloth she had hand sewn, the gift will always be a treasure to me but the greatest gift of all was just for a moment I was allowed into her home and heart to hear and know that women truly are the same all over the world.

My friend Theresa let me know that more than likely I was the only white woman who had been into Aunties home. WOW tears still spring to my eyes as I know these are moments I will treasure for the rest of my life

The Cure

We have this amazing group of moms at City of Grace I have had the privilege of spending some time with the past few weeks.They are your next door neighbor, the woman across from you at the Starbucks counter,they may be in your PTA or the soccer mom who brought oranges to last weeks game. They are every mom and they are absolutely ordinary and they are doing extraordinary things for the God they love. They love one another and care for one another in such a way that if you looked up the word community in the dictionary I would not be surprised to see a picture of their group.

I have been spending time with this Group (Moms of the City) on a weekly basis to facilitate a study called "The Cure" by John Lynch, Bruce McNicol and Bill Thrall. It is a rewrite of a book that radically rocked my world about 10+ years ago. It put into words perfectly how I saw the precious gift of grace. With boldness the authors proclaim that not only can we live our life defined by Gods view of us, we must live out of that viewpoint. Any other way of thinking is counter to the Gospel of Jesus. When we live out of that definition we transform into the very image of the one who created us. We can reach into a hurting and dieing world and bring the Hope that is so desperately needed, with  authenticity and vulnerability

Our Moms of the City are learning to trust God and each other with who they are. They are real and vulnerable and they (just like all of us if we admit it) are coming with their "stuff." But because this group is a place of Grace they are finding safety to become who God says they are.I am so excited because this is the very heart of who God is for us and this is how we "Love People to Life"

This study is who we are as women at City of Grace. We are going to be offering this study on our Scottsdale campus in our women's Thursday evening lifegroup. It too is a group of women who welcome with open arms all the ordinary women who love an extraordinary God. Whether you are just beginning your journey with Jesus or you have known him for a long time you are welcome here. Come learn to trust God and others with who you really are.

For more info on the book and the group or to order the book and work book
http://store.truefaced.com/the-cure/