Oh yes, you shaped med first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God - you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration - what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.I'm back from Helsinki again. What a wonderful trip! We woke up Sunday morning to beautiful white snow and took a good run in it.
Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)
Saturday night I went to the sauna with a group of wonderful women, and after that, we ate together and I got to speak to them. We ended the evening praying in small groups, and I was immensely blessed by this.
My group had 2 Namibian women in it, and as we prayed our first prayer, they were very quiet, but suddenly, it was like courage took hold of them and they prayed up a storm! I asked them to pray for my menstrual cycle and the mood swings I so badly want to live without, and the first woman to pray was beautiful Bertha. Studying to be a nurse, I suspect she felt this was just her thing - praying for the physical body to line up and behave itself! But I was stunned. She prayed out of 2 Timothy 1:7: For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. She prayed for self-discipline in my life, and then continued to pray that I would be able to give thanks for my body, as the Bible tells us that we are wonderfully made.
I have been so upset about my body and my hormones and all the mood swings. I have been so frustrated and quite frankly, so deeply affected by this that I have literally cried out to God.
But I have never thought to thank Him for my body and all of its functions.
Perhaps I ought to. Perhaps I ought to be more grateful, more focused on all the good things that my body is capable off. Perhaps I ought to show a little more respect for this wonderful thing that God has designed and created. Will it remove all less desirable aspects? Probably not. But as I ask Him to heal me and make my body more harmonious, I will be grateful for it. Grateful that I don't suffer from anything worse.
What a weekend. I went to Finland and met prayer warriors from Namibia. And I also realized that a Finnish childhood friend of mine, now living in Japan, is married to the sister of the woman whose house I slept in. What a small world this is.
