When I was a little girl, my younger sister and I "swam" in our apartment complex's rectangular pool. Back then, we couldn't swim, so we each wore an inflatable circle ("donut") around our waist.

I clung to the "donut" when I paddled over to the pool's deep end, where the downward sloping floor seemed far away.

The "donut" gave me the courage to go farther than I could on my own.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Flickr user J Jackson Photography

Likewise, a good friend can give us the support we need to go deeper and farther than we could on our own.

Well, when I joined Holley Gerth's God-Sized Dream Team, I was excited and a little scared. Holley, in her wisdom, advised us to get a buddy.

God knew I needed extra-support, so He graciously gave me two buddies: Kim and Melissa. Kim dreams of speaking at Allume one day, and Melissa dreams of starting a non-profit to help girls, and creating a conference for women.

Dear Kim,

Thank you for offering to be my buddy, and introducing me to Melissa. It has been a delight to deepen our friendship. I pray more people will discover your sense of humor coupled with encouraging and helpful advice at your blog, Too Darn Happy.

You have raised two daughters with your beloved Keith, and now you are pursuing your dreams. You joined Toastmasters, and you are faithfully taking steps toward your dream. I am so proud of you.

Having you as a buddy has been sweeter than eating warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies.

Thank you for how you encourage me with your comments, e-mails, and whenever I read your blog.

It has been fun to read e-mails from you and Melissa. You and Melissa have been the best buddies.

Your friendship and prayers buoy me up and enable to keep going.

Likewise, I have been praying for both of you. I commit to praying for both of you every day this week.

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." - Phil. 4:6 NASB

Love,

Your buddy Dolly

If you are reading this post, and you would like me to pray for you, please leave a note in the comments, or you can contact me via e-mail, and I will pray for you.

How has a buddy helped you? What is something you can do to help a friend today?

Linking with Holley Gerth and other dreamers (read more here...) at:

And wise Ann

Last week, God gave me the same song (new to me) twice in two days from two different people. He was calling me to be brave, when I wanted to stay on fear's familiar shore.

It can be difficult to own your history, unvarnished and raw. At least it is for some of us.

My memoir writing class has stirred up unexpected, as well as expected, emotions. The act of committing black on white forced me to claim (again) the truth of my story.

I am sorely tempted to minimize what I experienced because I know many who have suffered more. But then I recall what a spiritual director told me: "Suffering is suffering. No comparison."

Unfortunately, my denial of my pain does not alleviate another person's suffering. It only cuts me off from a chance to experience God's comfort, and then share that comfort with another.

We must each acknowledge the reality of our suffering, so we can experience God's comfort, and then pass that comfort to another. (2 Cor. 1:2-4)

On the plus side, writing also reminded me of God's faithful presence. His redemptive hands of grace working behind the curtains of my past.

This morning I sat at my wood kitchen table, looked at small chartreuse orbs promising blue hydrangea, and read Psalm 139:13-16.

God made a promise when He created you and me. He knit us in our mother's womb and said, we are "wonderfully made."

Confession: I struggle to find certain aspects of who I am wonderful. I told God I wish I was not a highly sensitive person (HSP)**. Since God knows everything, He wasn't surprised.

If I believe God truly wants to know all of me, then I must trust He can handle what is in my heart. My doubts. My fears.

Of course, it means I have to be honest with myself. Not always easy.

And who am I, as a clay pot to tell God, the Master Potter, what to do? So in faith and trust (my 2013 word), I thank God for how He designed me.

I let faith in the driver's seat and not my feelings, although I acknowledge them.

Parker Palmer writes:

"Vocation...comes from a voice 'in here' calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God."

When I quiet my internal chatter, I can hear the still small voice of His Spirit inside of me. He tells me He loves me, and He didn't make a mistake when He made me a HSP.

And my friend, if you wonder if you are too loud, or too quiet, or too intellectual, or you're not enough because _____________, may I tell you: God thinks you are wonderful!

God never compares you to "so and so" and wishes you were more like someone else. Truly. Amazing.

Palmer shares a Hasidic tale: "Rabbi Zusya, when he was an old man, said, 'In the coming world, they will not ask me: 'Why were you not Moses?' They will ask me: 'Why were you not Zusya!'"*

God wants you to be gloriously and uniquely you. Really.

Will you join me today in trusting God didn't make a mistake, and thanking Him for making you, wonderfully you?

What part of your personality or temperment do you struggle to believe is wonderful?

* Parker Palmer quotes are taken from Peter Scazzero's Daily Office, pp. 24-25.

**Link to a questionnaire to discover whether you or a loved one is a HSP. Thanks to Mick Silva for sharing this link.

Linking with these lovely communities:

Sweet and gifted friend Laura Boggess, 

Linking with encouraging and talented friend Jennifer Dukes Lee,

and the amazing Jen 

Linking with encouraging Emily at "imperfect prose" at

On a sun-warmed Sunday afternoon, our girl and I stand in line behind ten people at a local gelato shop. It smells like hints of espresso, vanilla, and other delectable scents.

We ask for a sample of a new flavor: Passionfruit-strawberry-lemon sorbet. It has a refreshing tang so we order it along with mint chocolate chip gelato.

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons Flickr user Dawn Huczek

There is anticipation as we wait for the teenager, behind the counter, to scoop the sorbet and gelato. I pay, and finally we stroll outside, sit, and eye peachy-yellow sorbet and pistachio-green gelato with brown flecks.

Did you know we eat with our eyes before we taste it?

I enjoy cold, tangy, minty and chocolate chip flavors melting in my mouth.

As the cold slightly tart sorbet touches my tongue, then slides down my throat, I give thanks. What a gift to be able to taste so many different flavors.

It made me think of what I read this morning at my kitchen table:

O taste and see that the Lord is good;
How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! - Psalm 34:8 NASB

I was thinking of how I can't taste the goodness of the sorbet unless I open my mouth, and receive it. And before I do, I see it.

Likewise, I taste and see that the LORD is good, when I open my heart, mind, spirit, and soul to Him.

I see Him with the eyes of faith. And by grace, I receive Him.

Tasting the goodness of God is not merely a mental exercise.

Thinking about sorbet, without actually placing it in my tongue, will not result in tasting it.

I experience the Lord's goodness when I believe He died and rose again, so I could have a relationship with Him. I experience His love, which is not based on my goodness (Romans 5:8).

Every time I willingly open myself to more of the Lord in my life, I have an opportunity to taste/experience His goodness.

And I say "Yes" to tasting His undeserved forgiveness. His forgiveness rooted in His goodness and undeserved favor, and not on my goodness. Thankfully.

The Lord's goodness is not based on my external circumstances, which change from day to day.

His goodness is His character. Just like my sorbet is sorbet.

God is good, and He cannot be other than good, even if I deem what He allows in my life as not good.

Psalm 34:8 tells me one way I can experience the Lord's goodness is by taking refuge in Him.

When we are stressed, do we find refuge in food, entertainment, or talking to a friend? None of those things are necessarily bad, but if they keep us from going to God, then they are not good.

From past experience, I am learning God is the only true refuge. He is the only one who is never too busy for me.

He is the only One who is not burdened or overwhelmed by anything, so whatever I share with Him, He can handle.

And when I share honestly with Him what is troubling me, I taste the goodness of His presence. I open myself to receive Him, goodness personified.

He is the warm blanket of love around me when I feel the cold of rejection.

I experience the goodness of His peace in exchange for my worries.

He is the sweet in the midst of my bittersweet.

When I focus on His promises to never ever leave me or forsake me (Heb. 13:5), I taste the goodness of His faithful presence.

He is my firm anchor keeping my boat afloat in the raging storm.

My past favorable experiences with the gelato shop have made me a repeat customer. Likewise, the more I experience the Lord's goodness, the more I want to make Him my refuge.

He is the healing balm to my wounded soul.

To be honest, sometimes I don't immediately sense His presence or comfort.

But He has been faithful to me for several decades so I can trust enough to keep clinging to Him. I can trust I will eventually taste and see His goodness.

So I give thanks for what He will do in His good time because He is good. He promised me an eternity to reveal His goodness.

And I am grateful for the glimpses and little tastes He has already given me.

Have you taken the risk of tasting and seeing the Lord is good by taking refuge in Him?

How have you tasted and seen the Lord's goodness in your life?

Thank you for being here. I don't take your presence or your words for granted.

A God-sighting here: Just read this excellent post on Psalm 34:8, The Socially Acceptable Sin, via a link on Ann's blog.

Linking with wise Ann

And sweet and gifted friend Laura Boggess, 

Linking with encouraging and talented friend Jennifer Dukes Lee,

and the amazing Jen