Recently I was invited to speak at a ladies event in which the theme was wishing. We had a really great time, and a few days later, a friend came by and asked me how it went. She was quite interested in knowing what I had spoken about.
"Well, my notes are right here," I told her, "You can have them if you like."
She seemed quite enthusiastic about that idea, and so she took them home with her. A little while later, she told me how much my message had blessed her. Not just a general comment like, "Good job," but a detailed description of exactly which passages had touched her.
Then she asked, "Why haven't you posted it on your blog?" I didn't really have an answer for her. I would never intentionally hold out on my readers. :) So, by request, here is basically what I said:
What they don't tell you, in a formal introduction like that, is who I really am behind the scenes. And let me tell you, I do not "have it together" any more than any one of you.
Has anyone been on a cruise? Yes, me too. In fact I just got back from one the beginning of February. You know what they say? They say the average person on a cruise gains 7 pounds in a week! That's right! But I was so happy, I only gained one pound in a week. The problem is, according to my bathroom scale, I am still on that cruise!
So, I've been wearing stretchy, athletic pants ever since I got home -- they are the only pants that fit. But I wanted to look really nice for all of you, so I went into my closet and pulled out my black dress pants for tonight. Thanks to the miracle of control top panty hose, I was actually able to get the pants all the way up. I'm not saying it was easy. I'm just saying I got them up. I felt like a farmer sausage being squeezed into its skin. I eventually managed to get the zipper up too. The problem was, the zipper broke, and I was trapped in my pants!
So, I just wanted to tell you that your illustrious speaker is standing before you tonight with pants held together with a paperclip.
The title I have chosen for tonight is, "A longing fulfilled." That is really the essence of what wishing is -- a longing that we want to have, and hope will be, fulfilled. The Lord understands how important hope is to the the human heart.
Proverbs 13:12 tells us,
Life is a mixture of “hope deferred” and “a longing fulfilled.” That’s why it often feels like we are on the proverbial “emotional roller coaster.”
And there are times when both are true at once. How many of you wish you could lose 5 pounds? How many of you ate the dessert anyways? You see what I mean, we want what we don’t want.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this struggle in Romans 7:19,
Paraphrased by Darilyn that verse would read,
And then we wonder why our “wishes” don’t come true.
Hope this blessed you, come back to read more.
Love, Darilyn
"Well, my notes are right here," I told her, "You can have them if you like."
She seemed quite enthusiastic about that idea, and so she took them home with her. A little while later, she told me how much my message had blessed her. Not just a general comment like, "Good job," but a detailed description of exactly which passages had touched her.
Then she asked, "Why haven't you posted it on your blog?" I didn't really have an answer for her. I would never intentionally hold out on my readers. :) So, by request, here is basically what I said:
*****
Thank you so much for having me here tonight. I just have to start out with a bit of a confession... It is really intimidating to hear oneself introduced like that. I mean, they say all these wonderful things about you, and then you have to get up on stage and try to live up to your own press.What they don't tell you, in a formal introduction like that, is who I really am behind the scenes. And let me tell you, I do not "have it together" any more than any one of you.
Has anyone been on a cruise? Yes, me too. In fact I just got back from one the beginning of February. You know what they say? They say the average person on a cruise gains 7 pounds in a week! That's right! But I was so happy, I only gained one pound in a week. The problem is, according to my bathroom scale, I am still on that cruise!
So, I've been wearing stretchy, athletic pants ever since I got home -- they are the only pants that fit. But I wanted to look really nice for all of you, so I went into my closet and pulled out my black dress pants for tonight. Thanks to the miracle of control top panty hose, I was actually able to get the pants all the way up. I'm not saying it was easy. I'm just saying I got them up. I felt like a farmer sausage being squeezed into its skin. I eventually managed to get the zipper up too. The problem was, the zipper broke, and I was trapped in my pants!
So, I just wanted to tell you that your illustrious speaker is standing before you tonight with pants held together with a paperclip.
The title I have chosen for tonight is, "A longing fulfilled." That is really the essence of what wishing is -- a longing that we want to have, and hope will be, fulfilled. The Lord understands how important hope is to the the human heart.
Proverbs 13:12 tells us,
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
Life is a mixture of “hope deferred” and “a longing fulfilled.” That’s why it often feels like we are on the proverbial “emotional roller coaster.”
And there are times when both are true at once. How many of you wish you could lose 5 pounds? How many of you ate the dessert anyways? You see what I mean, we want what we don’t want.
The Apostle Paul wrote about this struggle in Romans 7:19,
“For what I do is not the good I want to do;
no, the evil I do not want to do, this I keep on doing.”
Paraphrased by Darilyn that verse would read,
“For what I eat is not the healthy stuff I want to eat;
NO, the chocolate I do not want to eat,
that is exactly what I keep on eating.”
And then we wonder why our “wishes” don’t come true.
*****
Note to readers: I have actually been chocolate free since March 19! If you have been following my blog, you know why. If not, I encourage you to scroll back and see. It is a great story!!Hope this blessed you, come back to read more.
Love, Darilyn
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