“The wilderness and the solitary (desert, lonely, desolate) place shall be glad for them, and the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert SHALL rejoice and BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE.” Isaiah 35:1

Finding Paris, strange I know but trust me this is not going to be a world travel post but hopefully a travel to the inner space of ourselves and all those emotions and hopes, and dreams that old man time tends to run roughshod over and with the passage of time we forget that we even had those dreams.

The notion of “romantic” Paris is probably as old as dirt but the mention of the name usually brings to mind, roses, beauty, the Eiffel tower, whose reach toward the sky can be quite a reflection of reaching higher and the sheer romance of all it all will stir the feminine heart in a way unlike any other place on earth.

When as little girls do we first have those feelings that we are DIFFERENT, is in when we sneak into the perfumes, jewelry, and all the “womanly” treasures often found on the dressers of our mothers?

And for me there was nothing quite like the beautiful stationery that my big sister used when writing mushy love letters to her boyfriend who was in the army.

I’d watch her put the gold seal on the envelope and could not wait until I was big enough to have fancy gold seals and write mushy love letters!

And there was nothing quite like sitting playing with my doll watching her and Mom try new lipsticks and hairdo’s together because I SO was going to wear make up and do my hair just like them one day.

And I know you have your memories of when all things feminine, and beautiful stirred in you.

No matter what kind of a childhood you have had, even if it was not influenced by your own mother, there was still a lady, a grandmother, someone that you looked up as a what being female was all about.

There is always still some thread in time that influenced you and stirred thoughts in your heart and your soul that led to the journey of “finding Paris”, that beautiful place of womanhood that we are all eventually led to.

With me I really had to hold on, after my sister married and my mom started worked the majority of my time was spent with my brothers and that could be a whole other post series!

Hard to stay focused on future femininity with daily wrestling, name calling, and “gas” contests going on constantly between them, but thank goodness for afternoon television visits with Ginger Grant 😉 

So WHAT were your hopes, dreams, and destination as you planned as a child? Bear them in mind.

Usually, we do find “Paris”, when we are around fifteen or sixteen, we blossom, discover our own style, we grow inside and become more self-aware, and often more assertive in being allowed who we want to be.

There is a freedom in knowing who we are as women but life changes so fast, especially when we are young.

As as the clock starts to tick the newness wearing off, things never quite measuring up to what our expectations had been, and real life sets in.

Soon the moon over the tower loses luster and doesn’t shine quite so brightly and the captivating scents of jasmine and lilac fade, and petals start to fall from those beautiful roses.

Life does that, bad relationships do that, like countless women who married young, married FOREVER, expecting the road ahead to be filled with happiness, family and Prince Charming only to find that Prince Charming was in reality, the Prince of Persia, (a Biblical reference to Lucifer) that lied, cheated, and battered them and always managed to convince them that they were to blame.

And choosing to leave, others have been faced with being single mothers, taking on the role of both parents, doing the back breaking work of often working two jobs to provide and the double duty task of feeding, clothing, laundry, housework, not one moment for themselves or to worry about what they may need or even want because their children come first.

Others, for a multitude of reasonings, become entangled in bad lifestyle choices and professions that leave you in place alright, but it certainly isn’t paris.

And those who have had good lives but have suffered loss of family, friends, and worse of their children, have actually lost parts of themselves and have a hard time trying to move forward because their hearts long for the happy days of the past, the days when the still had those who have gone on.

The dreams of long ago have but vanished and just making it through the day, week, or month becomes the focus.

No joy, no hope, and no more believing for a “magical” age or time when things will change because as we become jaded, we lose hope, we lose faith, and we lose the ability to see past circumstances to see that “paris” is still really there, it still exists, we just have to find our way back to it and we have to find a way to rekindle the desire to even want to go there.

Last time we talked about aging and the fact that TIME is NOTHING to God, AGE is nothing to God.

He has ALL power in heaven and earth, and time bends to his will.

The scripture above so perfectly reflects what goes on in so many of us, the wilderness, the places we find ourselves in but can’t find our way out.

The lonely deserts, lonely, barren times in life when it seems that nothing you have planted will ever grow and all your best efforts are met with scorching thirst.

But it is in journeying to this place that you will find refreshment, you will find joy, and your hard, dry places will blossom with a beauty you have never known, God created us to have all those wonderful feelings and He wants you to feel loved, beautiful, and precious, and priceless in Him and only He can renew, restore, and rejuvenate all the areas inside and out in each of us that need refreshed.

That really is what it all about, you are still you, you are still the same person you were when He created you, NOTHING can ever change your core being. If you find yourself in a desert you need to stop and take stock, don’t look at the desert, don’t beat yourself up or question how you ended up there.

Ecclesiastes 7:10: “Say NOT thou, What IS THE CAUSE that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not enquire wisely concerning this.”

Which means that we are not to question that the past was better than our present and in doing so we are not asking the right question.

REMEMBER where you were going, what you wanted to accomplish, REVIVE your hopes, REMEMBER your dreams and ask God to show you what He wants you to see in that place.

It’s like the alabaster breaking, which will we soon get to, we have to want change, we have to be to the point that it is all or nothing and in that place your rose will again bloom and it will bloom abundantly and you will be made completely new.

Jesus NEVER touched or touches a life without that life being made COMPLETELY new, new thoughts, new joy, new peace, and a renewed hope that THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING and your life is a book not yet written. 

Of course, He knows the plans, but for us it is ALL BLANK PAGES AND A CLEAN SLATE and with that you can dream again, you can hope again, and you can feel beautiful, feminine, and BE exactly WHO HE CREATED YOU TO BE!

Don’t be so sure life is “over” when it has even yet begun!

So go, go find Paris! If you thought the first time was good, the second time is going to blow your mind! 

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

Have A Blessed Week! Εξυπιζω NBJ 2017