A gaggle of us girlies hit the road last night to see Chonda Pierce in concert. WOW! I haven’t laughed that hard for a LONG time. Too long a time, really. My cheeks and back STILL ache from the belly deep giggles. There is just something special about the commonality of humor that unites us as Christian women…no matter where we are in our walk, our talk or our lives, we share more than we don’t.

I had been looking forward to this outing for a LONG time, a chance to spend some time with some ladies I am only just beginning to get to know. Ladies I already appreciate and care for. We had some terrific talks last night, but have only just begun to scratch the surface of where we can go as friends and sisters in Christ…I’m excited about building those relationships.

In the midst of all that laughter and fun, it hit me—just how much I had missed that kind of fellowship, that sense of so many kindred spirits in the room.

I was (and still am today) sad that I’ve put finding a church home on the back burner for so long. How what was once such an integral part of my life is no more—at least of late. I can explain it away with any number of reasons, but there is no excuse that can even remotely justify me robbing my children of the same opportunity I had to grow up within the wonderful warmth of a church family. Time to get off my butt, light a fire under the hubby and GET TO CHURCH!!

So…getting back to Chonda…she had some great stuff to say. Tough stuff, too. Not getting too far into the whole depression thing, let’s just say that I was strongly reminded last night that God loves me. Has always loved me. Will always love me. That HE is the light at the end of the tunnel. I think Michael W. Smith said it WAAAAY better that I ever could, in his song “Never Been Unloved”:

I have been unfaithful
I have been unworthy
I have been unrighteous
And I have been unmerciful

I have been unreachable
I have been unteachable
I have been unwilling
And I have been undesirable

And sometimes I have unwise
I've been undone by what I'm unsure of
But because of You
And all that You went through
I know that I have never been unloved

I have been unbroken
I have been unmended
I have been uneasy
And I've been unapproachable

I've been unemotional
I've been unexceptional
I've been undecided
And I have been unqualified

UnawareI have been unfair
I've been unfit for blessings from above
But even I can see
The sacrifice You made for me
To show that I have never been unloved
It's because of You
And all that You went through
I know that I have never been unloved

This has always been one of my favorites and one I’ve clung to. Been listening to it all morning here at work, realizing that God loved me enough to remind me of it…and to remind me to take the help that He has made available to me… Time to get off my butt, call the doctor and get back on the program.