Stretch

I was thinking today about being stretched. There have been so many times in my life when I felt like I was stretched. Sometimes God was asking me to do more, take on more, believe more and so on. Other times there have been seasons in family life when Billy was busy (like now) and I felt the pressure of that. Or even other times when relationships were growing and being worked out and it stretched me. More often then not I feel like I can rise to the occasion. There have even been some times when I have surprised myself. But there have been instances when, like anything stretchy, when then pressure was removed I went back to the previous state. While pondering this today I was thinking about different types of things that stretch. Take a rubber band, for instance, I can stretch it to accommodate my hair, but when I take it out it is fine. Undamaged and unblemished. But on the other hand, let's take my stomach. It was stretched beyond limits to houses 5 beautiful little girls. It was stretched so far that I bear scars to remember (and a pooch that I am in the process of removing) . And even though I don't look pregnant now, my stomach is not the same. At times I have hated this fact. But I always remembered that I birthed something. Something invaluable. There have been many times I have been like that rubber band that stretches, but doesn't stay stretched. So the next time, God has to stretch me again. This is the one time I do want to be like my stomach. That when God stretches me, I don't shrink back.

On a side note - In the past I have spoken curses over my stomach and have said I hated it. I have repented and changed my mind about my stomach. I am going to lose weight and God is going to restore it. God used this stomach to teach me a valuable lesson.