One of my favorite things in life is making introductions. I love, love, love introducing awesome people to other awesome people and watching the connections turn into friendships which enhance life and build people up. So, without further delay, meet Julie Todd!
Julie and I met through mutual acquaintances and, like Amy (whose fabulous post can be seen here), I have never been in the same place at the same time as Julie. But, even without that blessing, I have indeed been blessed time and again as Julie honestly and authentically shares her journey with others. You'll be blessed as well, so thank you for coming to the party!
Meet Julie Todd!
My name is Julie Todd. I am a 53 year old woman who spent most of her life living as one bound to the ties of religion. In these last few years God has been inviting me into the beauty of intimacy found in relationship. It's a place where it's no longer up to what I do, but instead about what He has done. I am still baffled with the reality that even on my worst day I am still the righteousness of Christ. The more I experience the grace of God the more I am ruined for ordinary living. I write to tell the story. You will find me at My Long and Winding Road (http://mylongandwindingroad.
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| Julie Todd |
He Is the Hope That Changes Everything:
Mile markers are interspersed along this journey of life. Some I walk through with ease, others require mega doses of endurance. Endurance was required the year my husband’s business began to find its end. The bills and needs of our family of seven were always before us. Would we make it out alive? Everything in my being longed to see a glimpse of God’s presence there in our midst. Would He come, I wondered?
I hadn’t thought about that honey baked turkey in years, yet suddenly, out of nowhere there it was. The memory of a meal we had received at the birth of our 4th child was immediately so fresh in my mind. I could almost taste it causing the longing to permeate my being. Maybe if I looked hard I could find a way in our over stretched budget to make it work.
I’m a very practical, frugal person. Moments like that are out of character for me. I live well under the constraints of a budget. Yet on that day all practicality went out the door. The lure of desire caused the calculator in my brain to start up. Surely there was a loophole with twenty-five dollars hidden amidst the bills. No matter how much I moved things around, at the end of the day I couldn’t justify my longing. I spoke of it to no one, I just let it go.
A couple of days later a friend invited me to lunch. Five children ages 10 and under along with my husband’s failing business was taking it’s toll on me. How fast could I say yes? A date was set.
She showed up with her teenagers and home made cookie dough. Hers would entertain mine while we dashed away for a quiet retreat. As we sat over lunch she allowed my heart to reveal it’s weariness. She understood. They had had their own season of endurance.
Time passes too quickly in those getaway moments. Before you knew it we were headed back to our realities. In a passing comment she mentioned that she had left dinner in the refrigerator. We hugged our goodbyes as she gathered up her teens.
Life settled back in as I went to the refrigerator to see what dinner would be. As I opened the door, there it sat. You know what it was don’t you? A honey baked turkey.
I had no words, only tears. There was only One who knew of my longing. I had never asked for it. I had only wished. Lavish love unlike any I had experienced before spoke volumes to the aching places of my soul. I savored every bite, knowing that the One who loves me more than life itself was present, attentive, knowing all.
We’re in another season these days. Five months of unemployment stare us in the face. Hope comes in the most amazing ways sometimes pouring into us, reviving our souls to continue on in the path that tries the soul. In the here and now I have the mile markers of my past which remind me. He truly is the hope that changes everything.
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About Julie...in her own words:
Chills. Chills. Chills. Thank you for sharing, Julie!
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