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The Gift of Friendship

08.25.2020 by Kelli Worrall //

The Facets of Faith team is excited to share two of our lovely friends with you. That’s right, two writers this guest post rather than one.  We thought, “What fun would it be for two dear friends to collaborate on a piece about friendship?”  We knew just who to ask, Gloria Cooley and Kelli Worrall are fabulous friends who share a common bond – first Jesus, then life experiences, and time invested in each other.  We can learn a lot from others’ friendships. Keep reading for their fun real-life story of friendship on mission and orchestrated by God. We love them, and we know you will too!

Hey, Thelma! Who's Your Louise? (Guest)

I met Gloria in the fall of 2012 when our kids were in preschool together—and we initially bonded over the subject of adoption. My husband Peter and I had recently returned from China with our daughter Amelia, and Gloria and her husband Daniel were completing the paperwork for their own Chinese adoption.

Since then our friendship has expanded and deepened. We’ve been friends for eight years, but it seems much longer. In a good way! Maybe it’s because we’ve been through some big things together in those eight years. Maybe it’s because Gloria is one of those people with whom I was very quickly able to talk about anything—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Maybe it’s because Gloria is one of the most faithful friends you could ever want to have.

We’ve been in small groups and writing groups together, enjoyed many meals together—she’s been there when my cooking has turned out well and when it’s been a flop. We have celebrated birthdays and holidays and milestones.

But one of my favorite Gloria memories so far has to be Spring Break 2014.

You may remember the winter of 2013-14. Or perhaps you’ve blocked it from your memory. It was one of the top four worst winters in the Chicago area. Sixty-seven inches of snow. The third-coldest winter on record. 26 days of below 0 temps. The Polar Vortex brought bitter cold temps way into March.

Near the end of March—at the beginning of Spring Break week—Gloria and I met with our kids at the Jump Zone, and the Jump Zone was crazy! Our kids were climbing the walls—literally—while she and I stood in the midst of the chaos, just staring at each other—still cold to the bone. While the kids were burning off steam, the Jump Zone wasn’t doing anything for our stir-craziness.

Eventually, Gloria looked at me wistfully and said, “I’ve been dreaming about sticking Eleanor in the car and driving to my in-law’s lake house in Texas.”

I looked wistfully back at her and replied, “That’s funny because I’ve been dreaming of sticking my kids in the car and driving down to see my family in Tennessee.”

We both chuckled for a moment.

Then we looked back at each other through squinty, quizzical, “are you thinking what I’m thinking” eyes. I don’t remember which one of us first voiced the question: “Why don’t we do it?”

We rolled the idea over in our minds for only a minute or two before we called our husbands, expecting them to talk us out of it. However, they didn’t. I think they were secretly thrilled to see us go.

As soon as we hung up our phones, we started making plans. We would take our kids home, feed them lunch, pack our bags, and leave early the next morning.

So I took my kids home. I fed them lunch, and I started making a packing list—all the time thinking, “This is crazy.”

Suddenly, my phone rang, and it was Gloria. I answered the phone and didn’t even say, “Hello.” I just asked the obvious, “Are you having second thoughts?”

“Yes,” she said. But then she continued: “But not about going. I’m just not sure we should wait until tomorrow. I think we should leave now! That way we can drive through the night. The kids will sleep in the car, and we’ll be there by morning.”

I didn’t miss a beat. “Ok!” I said.

Then I ran around the house, shoving clothing and kid paraphernalia in bags. Within an hour and a half, Gloria pulled into my icy driveway. We shifted all of her luggage into my vehicle, and in no time at all we were on the road.

My husband jokingly called us “Thelma and Louise”—those famous friends. Thankfully, our trip bore little resemblance to theirs—other than it was a wonderful opportunity to bond and deepen our friendship.

A couple of years after our crazy trip, Gloria and I shared this story at a women’s Christmas tea. It served as the introduction to a message we gave about another friendship—of some far more famous women, who bonded over the most extreme adventure one could imagine. These two women were Mary, mother of Jesus, and her cousin/friend Elizabeth.

Elizabeth only appears in one chapter of the Bible, yet despite her brief mention in Scripture, she plays quite an influential role. We don’t know a lot about her—only that she was quite a bit older than Mary, and she had married well. Her husband was a priest. Yet despite these desirable qualities, Elizabeth bore a scarlet letter. She was barren.

Then one day something miraculous happened.

An angel appeared to her husband Zacharias while he was in the temple. “Do not be afraid,” the angel said. “Your petition has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John.” This child would make ready the way for the Lord

            Zacharias questioned the angel’s message, and the angel told him that because of his disbelief he would be unable to speak until the child was born. And immediately, Zacharias became mute. He returned home to Elizabeth, and soon she became pregnant.

But Elizabeth was not to walk alone in her pregnancy.

God would soon provide another gift for her.

The gift of a friend.

Mary was different from Elizabeth in many ways. She was young, unmarried, but engaged. She was a virgin from Nazareth—a modest, agrarian society.

Just months after the angel appeared to Zacharias, God sent Gabriel to Mary in Nazareth. As far as we know, she was alone when the angel appears. Certainly, she was startled and afraid. But Gabriel began with a blessing and a declaration of God’s grace.

Then he delivered his astonishing news. “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”

But this wouldn’t be just any baby. The angel continued, “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”

This proposition didn’t make logical sense, so Mary asked, “How can this be since I have never known a man?”

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” the angel said. “And this baby will be the Son of God.”

Then Gabriel offered Mary a bit of evidence, some more miraculous news. Mary’s relative Elizabeth—old and barren—was pregnant as well. Six months along.

“For nothing,” the angel concluded, “Nothing is impossible with God.”

How did Mary respond? With complete conviction and commitment, she said, “I am a bondslave of the Lord. May it be to me as you have said.”

Mary’s first order of business after the angel leaves was to plan a trip to the hill country of Judea, outside of Jerusalem. It was a three-day journey of some 80 or more miles—not an easy journey for a young girl.

But Mary had to find Elizabeth. She wanted to see with her own eyes the sign of which the angel spoke.

As soon as Elizabeth saw Mary’s face, the baby in her own womb leapt for joy! Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and in a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!….Why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said.”

This meeting of two mothers was one of utmost joy. Both women wondered at their privilege and the favor they had found with God. Both women were ready and willing to be used by Him.

Obviously, the narrative in Luke chapter 1 is one of the most important passages in all of Scripture as the imminent virgin birth of our Lord was announced.

But as we look at these two women—whose lives converged around this most important point in history—we also see some beautiful things happening between them. We see an example of what a friendship centered around Jesus can do.

  • First, God used their friendship to confirm what He was doing in each of their lives.
  • Second, Elizabeth accepted Mary when others probably shunned her and could not understand.
  • Third, Mary and Elizabeth rejoiced together in what God was doing and pointed each other to Him.

The level of joy in Luke 1:39-46 is beyond compare. There is no competition between Mary and Elizabeth. No “my son is going to be greater than your son.” No “why didn’t God give me your life?” There is just joy and awe and gratitude.

They each expressed humility at having been chosen by God for such a role.

And they praised God together for who He is, for what He has done, and what He will do.

Our prayer for each of you is you find and foster such friendships in your own life, that God’s sovereign hand would lead you to godly friendships full of laughter, love and blessing. In Jesus’ name, amen!

We’d love it if you joined the conversation.  What are your thoughts on friendship? Post your thoughts on the Facets of Faith Facebook page.

 

Categories // Friendship, Guest Perspectives, Thelma! Who's Your Louise? Tags // Adoption, Adventure, Friendship, Luke 1, Luke 1:39-46, Mary and Elizabeth, Road trip

The Lion and the Lamb: God as Lion

03.28.2017 by Kelli Worrall //

I (Jennifer) am so very excited for you to meet our guest this week at FACETS of Faith. The team has known Kelli Worrall and her family for some time, and we’ve been eager to introduce her to all of you. We are very sure she is someone you should know. We love her as a dear friend, and we hope you’ll add her to your list of favorite authors.

Kelli Worrall is a Communications professor, writer, and speaker. She is the co-author of 20 Things We’d Tell Our Twentysomething Selves. She also writes at www.thisoddhouse.org. Her second book, Pierced & Embraced: Seven Life-Changing Encounters with the Love of Jesus, will be released in August.


The only lions I have ever met have lived at the zoo. I’ve only respected and admired these creatures from a safe distance, through iron fences and thick glass.

Encountering one up-close-and-personal would be an entirely different matter. Can you imagine?

For one thing, lions are the second largest cats in the world, passed only by tigers. Male lions weigh up to 575 pounds, and females up to 395. They often measure eight feet long—head and body—and stand up to four feet tall.

The lion’s eyes are set laterally on its head to provide a good angle of vision. In other words, it can see you.

Its inner ear has a long mobile pinna able to localize a sound source. Translation: It can hear you.

Its nostrils are large, and it has complex nasal passages. It can smell you.

It can run at 50 mph and leap 35 ft. It can catch you.

Its massive limbs are built for attack. It can easily kill you, if it so wishes.

In Isaiah 31, the prophet likens our God to a lion. He warns God’s people not to turn to the Egyptians for help because something much stronger is available to them. Their terror of the Assyrians is put into perspective when the Israelites realize that their God is a lion.

Isaiah 31 reads:

1 Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the Lord!
2 And yet he is wise and brings disaster;
he does not call back his words,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers
and against the helpers of those who work iniquity.
3 The Egyptians are man, and not God,
and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.
When the Lord stretches out his hand,
the helper will stumble, and he who is helped will fall,
and they will all perish together.
4 For thus the Lord said to me,
“As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
or daunted at their noise,
so the Lord of hosts will come down
to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.
5 Like birds hovering, so the Lord of hosts
will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
he will spare and rescue it.”

In Isaiah 31, there is no competition between the horses of Egypt and the all-powerful God-Lion. There is no contest between the material solutions of the latest military technology and the spiritual reality of God. No ally—Egyptian or otherwise—can compare with Him.

Because our God is fierce. He strikes fear into the heart of the enemy and causes them to shrink away. To be on the wrong side of our God the Lion is not only foolish, it is fatal.

Because our God is destructive. He is devastating. He destroys the enemies of Judah, but ultimately He destroys Judah itself as well. “They will all perish together.” How can God do such a thing?  Because holiness and righteousness are a serious business. Isaiah, of all people, knows this well. In chapter 6 he sees a vision of God and cries out, “Woe to me because I am a man of unclean lips.” A holy God is fearsome to behold. A lion, who executes righteous judgment, is entirely appropriate.

Our God is also active. He is a young lion, growling over His prey, and He will come down. He did not wind up the world and then walk away. Rather, He is ever-present. It is in Him that we “live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17).

And He is courageous. He is not terrified or daunted by the shepherds and their noise. Nothing can drive Him away. He moves relentlessly towards His goal.

Because our God is also protective. He is a jealous God, who lays claim to what is rightfully His. His people belong to Him, and He will rescue them. To try to get between a lion and its food would be foolish indeed. To try to thwart a loving God who is protecting His people would be similarly silly.

But this Old Testament image of God as lion does not give us the complete picture. In Revelation 5:5-6 the Son is portrayed as both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb who was slain. This contrast of majesty and meekness is reflected in Jesus’ life on earth. But also, these seemingly contradictory images describe what took place on the cross—the glory, the triumph—and the sacrifice. Jesus the lion devouring His prey, which is sin. Jesus the lamb made ransom on our behalf.

Certainly—as the other women have so aptly expressed this month—our response ought to be to emulate both the fierceness and the gentleness of our God. Too, we can take comfort, knowing that He is fighting on our behalf.

But finally, our response is to fall on our face in worship, as is so beautifully expressed in the following lyrics by Big Daddy Weave:

Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah
He’s roaring with power and fighting our battles
And every knee will bow before You

Our God is the Lamb, the Lamb that was slain
For the sin of the world, His blood breaks the chains
And every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb
Oh every knee will bow before the Lion and the Lamb

Categories // Guest Perspectives, The Lion the Lamb and the Mirror Tags // Facets of Faith, God, Isaiah 31, Kelli Worrall, The lion and the lamb

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