Molly. Felicity. Josefina. Kirsten. Kit. Addy.

American Girl® Dolls.

These were the names of some of the first American Girl dolls that I remember.   Our daughter, Morgan, loved her Molly doll.  She took her everywhere.  She slept with her, watched TV with her and made us keep her on the other end of the couch so she wouldn’t catch the flu.

My mom made matching clothes for Morgan and Molly from pajamas to miniature bride dresses.  Molly got to go to church with Morgan, ride in a limousine at Kimberly’s wedding with her and get her hair done at the American Girl doll store.

Morgan sure got her money’s worth out of Molly (who still stands proudly in her original attire on the dresser).

But Molly wasn’t my first attempt to get Morgan an American Girl doll.  You see, I tried to disguise the first doll with a generic.  The dolls were expensive and I thought I could suffice with the generic version of Molly.

Morgan tried to pretend it didn’t matter.  She took the doll to a birthday party with friends who toted their Originals.  But I found out later that the fake doll wasn’t the desire of Morgan’s heart.  Her 8-year-old self was trying to make mommy feel like it was okay but her little heart was sad that she didn’t have the real version of the American Girl doll.

So I saved some extra money and when she came home from school one day, Molly greeted her on her bed.  And so began the journey of joy with Molly, the real American Girl Doll.

How many times through life do we choose the generic thing that we think will make us happy?  We search for peace in perfection, careers, people and things.  We try to manufacture love with addictions, shopping and fake relationships.

The only way to find true happiness, peace and joy is with Jesus.  He tells us in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to God, the Father without first knowing Jesus.

Believing in God is not enough.   Morgan believed in the American Girl doll.  But until she got the real one, she wasn’t truly satisfied.  Until we have a relationship with Jesus, we can’t know the real God.  Jesus is the Way to the real God.  Jesus is the way to authentic satisfaction.  Jesus is the way to real peace.

Satisfaction with the Savior isn’t found in generics like shopping, addictions and fake relationships but rather in the authentic Jesus.

Cast off the fake imposters of joy and run to the authentic.  He’s the original, standing in His glory, just waiting with open arms.

There he was in the middle of the road.

Neck stretched like a toe in a pair of pantyhose.
His four short, stubby legs carrying that hard shell across the heated blacktop.
Slow and steady.

I drove on the other side of the road to avoid him.  I looked in my rear view mirror as others followed suit.

I worried about that little turtle all day long.  Did he make it?  How long did it take him to get to the other side?  And does he even have any idea how dangerous it is to be exposed to the big, bad world of a busy road?

I thought about us.  People in this world.  How much we are like that turtle.  We stretch ourselves to try so hard to see what’s up ahead, around the corner of our lives.  We sometimes carry a hard outer shell making the world think we have it all together.  That we don’t need any help from God.

We trudge along this crazy, fast world doing our own thing, sometimes oblivious to God at all.  But we can’t continue down this path to destruction.  It’s time to acknowledge our Creator and commit to living for Jesus.  This world is not our home.  We are just passing through it.  We are just walking along the road until He decides our time has come to an end.

We don’t know when that will be.  Waiting to accept Christ into our lives is like being the turtle walking across the blacktop on a busy road!  We don’t need to wait until we get our life together.  We don’t need to wait until we get out of school or get a job or get married or have kids or the kids grow up or we reach a certain age.

Today is the day.  We don’t know how long we have.  Slow and steady does not win this race.  God wants us to follow Him and He wants us now.  There’s an urgency about this decision.  We don’t know how long we have to cross the road.

Think about it.  But not too long.  Jesus is waiting right now.  Won’t you take His hand and walk the rest of your life with Him?

The sight of soft lights.
The sound of soothing waterfalls.
The smell of lavender lotion.
The taste of cucumber water.
The feel of tranquil, relaxation.

I recently experienced my first all-day spa experience.  I had a massage early in the morning and then enjoyed the amenities for the remainder of the day.  I didn’t know what to expect or even what was included in a day spa.

But let me tell you….it was like a little heaven on earth.  Quiet.  Peaceful. Lounge chairs everywhere to rest by the relaxation pool that included an indoor waterfall.  Hot tubs on each floor.  Sauna.  Steaming room.  Water and healthy snacks at every turn.  All while being clothed in this soft, white, comfy robe.

As I relaxed and enjoyed my day, I started thinking about how all of this reminded me of Jesus.  He clothes us in His robe of white.  He wraps His arms around us to make us feel safe and secure.

His life is living water and He continues to offer it at every corner.  He wants us to come to His table to refresh and partake in the elements that are reminder of all He has done for us.

Even though the spa was quiet, there were always employees checking to make sure you were doing well.  Just like Jesus, He is with us, quiet and peaceful, allowing us to have free will to do our own thing but there to remind us that His ways are better; they are the only way.

This spa is designed to rest and relax.  In today’s crazy world, we need more of that.  Jesus says, “come to me and I will give you rest.”  We must find ways to relax and allow His Spirit to rest in us.

At the end of the day, I was so refreshed and ready for a new day.

That’s how spending the day with Jesus feels.  Rest.  Renewed.  Revived.   Regenerated.

Even though I would love daily massage treatments, I realized what I really want is a spa day with Jesus every day.  Quiet time.  Rest.  And clothed in a robe of white love.

My daughter got a kitten.
She’s wanted a kitten for a few years so we told her she could certainly adopt one… when she got her own place.

Texas became her home and Riggins found his home with her.

He’s a sweet little kitten.  All black.  Male.  Soft.  Long and slender.  Out of control tail.  Chill but feisty at the same time.  Loving.  Adorable.  Playful.

But this kitten was not what she was looking for.  In her plan-ahead mind, she had a gray and white kitten.  Female.  And her name would be Phoebe.  Yes a care-free, Bohemian-dressed, friendly cat named Phoebe.  (#1 F R I E N D S show fan here!)

When we saw Riggins, she loved him instantly but kept looking.  We looked at several other shelters, wondering along the looking area, oohing and awing but no other cat seemed right.  She fretted and contemplated pros and cons of getting Riggins.  Not because she didn’t love him, but because he wasn’t what she thought she wanted.

Each day she kept coming back to him.  He had crawled into her heart and now was preparing to crawl into her home.

I was talking on the phone to her today and she said, “you know, Riggins is not what I was looking for.  I thought I wanted a gray and white, female cat.  But he is absolutely perfect for me.  I’m so glad he’s mine.”

How many times do we end up in the same emotional boat.  We ask God to answer our prayers in our way…our timing…our location.  We have it all mapped out in our mind.  But then He comes up with a better plan…in His timing…His way…and His location.

In Isaiah 55:8 God says, “For your thoughts are not my thoughts neither are your ways my ways.”

WOW!  From who we marry, to the jobs we get, to the places we live and the animals we adopt, God has a hand in it all.  We may not see it immediately but I guarantee after a while, we will come around and eventually see His ways are always “purrfect”.