"Be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t... Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.  Run for dear life from evil; hold on to good.  Be good friends who love deeply.  Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.  Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down.  Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up.  Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody...discover beauty in everyone."I've been dwelling on these verses from the Message for sometime...that, and what it means to be a godly woman in the church.partly because a few weeks ago before I left for vacation, my personal character was slandered by a few people I had previously thought to admire.not going to lie, slander is a hard one to respond to.the fighter in me wants to confront and shake a finger and point out area's of weakness in the ones doing the slandering.the gollum in me wants to retreat, be bitter, cry and feel sorry for myself. ;)the timing ended up being perfect, God saw fit to allow the gollum in me a week+ of quiet in being away on vacation to sort through my thoughts and to listen to what He had to say about what was being said about me.ironically enough,the whole-put-a-bow-around-it conclusion of what He was teaching me wasn't to come until this last Sunday in coming home from vacation at church.Paul was preaching about humility and your role in the church IN Romans 12...how's that for God audibly talking?I loved that he started with the foundation of humility and the need to be in the "game" in order to hear "well done"."well done" will forever remind me of him and how this life is short...so the reclusive gollum in me was finally silenced and the resolve to get back in the faithful game was reignited. ;)but what is humility?paul said in his message that humility = knowing who you are in God eyes.well, I can't think of humility and not think of my mother-in-law from vacation.  let me explain...one of my favorite things over our long summer vacation that we take as a whole Driesbach family is our "church" we typically have on sundays.we are usually away from where matt and I grew up in IL and in a large house the woods somewhere remote next to a beach.rather than pack all of us up and descend upon a small local church up there...we simply congregate in the main room and have our own "church".my in-law's love hymns so we sing a few from our childhood that we all know...my daughter especially loves this as we don't sing too many hymn's for our own worship during church at home. she's fascinated that we all know the songs without accompaniment and can even harmonize on some of them (some better than others) ;) ...she loves it.after we sing for a bit, everyone who is ten and up share what is going on in our lives and share what each other can be praying about.a couple things stood out to me to pray for but the one major thing that is still resonating with me and something that I'm still thinking on is my mother-in-law.she asked for one prayer request...just one.to be more gracious.at first I didn't think I heard her correctly...but she said it again and meant it with tears in her eyes.to be more gracious.I genuinely was astounded.yup, my quiet-servant-minded-faithful-simple-GRACIOUS mother-in-law asked for God's help to be more gracious because she thought she was lacking.that was the first flick from God to me. ;)later in the week over vacation, I read this interview given of Krista Tippett (no, I am not that academic or political...it's not a regular thing, I assure you.)I don't know enough about Mrs. Tippett to talk on her opinions or religious beliefs...but I something she said resonated with me:"The best of religion has qualities of humility. The best religious voices and lives are the last to throw themselves in front of microphones. It’s a quiet story, it’s a story of every day goodness.”that was the second flick from God to me. :)my mother-in-law who in my eyes is far from lacking in grace asks for more grace.krista tippett says that the people who demonstrate love for God best are quiet, humble people living out an every day story of goodness.and then finally this sunday and the final third flick from God to me was from paul...he literally says out loud to "estimate yourself with sober thinking...to gauge a realistic expectation of yourself and that it starts with humility." - "The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him."at this point in my month in the 7th from the front row in the worship center at redemption church,I am smiling/crying at the obviousness of what He was asking from me...also side note, if God speaks somewhat audibly to you three times...you would do well to listen and pay attention...something about rooster's crowing... ;)"God is mercy and grace...not quick to anger and RICH in love."for the rest of my life I am figuring out "forgiven much...love much."...much.if He IS mercy and grace and is not quick to anger and rich in love...then I need to chase trying to be that too. :)oh, and because I like visuals...here a few photographs that I noticed from my journey to illinois/michigan this year.