Are You Too Self-Reliant To Trust God?

It's just that in the Deep South, women learn at a young age that when the world is falling apart around you, it's time to take down the drapes and make a new dress. ~Karen Marie Moning, author

How many times have you taken down the drapes and made a new dress? Sometimes I feel like my closet is full of new dresses—and they’re not the store-bought kind!

The scene of Scarlett O’Hara taking down the drapes to make a new dress in Gone With The Wind is iconic. Especially for Southern women. That mentality is bred into us. But what is it about women in general that when adversity strikes, we muddle through, plow through, or torpedo through? The intensity depends on what the situation calls for. If it involves our children, we definitely shift into overdrive.

While it’s important to see the glass half full and push through the hard times in life, it’s also important to take a step back and wait for God to show you the dresses you already have and what to do with the drapes other than rip them down.

There is such a thing as being too tough. Too self-reliant. Too brave. After all, as Christians, our strength comes from Christ (Philippians 4:13 NIV). When we rely solely on self, we often become hardened like drought-stricken land, unable to soak up blessings when showered upon us. Yet, a soft heart comforts others and receives blessings God intends.

Sometimes it’s enough to crumple into a heap at Jesus’ feet and wait for his healing hand to reach out and lift us up.

But there’s also a danger in not being willing to walk the tough road, in being tossed about in the wind, unable to find the strength to pray with confidence (James 1:5-6). 

So where is the balance?

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Isaiah 26:12 

Rest in the knowledge that God is already out ahead of you. He’s established a peaceful place for our soul to rest when trials threaten to overwhelm us. All that we have accomplished He’s done for us. Does that mean we don’t have to work? Certainly not. But He’s there—ahead of the work. He knows where our successes lie and where our failures will strengthen, not harden, us. Praise Him for meeting your needs and seek His wisdom in your life. His solution is always better than ours.

Next time you’re tempted to rely on your strength alone, remember the same God who furnished the drapes will provide the dresses. They may not have designer labels or even be new, but they’ll be sufficient for your needs.

Will you trust Him for that today?

Laura Hodges Poole is the author of four published books and has contributed to two others, all available on Amazon. Her passion is encouraging others in their Christian walk through her blog, A Word of Encouragement. Her upcoming Christian Romance, "Return to Walhalla," will release in March 2018. When she’s not writing, you might find her hiking, playing the piano, or being crafty. A mother of two, Laura lives in South Carolina with her husband and son.

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“Young Woman Near River” image courtesy of marin/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

“Young Woman Opening Curtains” image courtesy of FrameAngel/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Review: Stars Over Sunset Boulevard

Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner

Nostalgia for the Golden Age of Hollywood just takes over in this novel. I loved every minute of its detailed behind-the-scenes look at the big movie studios in the 1930-40s. The story follows two women who become friends as they chase their dreams. And then they must choose between friendship and dreams, and find a way to live with the losses suffered along the way.

There’s something special about a friendship story, and there’s something wonderful about Hollywood’s Golden Age. Put together, you have a novel that’s difficult to put down, but one you don’t ever want to finish.

Now I must admit there is something else fueling my warm fuzzy feelings for this story. Have you seen the movie La La Land? Sigh. Some people don’t get it, and some don’t like it. Everybody else was bowled over by it and remembers certain scenes from it with a sigh the likes of which only Scarlett O’Hara could rival. Yep. I’m in the third category. But stay with me. The reason I loved La La Land so much is because it is throwing back to Hollywood’s Golden Age.

Do you see where I’m going here? Stars Over Sunset Blvd depicts everything La La Land is throwing back to. The singing, the dancing, the dresses, the costumes! Even Scarlett O’Hara…the novel takes place on the lot where they are filming Gone With The Wind!

So maybe this review is a bit sappy. But let’s face it, the movies from the Golden Age were all a bit sappy. And sappy, in my opinion, is what we need a little bit more of these days. But understand this! Stars Over Sunset . . . is not just a light read. It deals with deep down fears and lies and secrets and how these things can bubble up over time. It's richly layered. 

Give this novel a try, I'm pretty sure you won't be sorry.

Did you see La La Land? Did you get it, not get it, hate it, or love it? Do you have a favorite “Old Hollywood” movie? Leave a comment to get your name in the drawing for To Gain a Valentine by Tanya Eavenson! Winner announced in the Weekly Windup on February 13th. Check out all of our great prizes on the Prizes Galore page.

Tidbit Tuesday--Was She Anything Like Scarlett?

Jodie here.  I know, it's typical for me to talk about the Outer Banks, but I've been reading up on something (well, someone) else lately, so why not share about that?  I share an agent with the lovely Julie Cannon, who passed suddenly in October 2012, leaving many friends stunned and saddened.  The "book of her heart," Scarlett Says, released this past October and it's been on my TBR pile.  Now that school's out, I've been able to dig in.  And it has me wondering about Margaret Mitchell, who (as pretty much all of us know) wrote Gone with the Wind.

I always knew Mitchell was killed when she was struck by a car. She was writing the sequel when she died.  That always made me sad.  And believe you me, I was not a fan of the 1991 sequel.  I believe it's the only book I ever threw at a wall.  :-)

What I did not know was that Margaret Mitchell declared she was more like Melanie Wilkes than Scarlett O'Hara.  After reading up on her a bit though, I wonder how well she knew herself.  Apparently, she was quite the flirt--and proud of it--and was a woman who had no problem standing up for herself or the things she believed in.  I think I'd have liked to have known her… and I think she was more Scarlett than she realized.

But it's her childhood years that fascinate me.  When you read her biography, you see where the characters from Gone with the Wind were born.  The family plantation in Wilkes County.  Great-grandparents who immigrated from Ireland to settle on a plantation near Jonesboro, where they proceeded to have a multitude of daughters.  A paternal grandfather who made his fortune running a lumber mill near post-war Atlanta.  Fearful nights hiding during race riots near her family home. Sundays with her aunts, uncles, and grandparents, who told story after story about the Old South and the ravages of the Civil War.

It's that passion, that drive in her blood, that made Gone with the Wind resonate for so many.  It's not the story itself, it's the people who populate the pages, people woven together from Margaret Mitchell's life and the lives of those she loved.  I agree with Steven James, who said, "Don't write what you know.  Write what you feel." Wouldn't all of our books be incredible if we took that one to heart?

Comment on this post or any other post this week for a chance to win Susan F. Craft's The Chaomile! See our giveaways page for more details!

Jodie Bailey was in Atlanta, GA visiting Agnes Scott College the day Scarlett was released.  The bookstores were insane.  She was also there the night the Braves won the World Series.  All of Atlanta was insane.  Her latest novel, Crossfire, is set an hour away from Atlanta and has absolutely nothing to do with Scarlett O'Hara or the Atlanta Braves.