September 2010
I have been thinking a lot about Joy not simply happiness but true Joy as a child of
God, we have the privilege of experiencing fullness of Joy. Psalm 16v11.
There is no greater comfort in knowing that when all else fails and your world is
crumbling or even trembling a bit that God is there to love, guide and give you the
strength to get to the other side of this difficult time. This assurance can flood your
soul with an incredible peace it can change your fears into a calm and strong faith.
Sometimes it is hard to pray, words just don’t seem to come but I have learned that it
isn’t always the words (although words are powerful in themselves) but our heart
attitude counts big time. Talking to God may not change your circumstances but
talking to God with the right heart attitude will help you see your situation and react to
it with a fresh outlook, and sometimes God can reveal new revelation. The true secret
of Christian Joy is found in the way a believer thinks- his attitude. Happiness is fickle,
it depends on things/ circumstances going right, but even when things are not a true
believer has an incredible gift, I love to think of it as a secret weapon that can give us
a super human joy that sticks, a super powered joy like nothing on earth. I suppose
the big question is how do we unlock such a gift? How do we utilize its true potential in
our lives? When the everyday is like some sort of battering ram full of despair,
negatives that close in from all sides, some people seem to enjoy living in some sort of
pity party, oppressed, depressed and beaten. How can we as Christians who have
this wonderful secret not choose to grasp at it with both hands? Who would say no to
this incredible ability to handle and overcome everyday difficulties.
I love the book of Philippians, it seems to be a book where Paul is sharing the secret
of true Christian Joy- Inner Joy, overflowing with Joy, Paul writes despite his apparent
oppositions. When we realize that there is one out there who’s desire it is to see we
never discover this secret to actually steal any joy we may already have discovered,
not only that but to literally kill and destroy anything good in our hearts,minds and in
this life we live here on earth. But greater is He that is in you than he that is on this
earth, we need to be determined to change our way of thinking our heart attitude, to
capture and conquer those thieves, we can have the victory in this once we tap in, we
do discover the truth, that the Joy of the Lord is our strength. Isn’t it amazing how
incredibly happy we are when everything seems to be going well, according to our
plans, when all is right , we are wonderful to live with, not much can get you down,
there is this skip in your step and a giant smile on your face and even a better than
you attitude that you probably wouldn’t even realize you are carrying. But honestly
have you ever thought about how much control we truly have over our circumstances,
when you really think about it we don’t have any control over what a person says,
thinks or does we have no control over the weather, traffic and yet we walk around
thinking we are so amazing, we can do what ever we want.
When we realize that God is ultimately in control and circumstance can change for us
or against us in less than a heartbeat we can put our lives in the one who does hold
the future, the one who knows the beginning from the end, the one who has our best
interests at heart and find a peace in that confidence that God is in control, ‘let go and
let God’ is a good motto to have. ( and having done all to stand, stand).
Don’t let others steal your joy with comments or looks or even actions against you.
Hold fast to God, rest in Him that you are beloved and important and take Joy in Him,
He takes Joy in you. In Joy there is strength through Christ.
Luke 12v15- Our lives should never be dependent on the things of this world. Our joy
should never be dependent on the stuff/ things in our lives, its amazing if we really
looked at our lives what we hold onto, clothes, furniture, houses or even our old age
pensions/ investments. I was watching the news the other night and saw an article on
how incredibly stressed women were getting with the simple task of getting dressed in
the morning, the vastly varied selection of clothing was causing a great deal of stress,
some women experienced such anxiety they were actually experiencing headaches
and other illnesses all due to stress, so a number of these women decided to trial the
idea of 6 items of clothing for 30 days and the idea of simplifying in just this one area
would in turn reduce the stress. Incredibly it worked so well that after knowing about
this I thought ‘ how relevant for all areas of our lives’ just a simple shopping trip can be
daunting to some people, the amount of choices is endless, there really is much to be
said of enjoying a simpler lifestyle, we fill our lives with so much stuff that we don’t
really enjoy the things that matter the most. Most people buy into the lie that if they
can get that one more thing their life would be complete and then they would start to
enjoy the people around them and enjoy the life that they lead. In reality the more stuff
around us creating more stress robs us of the joy that really matters and takes our
minds off the one who can give us an everlasting fountain of true joy. Our mind is an
incredible organ, but boy oh boy how we let the thoughts of worry control our lives,
worry can not only restrict our peace and joy but it also has been connected to many
health concerns as well, sometimes our worries are warranted (or so it seems) but
most times we worry about things beyond our control, things that may never happen,
we can spend so much time obsessed with our own concerns, reality or any sort of
hope gets lost, the focus is on yourself and the pity party starts. Determine to take
control over your thoughts and hand them over to the Lord, trust Him with your
concerns and believe His Word that He takes care of the birds of the air and the fish of
the sea how much more will he take care of you, gosh He even knows how many hairs
are on your head.
Paul in the book of Philippians had much to worry about, a prisoner possibly facing
execution, his friends in Rome divided in their feelings over his case, no mission
support and writing a letter about not worrying but experiencing true joy. This day
decide that you will free yourselves from the thieves that continually try to rob you of
this joy. If outlook determines outcome, then the attitude of your mind and the thought
that we cultivate will determine our joy or lack of it.
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August 2010
As a child of God we hope and pray that our lives would be stress
free, full of abundance and have this overwhelming peace and joy that
permeates not only our immediate family but stretches forth and
touches and blesses the people around us. But the truth is far from
this, we all live in a fallen world, trials, hardship and heartache are
inevitable, each and every one of us will face events in our lives
beyond our control causing us grief but God can use trials in our lives
to prepare us for our benefit, to radiate His Glory, to shine forth His
grace and love. God is perfecting our faith, showing us to fully trust
Him through whatever the trial. As Christians we should know that our
Lord and Savior is there with us, a stronghold in times of trouble yet
‘why, why’ it is so difficult for to accept this into our lives. Scattered
throughout God’s Word is an amazing amount of people with God’s
hand on their lives experiencing an over abundance of trials and
heartaches. You are not the only one that has or will experience trials.
Noah endured the flood, Abraham was asked to leave everything that
was familiar and follow God into unknown lands to even sacrifice his
very own son. Joseph betrayed by his brothers, endured pure
hardships, heartaches and complete and utter loneliness in a foreign
land. Joseph’s story has spoken to me more times than not, what
satan truly meant for harm was turned around by the power and love
of God for good. One thing I absolutely love is that throughout this
story it says ‘and God was with him’ I hold those words dear to me,
whenever I am experiencing heartaches or grief in my day to day life.
God is with me, say it enough and you will truly begin to be
overwhelmed with Gods amazing grace and love toward you. Christ
himself had his Gethsemane. Satan attacks you especially when you
have been knocked down with lies that God has abandoned you, God
doesn’t love you that He has no concern with the events that are
happening in your life or even that you somehow deserve the bad
things that continually knock you down. Your to blame for the
disappearance of God in your life, you must know that God never
leaves you, God hasn’t changed even when your circumstances
change God never does, His love is unfailing despite our failings,
look to Him, seek His face, get on your knees and trust in Gods
precious word. He will never put you in a race that He did not know
how to finish. You can trust this fact.
While trials and heartaches seem unavoidable it doesn’t mean that it
is unprofitable. The Lord promises us that we will experience trials but
he commands us to count it all joy when you do, I remember reading
that and thinking. ‘Are you serious? How can I see any joy in this, how
can I see anything good here??. You cannot have a testimony
without a test and you cannot have a message without a mess, and
when all is said and done sharing God’s faithfulness will be your story,
your testimony of God’s incredible love and you will count it joy and
wonder why you couldn’t see Gods hand when there was so much
grief and darkness. Everything was planned out before you were
even born, God is in control and you are His beloved one. If you are
in the middle of darkness something that you cannot see any good
thing from and No way out, abandoned, unloved, please believe me
when I say that you there by divine appointment, because your
heavenly Father is going to bring you victory. Faith is the substance
of things hoped for the evidence of things not yet seen.
In Proverbs 3v12, it says ‘For whom the Lord loves, he corrects’. In
no way is correction pain-free, don’t be the type of person who hears
the word and it goes in one ear and out the other and you leave the
same as when you came, listen to God’s leading, take action when
you are hit with revelation, be the type of person that applies the word
to his life, change and grow, build every part of your life on God the
strong foundation and when the trials of life come and they will come,
you will stand strong, don’t settle for anything less, let the hand of God
structure your life, live fully in your very unique and special story, don’t
be afraid to hand your problem over to the one, the only one that can
truly turn it into something beautiful.
Romans 9v7. You were made for such a time as this. Make your
choice, grab hold of those life giving words and drink deeply from the
everlasting fountain of wisdom. Choice to build your life on a
foundation worth having. Choose life. God’s word in your heart and
being applied to your life is like a lamp to your feet and a light unto
your path, the clarity and peace in knowing that no weapon formed
against you will prosper. Gosh it sounds easy, just leave everything in
God’s hands, accept everything as a trial for my growth, please
believe me when I say this is not what I am meaning, we truly cannot
correct any thing in our lives that we are not willing to confront. This
truly has a cost and it is by no means easy or simple and it will cause
you much turmoil you truly must have a personal relationship with God
and you must willingly throw yourself in His holy Word, how can you
build any foundation without first reading the instruction manual.
It’s easy to think, ‘Well I read the Bible and I still feel like my life falls
down around me when even the slightest wind blows, maybe your
foundation isn’t deep enough for the house that you are trying to build.
You wont appreciate your foundation until you have gone through a
storm. How can you truly know God is not only your friend but that He
really is with you unless you have been alone? How can you be
thankful for good health unless you have experienced sickness and
how do you start to understand the abundance of Gods love for you
unless your heart has been broken.
When the storms of life come blowing at my door how do I know that I
will be strong enough. Is my relationship with God strong enough?
Am I confident enough in his word? If the wind is blowing and you feel
the rumbling thunder in the distance or even if you have been
unexpectedly upended by a torrent with so much force it knocks you
so hard and continually flows more and more on you that it is hard to
catch your breath, it is flowing well over your head you seem to be
fighting for every small breath. I know, I have been there and continue
in that feeling somewhat even now. My only help comes from the
Lord, I’m sure David has expressed that time after time in the Psalms.
Dig into God’s Word, stand firm with your faith and lift your spirit by
singing praise. Take joy in you Saviors ability to overcome anything
that has come upon you. The Joy of the Lord is your strength.
While I’m busy Lamenting a few things I long to control and cant, my life is filled with
literally hundreds of things I can control and dont. Karen Linamen
April 4th 2010
A friend of mine was writing an article and asked for input on the subject of sharing our Christian viewpoint with our kids/families.
Yes I feel sharing our Christian viewpoint is a priority. We promote our Christian viewpoint in every aspect of our lives, we start the morning with a small devotional, scripture memorization and a small prayer time where I encourage even the youngest one to participate in, making a conscience effort to give encouragement for any involvement that the children give, even if it is not related to what we have actually been talking about, continuing to keep the conversation open, light and positive. The curriculum that I teach with my children is Biblical based and continually enforces Christian morals and values because I honestly believe that apart from their education preparing my children with good Godly character traits instills values that will stick with them and only strengthen their walk with Christ. When we are celebrating holidays not only with crafts, movies and story times, we make sure that we talk about what the truth of that holiday is. There are always a lot of questions because of the the decorations in the stores and all the tv shows that depict other than what the truth really is, so there is plenty of opportunities to talk, keeping the children open to talk about things that are happening around them is very important, it builds trust and faith in our relationship with our children. My deep desire for our children is to share our same love for the Lord is evident in our day to day life. Like a faithful gardener tending his crops, we endeavor to take our children to church, read them Bible stories and learn memory verses and continually pray for the day when they realize their need for Christ as their personal Savior, When that day finally arrives we rejoice as we see the Holy Spirit sparkle in the children’s eyes, watching them grow and discover their gifts and abilities, plus we share the joy of serving the Lord in this life as a family, best of all we share the anticipation of our heavenly home for all eternity. I haven’t really changed my game plan for having older children and sharing our Christian viewpoint although our conversations are deeper and sometimes quite revealing when I have to face facts about my our walk with the Lord, children especially older ones seem to have a way of bringing out things in our own lives that we would rather keep hidden. I do however try to encourage their God given abilities to be used rather than tucked away in secret. Continually opening the porthole of conversation, listening even when it seems controversial and bringing it back to God’s word is truly my most powerful tool in sharing our viewpoint with teens. Lead and Live by example. The influences I have in raising a God driven home I suppose is that I look to older more mature Christian woman, I take hold of the examples set before me by my own mother. I am not afraid to ask questions on how I can better my our way of doing things and I try to remain teachable. I commit each day ,each child and each circumstance to the Lord for his direction. I continue in prayer as I go about my every day life. The only way I have found that can and will be effective is to be honest with your self in your walk and do not try to be someone your not or live up to others expectations. Children especially can sniff out fakers, read with them and express excitement and joy at learning new things. Let them see you reading God’s word. When you make mistakes etc (get angry) realize you have little eyes watching how you are going to handle yourself and make it right not only to them but to God. In our family we have make up together a ‘King Family Motto’ sort of like a mission statement and whenever there is some sort of incident with the children and their behavior we quote our Family mission statement and talk about how we should have handled that situation better and what we will do next time that situation arises again.
I draw inspiration and ideas from many sources, watching other mums, being not afraid to ask how they make that work for them and I am eager to research on the internet and reading books about raising godly children, but honestly I do feel it is so important to spend some quiet time every day, reading, meditating over a passage of scripture or even just singing, helping me to keep a good positive attitude and a grateful heart, and when a mom is happy it sure goes along way in making everything else run smoothly even when circumstances are difficult, it may mean getting up a little earlier than the rest of the household but it can be so beneficial in encouraging your heart and drawing strength for another day.
King Family Motto
In our family we treat others with respect, we show love and patience, we are kind and gentle, we do everything with honesty and joy.
April 2010
Psalm 23 (In my own words)
You take care of me.
I shall never be in need of anything.
You help me to rest in your loving arms and bring peace to my troubled heart.
You help me see the beauty in my moment by moment walk and pour out peace in my soul.
You lead me and guide my steps, convicting me in the way I should go for your glory and honor.
Even though I will experience difficulties and trials, where I can see no way out, I will look to you and not fear, for you never leave me.
You walk with me each and every step and I feel your peace and presence.
You continually surprise me by supplying my every need and others see and glorify you name.
The joy I feel knowing you are taking care of me is overwhelming.
You have continually poured goodness and blessings on me and I can trust that you will never leave me all of my days.
I rejoice in knowing I will eternally be your and be in your presence now and forevermore.
March 2010
Isaiah 28v9-10- Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and there a little.
As we watch our children grow, our expectation of what they will achieve at each level of development makes us anxious or boastful with pride, weaned by one year, potty trained by two, eating with knife and fork by three, everything totally judged by what we ourselves were taught or advise given by the so called many voices that watched expectantly at every side. As we ourselves grow and mature as parents learning that each child is so very different, development cannot and should not be rushed or pushed upon such precious treasures as our children, we realize that children grow intellectually the same way they grow physically a little bit at a time. Even though many times I felt that nothing was accomplished in that day, the next would bring about a new word another step, grasping the concept of a letter into words, learning about counting, questioning, ‘why’ about everything ‘how’ everything works and what ‘I am doing now’ its funny that word that so annoyed me ‘why, why why’ constantly droning, interrupting my wish for a peaceful 5 minutes by my three year old, developed into understanding and knowledge, building a little each day, laying a foundation that leads to further curiosity, development, growing, learning and maturing. Spiritual maturity is another step by step process as well. The times I have looked at a more spiritually mature and older Christian, desiring their relationship with God, desperately wanting their walk, their life, their happiness and their spirituality even just a little to rub off on me. However, failing to see the years of lesson (sometimes very painful ones) that have bought them to their place of maturity. Each lesson in faith, prayer, and spiritual truth builds upon the last. One, lesson by lesson to produce a shining godly character. In my own spiritual life I feel I have so far to go before I can begin to compare or hold ground to claiming I am a person of faith,learning and re-learning sometimes things that I may have previously thought I mastered, knowing that everyone is learning , everyone is growing, the lessons may be unique to the individual but we truly have no time to be looking to others faults and failings. God is the master builder of all things and He hasn’t finished with anyone of us yet.
Hebrews 3v4- For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything’ and he is building you, molding you, one lesson at a time. Trust Him and you will become a beacon of light, hope and love to the people around you, building each other up, encouraging, give hope, show love.
Philippians 1v6- being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
January- February 2010
Have you ever cornered a small creature (small mouse, squirrel?) then was able to somehow captured and watched as it scampers back and forth in its cage, back and forth, back and forth throwing itself against the side of the cage in its obviously futile attempt to escape, the panic the fear in its eyes, the utmost unwavering continuous effort to get out and then after a time it somehow realizes its fate and lays down docile, totally defeated totally exhausted basically a shell of its previous self. I understand this torment, deep inside I have felt that panic and anxiety and then exhausted from trying to understand slipping into these times where I was completely numb with the desperate situation we had found ourselves in and at other times the turmoil the panic was almost to much to hold in, fear gripped my body, my emotions were in no way rational and at times I honestly thought I was going to explode or die, unable to see a way out and no obvious change in our foreseeable future, accepting our fate was unthinkable, there had to be a reason, I needed answers, my mixture of emotions worried everyone around me, I tried hard to take control, to push aside these feelings, I was consumed about the circumstances, it was the foremost thought throughout everyday every night, every moment, every conversation, truly I am sure people around me were sick of my obsession with our troubles. I could not look beyond myself or this difficult situation we were in, Praise God he had placed certain people around me that loved me in-spite of my total obsession and disregard of how this was affecting them, patiently they listened, waited and always make an effort to just be there whether it was delivering much needed food or just visiting to let me know I was thought of. There seemed no escape in my mind I was unable to be rational or ever logical, sometimes I even felt numb and even emotionless toward my own children, not to the extent of hate but total uncaring, truly I was so focused on myself, hating to admit this about myself, guilt overrides and then the tables are turned and I am overly sensitive, overly emotional and utterly useless to everyone.
Truly I don’t know how my family put up with me and my total selfishness, how could I not see past feeling sorry for myself and see the true riches of wonderful friendships, Gods supply of our needs with food, clothing and shelter. The fight between my head and my heart, hated being pitied, forcing myself to interact with strangers, inwardly hating their happy dispositions, fighting dark negative thoughts and feelings constantly, I hated Sundays, OH!! how I hated Sundays, the same questions, with answers that I desperately wanted myself, the pity in peoples eyes, the sympathetic looks, trying to hold back tears and yet appear trusting God, what a lie, I was acting out, Where was God?? How could He be doing this? And then trying to sound spiritual with comments like ‘ Somehow God is doing a work in our lives’ and ‘I trust in Him to take care of us’ spewing out of my lips and all the while my heart is angry and at many many times bitter toward God and jealous of the people around me. Anger spewed out at my husband and my children, I was living this huge lie outwardly in this church, but the only ones that truly saw that, loved me in-spite were the ones that were exactly where I was, trying to come to grips with the same desperation , the same fears and the same questions, we had to stick together, seeing myself in a real and open way was scary, I always thought that if faced with a difficult situation, Oh how I would shine for God, I would be a light, people would look at me and see how much I trusted and how much I loved God, I would lead people to God. What a joke, I saw myself and I didn’t like what I saw, my negativity, my insecurities, my trust issues, the list could go on and on, my selfishness surprised me more than anything, I always considered myself a very caring and considerate, looking to the need of others type of gal. To see myself in this open and raw state and then to realize that God loves me and has seen this so called private side of me all the time in-spite of my flaws, I can hide my true self to a lot of people but truly and honestly to know God sees the me no one else sees, my true self and loves me in-spite is mind blowing.
Seriously longing for some sort of order a little bit of neatness in my very helta skelta life, biting my tongue so many times when I am witnessing creativity in progress, I know that imagination play is seldom tidy and an ill-timed ranting could destroy those teachable moments.
November-December 2009
It’s funny how smells can invoke memories, feelings, it can take you back to a time whether good or bad, it can enforce memories into strong messages and lessons to go forward, reminisce, imagine. The other night I was taking out a new cake of soap and as I unwrapped the white wrapping and saw the fresh, hard, clean, block the smell hit my nose and memories of a difficult but amazing time in my life seemed to take me back and with much emotion I remembered being back in the church youth room in a cold bare room with nothing but 2 couches and a blow up mattress with only a few clothes between us, surrounded by strange but friendly people in a new country where food, smells and noise was all very different, it was an emotional dire situation where overwhelming feeling of insecurities and fear surrounded us but also a really unusual peace that God had provided somewhere in this strange land where time just seemed to stand still and we were welcomed in with open arms and hearts and made to feel as one with complete strangers, within our first few days there someone left a large pack of Ivory soap on the bench and it was so wonderful to open it, this might sound funny but it felt like Christmas, unwrapping that special gift it was like God himself knew exactly what I wanted and it was just for me. The shower that evening was the most enjoyable and incredible one I think I have ever had, the smell that surrounded me, the warmth , a feeling of safety and protection. I just knew deep deep down that somehow someway that everything was going to be alright. As the weeks turned into months and each moment was a struggle just trying to see some meaning, some direction in all this, every time I would kiss or hug my children,lay in my husbands arms at night or enjoying my wonderful showers I would smell that clean fresh smell and it would help to remind me that God was still with us, surrounding us with wonderful people providing our needs and giving me a special daily reminder of His continued care and love for us in the unusual situation and even now 12 months later every time I smell that Ivory soap I well up with praise and gratefulness to my wonderful God who takes everything into account and genuinely cares about all my needs and meets them.
October 2009
It is a time to begin, to see things with fresh eyes, to leave the protection, the cocoon of overwhelming feeling of grief and fear and prepare for a new season of life while living more fully in this one, realizing God’s limitless care for us, His constant compassion poured out on us enabling us to deal with all of our concerns, our worries, everything that encompasses our very lives.
Needing to talk about everything bad and good to our heavenly Father, keeping all before Him, total and honest communication daily, moment by moment coming before Him and laying those stressful concerns and difficult situations before His throne, we know He hears our every cry, He feels our every hurt, He surrounds and enfolds us like a blanket while we are resting and protects us like armor when we are awake. ( why does it feel like He is so far away, another fight with my head and my heart).
Daily we need to remember His past faithfulness and never take for granted His care of us, battling to remain steadfast throughout the course of the day in our faith, to try and be a source of encouragement to others even when we only seem to have a little strength left in ourselves, to share that peace that stillness deep inside, that is a rock, solid ground a true foundation amongst our family and neighbors and radiate the joy of believing in you Lord.
Why is it when God is taking us down a path this is unknown and frightening we have this sink or swim mentality and if we decide to swim we fight against the current and flow of the stream back to where we think we need to be, where as if we just let go and let God, In His timing in His direction and in His strength we will end up where we were meant to be all along.
All through Psalms it emphasizes trusting your way to the Lord, taking delight in the Lord, committing your ways to the Lord and being still before the Lord. It seems that all this combined results in patience and that takes practice, which is a consistent active pursuit of the that particular character we want to attain, by continuing to fall before God. It is better for you in every area of your life to trust and commit your way to God regardless as to your opinions, your attitudes or even your desires, knowing that Gods desire is always toward you to continue according to His way. When we look back we see how everything seems to fit or come together to bring us to the place we are right now. There seems to be Gods protective hand guiding, leading and covering us, the ability to praise God and give thanks even in the dark valleys is hard, seemingly impossible, but God is there we are never alone and He already see’s the ultimate outcome. Trust and Believe, continue to rejoice, try to be a ‘good morning Lord’ sort of person rather than a ‘good lord! It’s morning. Attitude is everything.
September 2009
Rejoice always, pray constantly and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God. GOSH!! that is so hard and yet it is achievable as we take that next moment to realistically see where we stand in God’s scheme of things. Each new day brings moments of strength to perform the next step to get through that next moment. Through whatever adversity try to hold fast in the hope of a better tomorrow. That wisdom through troubling times helps you hold that much tighter to God’s hand even in the dire times. To give thanks in all circumstances, when facing these times it is at first forced and extremely hard, it means to put ourselves totally at God’s mercy and then rest in the fact that God has sufficient strength to provide in all things. To look back at past circumstances and rejoice that somehow God upheld us, gave us strength out of nowhere and we could feel His abiding presence when we become quiet before Him. Throughout this next year I have security in the fact that God knows our plight, there is a confidence inside that I will have that guide before me to ride out any stormy sea and give me direction when I feel aimless and lost and lead us to safety and peace.
There may be times when I feel that I am standing on solid ground and walking in the direction that is mapped out for us and there may be times I feel the ground slip under my feet and I may trip and I may fall due to circumstance I do not for-sea, but I can rest assured that I am not alone that nothing has come as a surprise for my God and He does know the direction I am heading and giving me the strength for another day, another moment, a glimmer of hope, security and a confidence.
Summer 2009 (June-July)
The summer never lived up to my expectation in regard to the weather, but I so enjoyed the books that I have read, one especially make me realize and discover something I had read before a long time ago, it was refreshing and bought about a renewed excitement for the start for a new school year. I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading ‘ the 5 love languages of children’ and pondering over my own little ones traits, there strengths and area’s needing more attention. Creating opportunities of learning experiences that are focused on their area’s of gifting’s. The expectation of watching them learning, experiencing and growing right in front of my eyes knowing I am right where I need to be amongst my children learning with them. This summer has been fun finding backyard friends (snail’s, worms) watching butterflies and squirrels play, enjoying, observing and learning more about God about my children and about me.
The start of a new school year makes me wonder what amazing adventures of discovery we will share together as a family.
“Live for today, but hold your hands open to tomorrow. Anticipate the future and its changes with joy. There is a seed of God’s love in every event, every unpleasant situation in which you may find yourself” Barbara Johnson
August 2009
When things go well it is easy to say that God is good, it is easy to profess His blessings and constantly share of the joy and love you honestly feel. His unfailing care and abundant blessings are evident and it is so easy to be puffed up with a sense of spiritual pride that you must be doing and walking the right path, that God must be looking at you with such pride, you must be in a sense His favorite.
It is in the stressful times the situations that do come in everyone’s life of hardship and testing that we question and doubt God’s concern and sincerity for our condition, we throw blame at everyone close, we blame ourselves and we blame God as though God were playing a huge game with our fate. Its hard to imagine that He grieves with us in our sorrow’s, He hurts with our pain, He is there through our loneliness and He feels when we are troubled. The ability to see beyond ourselves and our situation is a conscientious effort. It is even hard to believe you could possibly look back at a time when you can reflect on how far you have come in your situation, your faith, with the decisions you have make and the growth in the meantime.
God remains faithful in so many ways. In spite of the year that has just passed, the hardships and heartaches you’ve endured, think of the ways that God gave you what He promised He would do. These kept promises become the reminders of Gods faithfulness.
