It Just Happens

Do things just happen to us?

Is God just reacting to circumstances....or is He orchestrating everything?

God has this.

God is in control.

I trust God.

My faith is resting in Him.

We say these statements through our life, either to others or to ourselves.  We say them when things are going ok and we really do believe them.  We do have faith.  Our hearts do trust Him.

Then life happens.  I wrote yesterday about how when things go unplanned, we still need to trust God.

It is hard to remember the promise:

We can remember that promise.

We can trust that He is leading.

We can know that we are not utterly cast down.

Yet, sometimes our fickle hearts will doubt.  For me, it is when circumstances seem completely out of our control.

Not only does the car breakdown, but the roof begins to leak.  Then our air conditioning goes out.  Oh, and *surprise* - our property taxes were due yesterday.  All the while, we are waiting and hoping for our baby to come home.

We want to trust God to lead us, but we just wonder sometimes where He is leading.  We trust His ultimate path for our lives, but we question His route.

My son LOVES to make comments in the back seat.  I'll be driving to the bank, like I do every other week on payday.  He will make this statement (from the very back of the car) in his not-so-quiet-voice:

WE ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY!

I look in my review mirror and sigh.  "No, son. This is always the way I drive to the bank."

(Still yelling in case that would help with my sense of direction) NO, MOMMY!  YOU NEED TO TURN AROUND!

I used to laugh at his inability to recognize road signs. Now, I get annoyed.  I know where I'm going.  He does not.  Who is he to tell me which way to turn?  When he insists on my inaccurate direction, I begin to get frustrated.  He doesn't trust me.  Will he just realize that I can see much better from where I am sitting and that I ultimately know exactly where I want to go and how I want to get there.

Our Father in heaven is leading us.  Psalms uses this analogy of God leading us along a path in many of its verses.

Psalm 16:11

Psalm 17:5

Psalm 25:4

Psalm 27:11

Psalm 139:3

Will we trust the One leading?  Do we see those hard times as times to grow and learn?  Do we see God trying to teach us lessons? Or do we question His sense of direction when we encounter hardships.  When circumstances "happen" to us - do we question His leading? God says He will protect us, lead us into a life full of promise.  But why do these hard things happen?

A broken relationship.
A difficult child.
Death.
Sickness.

We want to trust God. We really do.  Yet, when our eyes are focused on our circumstances, we cannot move past the hurt, rejection, and defeat. 

Instead, our hearts should be focused on who God is and what He is doing.

He is in control.  When life throws us "pot-holes" - do we run to the one leading and question His methods?  Do we questions His care?

So many times those thoughts have entered my heart.  Bad/Hard/Difficult trials don't just happen to us, God leads them right to us. What do we know about God?

We know He loves.

We know He cares.

We know He is changing us to be more like Him.

For some people, a simple broken air conditioning can teach a valuable lesson. For others, maybe God will use a car accident.   Although we cannot know the mind of God, we can rest in the fact that He knows where we are going - life doesn't just happen.  God is still on His throne.  As a song writer recently sung, Love will have the final words:

Song by Jason Gray

Listen here to that reminder.

Joining these lovely ladies for 

Eye on the Prize

Keeping my eyes on the prize is something that I need these days.....  It seems this Christian path is hard and I stumble often.  Thankful for His grace to just keeping on...

Thanks, Sara Groves, for this song:

Paul and Silas bound in jail
Got no money for to go their bail
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

Paul and Silas thought they were lost
The dungeon shook and the chains fell off
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

Freedom's name is mighty sweet
And one day soon we are gonna meet
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

I got my hand on the gospel plow
Won't take nothing for my journey now
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on
The wait is slow, and we've so far to go
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

Courtesy of lyricshall.com
Only chain a man can stand
Is that chain of hand on hand
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

Ain't no man on earth control
The weight of glory on a human soul.
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

The wait is slow, and we've so far to go
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on

When you see a man walk free,
It makes you dream of jubilee.
When you see a child walk free,
It makes you dream of jubilee.
When you see a family free,
It makes you dream of jubilee.

Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on.

Faithfulness Extended

When I look at all my friends, only a few (maybe two) have been faithful through the years - but really, only my God has been completely, 100% faithful. When He has kept all of His promises, why do I doubt?! When He has been so faithful, why do I worry?! Forgive me, Lord, for my own unfaithfulness. Let me sink into the ocean that is Your faithfulness. You were faithful to those before me - You are faithful to me - You will be faithful to those after me. Amen.

Swim through your troubles. Run to the promises, they are our Lord's branches hanging over the water so that His children may take a grip of them.

- Samuel Rutherford

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds

- Psalm 36:5

When Death Comes

"When Death Comes (Wishes)"

Do photographers wish

  They had taken more pictures?

Do painters wish

  They had painted more colors?

Do artists wish

  They had drawn more lines?

Do doctors wish
  They had done more healing?

Do mothers wish
  They had given more hugs?

Do lovers wish

  They had whispered more nothings?

Do writers wish

  They had written more words?

Do musicians wish

  They had sung more songs?

Do saints wish
  They had done more praying?

Take more moments
  To be together.
Take time out
  Before death severs.

Record the life
  A life is short and long
We forget to remember
  In picture, word, or song.

We make a mistake
  We wish for more.
Live life loving
  Loving to the core.

Take that picture
Paint with color.
Draw her face.
Heal that hurt.
Squeeze and hug.
Whisper sweet nothings.
Write down the story.
Sing and play the notes.
Pray often, always.

"We are tragically deficient on enduring love and ending love well at the close of a lifetime."
-Beth Moore

Do not come to the end of a life
(a mother's, a father's, a grandmother's, a child's, or your own)
Do not come to the end of a life
   and wish for more.
God has given the time,
   measured it perfectly.

God is still God.

God is still Good.

Death has no victory.

For those in Christ.



Jack, Sarah, and Delma
(me and my grandparents)



Trust God's Process

Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Proverbs 8:33

God is hear. I have joyously discovered that He is always "up to something" in my life, and I am learning to quit second-guessing Him and simply trust the process. - Gloria Gaither

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may turn away from the snares of death. - Prov. 13:14

You can never change the past. But by the grace of God, you can win the future. So remember those things which will help you forward, but forget those things which will only hold you back. - Richard C. Woodsome

Easier said than done. Yet- God commands me to Trust Him. I think that may be the purpose and reason fora ll of the heartache we go through. During all of the confusing times that we don't know what is going on in the world, [babies dying, cancer, suicide bombers, flooding], we are command to Trust His ways....His process.  I've found that without Him, life just doesn't make sense at all. Life is too hard to live without Him. Yes - trusting God's process means trusting Him, who He is and His character. If you are questioning God's process in your life right now - remind yourself of Who He is.  Don't think of a person you can lean on because eventually everyone, and I mean EVERYONE lets you down....so trust in God....Trust in His Love, Joy, Justice, All-Knowing, and All-Powerfulness!

Psalm 139 and Chambers

"O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
It is too high, I cannot attain to it....
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
f I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You." - Psalm 139
“Your whole spirit . . . .” The great, mysterious work of the Holy Spirit is in the deep recesses of our being which we cannot reach. Read Psalm 139 . The psalmist implies— “O Lord, You are the God of the early mornings, the God of the late nights, the God of the mountain peaks, and the God of the sea. But, my God, my soul has horizons further away than those of early mornings, deeper darkness than the nights of earth, higher peaks than any mountain peaks, greater depths than any sea in nature. You who are the God of all these, be my God. I cannot reach to the heights or to the depths; there are motives I cannot discover, dreams I cannot realize. My God, search me.”


So as He searches, I can rest.  I can rest in Him.  I don't have to have everything figured out or solved.  He has it all...and He has my very best interests in His mind.  I have no need to try to figure out all the whys.  I have a God who loves me beyond intimacy and desires that I love Him too.

Lord, help me love you more.  Draw me close to You.

Seek Him Morning and Evening

In the morning, O Lord, I seek Your face so that my day begins with You.  Help me to keep You first today.  I want to have the strength to be a good mother and wife.  I want to have the patience to teach my boys.  Let me be filled with Your Spirit so that I can be controled by You.  In the morning, let my mind be drawn to You.  Let me focus on Your Word and abide in You as I start my day.  Even if I wake up tired and worn, I know that as I sit and read Your Word, I am strengthened and comforted with Your promises.  O Lord, help me to seek You in the night, so that my dreams will be pleasant and not fearful.  I want to go to sleep with praises on my lips of all that You have done and all that You are.  Help me to sleep peacefully and get good restful sleep.  Be with me, O God that never sleeps.  Watch over me tonight and sing over me. Amen.

It is good to praise the Lord and make music to Your name, O Most High, to proclaim Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night.
Psalm 92:1-2

The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.
Psalm 14:2

Fill us with Your love every morning.  Then we will sing and rejoice all our lives.
Psalm 90:14

Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but You.  Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord.  Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.
Psalm 5:2-3

I think that these verses that talk about seeking God in the morning and evening can be taken a couple of ways.  First, I think it can literally mean to seek God in the morning time and evening time.  It can also mean, I think, figuratively to seek Him when things are going well (morning) and when things are dark and in the valley (night).  I have that promise that no matter when I seek God, He is there.  He is there not so much to help me (even though He does), but lately I've been trying to focus on seeking God to praise Him.  I do not praise God nearly as much as I should.  Sure, on Sundays and Wednesdays.  Sometimes when a song comes on the radio, but I really need to be praising Him SOOOO much more!

I Will Not Be Afraid

I tried to think of what I was of afraid of - and I think failure might be one of the top things on my list.  I am afraid of failing in life - with my husband, my sons, my walk with God, my eating habits.  But one thing I read recently struck me: "Failure is something you do, not something you are."  I liked that, because it acknowledges that we do sometimes fail, but it doesn't define who we are.  But I still hate and deep down am fearful of failing.  Yet, I have that safty net - God's grace!  The more times I fail, the more times I see His abundant grace.  Is that liscense to fail though?  No, it is the freedom to rely on Him, moment by moment - and rely on His power, provision, protection, and providence.

God is our refuge and strength,

A very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear,

Even though the earth be removed,

And though the mountians be carried

into the midst of the sea;

Though its waters roar and be troubled,

Though the mountains shake with its swelling.

Psalm 46:1-3

Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me;

all day long they press their attack.

My slanderers pursue me all day long;

many are attcking me in their pride.

When I am afraid,

I will trust in You,

In God, whose word I praise,

in God I trust; I will not be afraid.

What can mortal man do to me?

Psalm 56:1-4