God is Bigger

This summer and fall brought a lot of changes in our household.  God led us down a new path and blessed us along the way.  We are already so blessed…daily…to breathe, to walk, to see, to love…but God spoils us.  When we follow His plan, He seems to add even more blessings along the way.  I’m not at all saying if you are going through a difficult time you aren’t following God’s plan…by no means…but there are times when you feel extra blessed for following His ways.

However…after such blessings we seemed to be attacked a little: The month of September brought us some of the following:

Bees infested our daughter’s room…we are still battling the last (hopefully!) few!

A leaky bathroom pipe caused trouble for our living room.

My husband had foot surgery…

Among other normal life drama… 😉

BUT…

God got us through every step of the way.  He holds this world, He holds each moment of our lives, He is BIGGER than any attacks that come our way.

God is good all the time and all the time God is good!  Praise God in the good and hard times.  🙂

10.15.14

I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.

Isaiah 43:11-12

I have been reading “Prodigal God” and it is very good at drilling home that we all need a Savior.  The man on death row is no more a sinner than the man who has hate in his heart.  The woman who “works at night” is no more a sinner than the woman who lied.  Many of us know this, but how often do we truly believe it?  Do you know that you are as much a sinner as the people you judge?  Do you know, really know, that nothing you do will get you into Heaven?  Do you know that the person on this earth that you despise is a child of God?  We need to put our judgments away, we need to repent of our own sins, we need to pray for EVERY soul on this earth to change for Him.  And more than anything else, we need to trust Him, our Savior, our Lord, the Creator.  Our lives will be filled with joys and trials, but our life is the tiniest blip compared to eternity.  And He is waiting for us, all we have to do is knock.  

Wasn’t I just saying…

Yesterday night I couldn’t sleep…it is funny how our bodies react to things.  I think about Joshua every single day, but whether I want to or not, the emotions come flowing out this time of year.  My mind spins, my memories overwhelm me.  I don’t think this is a bad thing…I want to remember, even if it is painful.  Anyway, since I was awake with a racing mind, I finally got out of bed and I blogged at 4:30 yesterday morning about Satan attacking people around Christmas.  Wouldn’t you know, about 12 hours later, he struck again.

My heart and prayers are with my aunt, my cousins and my whole family as we mourn the loss of my uncle who passed away yesterday with a great suddenness.  My aunt has a confident peace and hope that her husband is now with his Lord and Savior.  That is the only comfort for someone who suffers a great loss.  It doesn’t make the pain go away, it doesn’t mean there are no hard times, but there is a huge relief knowing that the one you lost is eternally at rest and made new.

My sweet cousin after just hearing the news late last night was the first one this morning who remembered Joshua with us.  It is an honor that people still take the time to remember him.

There are lots of trials and struggles in our world each day…here and across the world.  God is still and always BIGGER and he will overcome!

3.21.13

1 Chronicles 16:9

⁹ Sing to him. Sing praise to him.
Tell about all of the wonderful things he has done.

 

I am a firm believer in praising God during good times and bad.  Not that I am perfect at it.  But God is God all the time and God is good all the time.  Lately, after watching so many around me go through a lot of pain for the last few years, they are starting to receive GREAT BLESSINGS and answers to prayer.  So I want to take a short moment to PRAISE GOD  extra today for the faithful One He is.  

1.19.13

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds

James 1:2

Devotion for New Year

My devotional was pretty great today for the New Year and so I thought I would share part of it:

I stand between the years.  The Light of My Presence is flung across the year to come…the radiance of the Sun of Righteousness.  Backward over the past year is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.  Dwell not of the past…only the present.  Only use the past as the trees use My Sunlight to absorb it, to make from it in after days the warming fire-rays.  So store only the blessings from Me, the Light of the World.  Encourage yourselves by the thought of these.  Bury every fear of the future, of poverty for those dear to you, of suffering, of loss.  Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, all your dislikes, your resentments, your sense of failure, your disappointment in others and in yourselves, your gloom, your dependency, and let us leave them all, buried, and go forward to a new and risen life.  Remember that you must not see as the world sees.  I hold the year in My Hands…in trust for you.  But I shall guide you one day at a time.  Leave the rest with Me.  You must not anticipate the gift by fears or thoughts of days ahead.  And for each day I shall supply the wisdom and strength.

9.10.12

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

James 1:2-4

Refined By Fire

So many friends and loved ones are journeying through trials right now.  Some are in the midst of the darkness, some can see the light of hope as they near the end and some are at the end ready to share their new wisdoms with all.

As I pray for and hold these people in my heart, I know there are millions around the world facing these same challenges, or worse.

I encourage everyone to cry out to Jesus, to hold onto Him and to know He will not leave you no matter how hard life gets.  He holds you through the trial and shares your pain.  He loves you…do not forget that.  He didn’t promise to make life easy, but He does share the burden.   Hang on…you may just be refined by fire.

A Unique Family

Our family is unique, just as any in the world.  We have a child in Heaven, one adopted from another country, and two born to us biologically.  All our God’s…He just gives us the opportunity to be blessed by them.  And we are!  Despite Joshua leaving too soon, he remains a forever part of our family and is a continual blessing.  The smiles and hugs I get from my children here on earth are cherished.  As my blog-journey continues, more and more information will be shared about each of my children…none of them came to us easily in our eyes, but the whole time God was working.

We have known many who have lost children at some stage or age.  In the past month and a half we have been given news of 3 born still.  It certainly strikes deep and hits hard, but we know that part of Joshua’s purpose during his short life was to help others going through similar pain, so we embrace them and their stories.  We keep them in heart and prayer.  And we remember.  We remember Joshua, but we also remember God’s promise to never leave us.

Death, especially of a child (regardless of age), is one of life’s hardest trials, in my humble opinion.  God never promised us an easy road, but He does walk all of our rocky roads with us. The days I miss my sweet boy the most I still rejoice, for I know it is selfish of me to wish him with me when he is in The Perfect Place. There are no answers for the pain on this side of Heaven, but we know God is good all the time and His ways are higher than ours.

Each person has trials in this life…they can’t be escaped.  But God is unchanging…He and His ways are perfect.  We need to cling to Him in trials, maybe most especially in trials we don’t understand.