Grief and hope.

We have a somewhat daunting task this morning.

We are going to support a family that lost a baby. There was a disease and even though death was imminent, you never can prepare for it.

So, the memorial service is today -

Thanks God for christian friends that can rejoice with you and grieve with you, and hold you until your grief subsides!!

Only God can fill this void and give you hope and even another child if He wills....only Jesus can satisfy your soul.

JESUS, our reason for Life and Hope......our existence.

Pray for this family.

Wher in the world is .....

Sometimes, as you sit at a blank page, you have no idea where to start!!

If your fears and anxieties are written for the eyes of others, you feel they may perceive you as weak! If you paint a rosy picture, you may portray life as something alot more normal than it actually is.

Through words, we cannot see each others tears or even concerns about life (yes, we are human as well as Christians that learn to trust God!!) We can paint what we desire at the touch of a keyboard!!

And, since the truth is surfacing, I felt my blog was not interesting enough to have faithful readers!

We have had about nine months of hardship to this point. The building industry is slow --- makes for an interesting life in many ways!! We girls have pitches in and have jobs to help fill in the gap. Yes, hubby is working , but we have about 1/4 the work we did have. And, if it seems trusting God for provision is an issue, HE reminds me daily He is in control---the refrigerator broke, tires need to be bought, a retainer is broken, a lingual wire is broken.....the list goes on....
But, I do see God's goodness and mercy in everyday life.

And yes, I can praise HIM!!

Another blessing is the story of #4 getting a college scholarship. Of course, it is only a partial payment, so he are praying for direction ....God opened the doors beyond human comprehension, so HE alone will get the glory for provision ---he will have to provide all the monies necessary! I keep plodding forward by filling our necessary forms, paperwork, applications.....the list is unending.

*** The full story can be obtained by emailing me and I will answer!!**

Yes, there are issues along the way I will not discuss, but there are blessings, such as godly teen girls that have befriended my daughters, that have been such a gap-filler in their lives. I am thankful that God provided these girls to encourage them in their walk. I am looking forward to this continuing for many years!!

I also have been blessed to get paid for a wedding I was coordinator for ....R was the reception coordinator, but we all helped (plus a couple of friends!!)---and M got paid as a musician!
Sometimes, though, marriage counselling can grate on you. We also have the privilege to counsel a bride to be. We took enough money to have a play day with her, and God blessed our friendship and fellowship. We were able to encourage her to move back home and allow God to heal her family relationship. I realize some of my heartache along the way God is using to help others see the cause/consequences of choices!! Praise the Lord.....however, we all cried when we hugged her goodbye this week!!

God is good. I do not know where my steps will go ---He is leading -my job is to continue.....and I do know that in the midst, I have hope.

Questions?

Today is the birthday of my fourth born. She is 19. As I realize her teen years are almost gone, I must reflect on things I have taught and reinforced in her life to encourage her walk with her Lord. This alone can make her successful in life.

She is serving......ministering with her music, helping in the nursery, and being a discussion initiator in Sunday School. She also uses her talent to teach others. This is also something she is able to do forever either in her home or to provide for her needs and her family's.

A good teacher causes their students to learn. Understanding strengths and weakness in area is a tool to help them learn, and to recognize those areas.

That is why she got assurance of her salvation this past year. She wanted to know that she knew....even though she accepted Christ at a very young age, it was not in her memory, because for as long as she could remember she had been "saved". She was serving the Lord, sharing with others, reading her Bible and doing good. However, there was an unsettled feeling.

We also had a friend, who at age thirty this past year accepted Christ---the assurance for and of eternity.

On this, her birthday, make sure your rebirth day is for real and settled!!!

"What is Faith?"
By Bob Perks
Someone asked me the other day about my faith.
I rambled on for a moment and seemed to have appeased their curiosity.
Still, it made me think about it more when I got home and this is what I wish I had told them instead:

To see more than what is obvious.
To believe more than what is seen.
To trust when all is lost and darknessfills your days.
To try again when failure is your partner
To give when nothing's left to give.
To stand when falling is expected.
To go on when odds are against you.
To plan when others think you foolish.
To smile when heart break dims your spirit.
To rise above the doubters and nay sayers.
To keep on when others fall behind.
To end each day in praise instead of sorrow.
That is faith.

We arrived home last evening.

It was a busy and hard week in some ways. Some of you know what it is like to become the parent of a parent.

Someone has to do the hard things; expect those tasks difficult. But, you have to maintain a sense of humor and sanity in every day life!

When your child disobeys you, they get corrected. Most do not refuse that which you know is necessary for their health. Parents do --and you must be the one to say, "No, you will do this!".
Often, they are upset with you.

Sometimes you have to leave them in a rush and proper goodbyes do not happen. You must rest in the fact that you are doing what is right at the time and move on from there.

Bust most of all in all situations, you must trust God. Do not be confused, AND PRAY AND PRAY AND PRAY above all. Often you are exhausted or too busy from the dawning of the sun to get your devotions done, but you MUST PRAY , and be faithful!!

Thanks for those prayers you all sent up on our behalf -we felt them and appreciated them!!

God is good!

Trying Times

For those of you who read this.....

Please pray for my Mom. She had a heart attack, has bronchitis, a UTI, conjunctivitivitis, and dehydration....add a fall to that and you have quite the mix for an 81 year old woman!!

She is improving, as she has been in for three days now. It is hard to understand her on the phone unless she has the oxygen connected. She also has breathing treatments!

I would love to be there, but do not know what is going to happen at this time. I have some serious obligations the next day or two to take care of.

Pray for my wisdom and also!

Year End Reflections

We started the year with a burden for a family member.....that care still remains.

We traveled in snow to see my Mother for her 80th birthday as a surprise...we do not know how many more birthdays she will celebrate!

In March, we worked with the special kids at camp. As usual, we laugh and we cry. We make friends and we have old ones we fellowship with. Camp is always an exciting time!!

The end of March brought a wedding and we helped a friend make this a special day for her daughter....lots of hard work, but we enjoyed it!!

April brought Easter and reflection on the death of our Saviour.

May brought graduation from high school for number four! We also attended a few more parties at this time!

June took us back to visit my relatives and to take the girls to camp. Bittersweet, as it was my first time of not being able to stay at the camp, so I traveled back to the mountains to be with family. When it was over, we visited with an aunt and uncle, our very favorites! Our lives are so enriched by them--not only for fellowship but family stories I never knew.....a touch with the past that fills in blanks!

The majestic mountains make me feel sooo close to God......

June brought a birthday party for our second granddaughter. She is one now!!

We also surprised a friend of #4 and #5 on her birthday and took her to tea (out of town)!

June also brought a surprise anniversary party from our kids. All were there....yes, I cried!! I, who am NEVER surprised, got caught off guard!! Old friends were there, as we reminisced way beyond time for the banquet room to be vacated!!! (Old pictures remind you of that journey of a lifetime!!)

July brought a party for our second granddaughter....and we all had fun holding a carnival in celebration!!

August afforded a vacation for the WHOLE family---all of us to the Keys....amazing reminder of God's hand in creation!!! Our week was filled with fun, laughs, stories.....and memories in the making!!

September brought a second wedding for a friend, and we got to enjoy a historical building as the setting for a dream come true for our friend!!

October brought the reality of the economy not being good and so we had to pray even harder for God's provision after several months of "getting by". It also brought the stark reality that the hearts of men are wicked and what they want, they take. I do not know if I have yet come to the point of forgiveness and praying for them yet. I also do not think my heart has yet been thankful for their unmerited deeds!!

October also brought God's provision to #4 and #5 and also to myself that we could help a little in our survival quest!!

November brought a wedding (first ever paying job) and I learned alot about Christians at this time. Some turn to the ways of the world and become so full of pride that you cannot work with them, and an enjoyable event becomes a burdensome event!! I also learned at this time that more often than not unchurched ones are kinder and much easier than those of like faith!!

November also brought family back for Thanksgiving, and our hearts swelled with thanksgiving at the small things God is doing for us in so many ways!

December brought another wedding for someone we have known since birth! We throughout the month, thought tried to do some Christmas events that would continue to keep our hearts full of the season ---the birth of our Lord the focus---and were able to experience that. The wedding was a the culmination of a storybook romance!!

And now to December 31......as you can read in my previous post, God blessed us sooo much that evening ---we had not only fun, food and fellowship, but it ALL was focused around the Word and God so graciously giving us another new year.....

And, I know I did waste time in this past year, not taking every opportunity God gave me to be a witness for him. I oft was, and tried to be sensitive to whatever He led me to do , but I did fail.

Pray with me as I seek Him in all things and even to be thankful in ALL things!!

Matthew

While attending a Bible Study Fellowship this past week, we were blessed to hear scripture quoted by a young man. He first had said he wanted to pray as the men were to close in prayer, but I guess he got a little timid and could not do it.

He spoke with such clarity --you see , he usually is hard to understand at times because he is a little challenged with his speech.

Joshua 1:9 will always take on a different meaning to our family now, as we will think of Matthew quoting it with such conviction, clarity and memory.

This would not be so impressive in our lives had it not been that he is thirty something and has downs syndrome. He speaks very little to all of us. His Mother taught him scripture when he was young to quiet his heart and fears if he was ever separated from her somewhere and needed comfort. She believes he knows the meaning and is comforted by the verses he learned. He does understand church and God (even if not voicing it or participating) and she says she believes it bypasses his mind and goes directly to the heart!

You see, we as "normal" people use our minds to complicate things of God. Oh to have childlike trust and faith!!

I once heard that spiritual death occurs because of 12 inches. You see, that is the approximate distance between the brain and the heart!!

Blessings in your walk with the Lord this new year. May you find Him in little things as well as the grand things!