More than we can ask

โ€œNow to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญEphesiansโ€ฌ โ€ญ3โ€ฌ:โ€ญ20โ€ฌ-โ€ญ21โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

How important is imagination to you? Remember as a kid using our imagination to play? We may have created worlds, stories, characters all by imagining what could be. Sadly, for many of us, practicing our imagination slowed down as we became adults. Honestly, this is a tragedy.

Reading brilliant fiction like C.S. Lewis and his space trilogy, Perelandra, or Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings stirs our imagination and helps us exercise a muscle that is actually vital to the Christian life.

In Ephesians 3:20, when Paul says, “more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” the English word “think” is the Greek word noeo, which deals with imagination. Paul expects us to think and imagine in anticipation of all that God would do for us, and reminds us that the spot where our imagination is exhausted, the good things God has for us expands even beyond that.

God’s intended and desired good for us is beyond our imagination and is possible because it is rooted in the power of the Spirit within us. (Ephesians 1:19)

There are some things that we ask God.
There are some things that we think but do not ask because we are afraid they are “too much.”
There are other things to which we could pray that are so grand, we haven’t even thought to pray them yet.

โ€œLikewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญRomansโ€ฌ โ€ญ8โ€ฌ:โ€ญ26โ€ฌ-โ€ญ27โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

God is not just able – He is MORE than able! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป

The depth of Godโ€™s Word is amazing. Lingering in these two verses this morning blessed and convicted me in a NEW way. This morning when I woke up, I was thinking of my prayer journal and all of the prayers the Lord has answered and then out of nowhere I had the thought of โ€œhmmm, I havenโ€™t lifted up any BIG BOLD prayers in awhileโ€โ€ฆ I moved along in the morning not really thinking about that again until this morningโ€™s Bible time.

The Lord really met me and expanded upon this mornings waking thought through these two verses.

โค๏ธ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป๐Ÿคฏ

Where you find OR place your identity matters for eternity.

Paul opens up Ephesians by clearly stating his identity:

โ€œThis letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I am writing to Godโ€™s holy people in Ephesus, who are faithful followers of Christ Jesus.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญEphesiansโ€ฌ โ€ญ1โ€ฌ:โ€ญ1โ€ฌ

Then – In Ephesians 1:4-10, Paul immediately begins by reminding us of our identity. Our identity in Christ is that we are holy and dearly loved children of God. We get this identity when we receive God’s gift of salvation through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This identity is not based on us, but rather, it is placed on us because we have been adopted into God’s family. Just like when a baby is placed into a family either through birth or adoption, they become a son or a daughter and take that family’s name as their identity. It is the same with our identity in Christ.

This isn’t because of our work, our successes or how good we try to be. We become children of God by grace through faith in Christ.

Paul wants our spiritual identity to frame our minds and thoughts. He desires to help us think rightly so that we may speak and act rightly.

An important truth is that our adoption to the Father is an action of pure love by a God who is not impersonal, but deeply connected and concerned with the objects of His love, you and I! ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ๐Ÿฅฐ

I was reminded of this powerful truth this morning – the longer I walk with the Lord sometimes I forget just how broken I was before I surrendered everything to him, and before I understood that my identity comes from him. I grew up in a deeply broken home. My fatherโ€™s hands were representations of pain, hurt, abuse. My mother was so concerned with her own survival that she represented competition, coldness, self centeredness. This all led me to believe I was unworthy of love, safety, I felt as though I had no value.

๏ฟผJust hearing the simple gospel message had the power to begin to change me, it made me spiritually new, but it did not do the deep work ๏ฟผinside of me to change where I found my own identity – only through diligent study of Godโ€™s word and submitting everything to him first before the world – have I been able to come to know and believe that I am my fatherโ€™s daughter.

Friends, let’s not forget that our adoption as children of God comes with an expectation.
When we remember and think of the great and glorious truth of being adopted by the King of heaven and earth, and that we share in the inheritance of the King, it should result in a desire to reflect and live up to the standard of the King and His Kingdom. This means instead of just going along with what the world deems acceptable in our thoughts and our words, that we set a higher standard for ourselves to “be holy and blameless before him” (Ephesians 1:4). To be holy and blameless includes allowing the truth of our adoption to lace the words that come from our mouth and inform every action of our hands and feet. It doesn’t mean we will always do this perfectly, but it does mean that we are daily checking and intentionally redirecting our thoughts and our words to stay in line with God’s instructions. It’s not because we are guilted into it but because we desire to stay free of the entrapments of the enemy that come from thoughts polluted with lies and words tainted with bitterness, slander and harshness.

Adoption means we now have God as our Father. It means that we receive the inheritance that could only legally be given to a son.

This is profound.

#IdentityInChrist #IdentityExploration #themeekmomma #biblejournaling #autismfamily #solagratia #GraceAlone #adoption #testimony

God is patient

โ€œWhen the tribe of Ephraim spoke, the people shook with fear, for that tribe was important in Israel. But the people of Ephraim sinned by worshiping Baal and thus sealed their destruction.

Now they continue to sin by making silver idols, images shaped skillfully with human hands. โ€œSacrifice to these,โ€ they cry, โ€œand kiss the calf idols!โ€

Therefore, they will disappear like the morning mist, like dew in the morning sun, like chaff blown by the wind, like smoke from a chimney. โ€œI have been the Lord your God ever since I brought you out of Egypt. You must acknowledge no God but me, for there is no other savior.

I took care of you in the wilderness, in that dry and thirsty land. But when you had eaten and were satisfied, you became proud and forgot me. So now I will attack you like a lion, like a leopard that lurks along the road.

Like a bear whose cubs have been taken away, I will tear out your heart. I will devour you like a hungry lioness and mangle you like a wild animal.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญHoseaโ€ฌ โ€ญ13โ€ฌ:โ€ญ1โ€ฌ-โ€ญ8โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Maybe the idea of carved images and pagan alters built on hillsides can feel far away from the practices of our current day. Maybe weโ€™re tempted to read the prophecy of Hosea as though from a safe distance, believing the problems of Godโ€™s people and Hoseaโ€™s time are unrelated to today- self-centeredness however, is a problem for all people, including you and me.

๏ฟผ In Hoseaโ€™s day the people of God became enamored with and distracted by what Jesus would call โ€œthe cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other thingsโ€ (Mark 4:19). And the more they forgot God, the more irrational and immoral, their lives became. In Hosea 13:2, we even see that the people were willing to โ€œoffer human sacrificeโ€ yet โ€œkiss calvesโ€ made of metal- they valued false gods made by humans more than they valued humans made by God.

It would be remiss of me not to mention abortion here. Abortion is the baal worship of our current day. The self-centerdness of the โ€œmy body my choiceโ€ movement is nothing less than pride and the forgetfulness of God. Two pre-born human beings are murdered every minute of every day in the United States of America.

Just like in the times of Hosea, we too deserve Godโ€™s wrath but He remains patient.

God is showing you mercy right now, begging you to turn away from your sin and be reconciled to him. I love you and believe that the Lord is not slow about his promise but is patient toward you not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9).

I was once an enemy of God too, but it was his grace that saved me and set me free to follow him. It would be hateful to withhold this truth from you when you have the chance to be washed ๏ฟผclean and reconciled to your Creator. Today is the day of salvation. Godโ€˜s judgment will not delay forever.

Submit to the Lord

โ€œSubmit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญJamesโ€ฌ โ€ญ4โ€ฌ:โ€ญ7โ€ฌ-โ€ญ10โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

These verses in James gives us an action plan for turning from our sin and living out our faith in God:

  1. First we submit to God (4:7a). This means we acknowledge Godโ€™s wisdom is wiser than the ways of the world. We also recognize His rightful authority to direct our lives according to His wisdom.

Submitting is what we do – but practically HOW do we do it? James goes onโ€ฆ

  1. We resist the devil (4:7b). The implication of the Greek word translated โ€œresistโ€ is โ€œto stand againstโ€ or โ€œwithstandโ€. This infers a promise that whatever power Satan may have, we are ABLE to overcome him by Godโ€™s GRACE.
  2. We draw near to God (4:8a). James appears to have Hosea 12:6 in mind: โ€œso you by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.โ€ James commands and promises were written to believers in Jesus. But rather than love and justice, these believers had demonstrated selfish ambition and partiality. James was not necessarily talking about drawing near to God for salvation here but he was referring to what repentance from sin looks like for Christ followers.
  3. We wash our hands and purify our hearts (4:8b). This alludes to how Israelite priests prepared to minister before the Lord in the OT, reminding us that we are called to a high standard of behavior as Christโ€™s people. He washes us clean through the Gospel of His sacrificial death and resurrection, which we receive through the Word and which is how we draw near to Him. (Eph. 5:25b-27).
  4. Finally, we grieve and mourn and wail over our sin (4:9). When we draw near to God, we become saddened over our inability to fully follow the Lordโ€™s commands โ€ฆ but our weeping turns to exhalation as we experience Godโ€™s forgiveness of our sins through Christ (James 4:10).

All of these intentional choices result in our recognition of our deep spiritual need for our Savior.

Thanks be to God that Jesus has rescued us and promises to present us, the Church, before Godโ€™s throne as His beautiful bride.

โ€œNow to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,โ€
โ€ญโ€ญJudeโ€ฌ โ€ญ1โ€ฌ:โ€ญ24โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Rather than trying to work our way into positions of power, recognition, or status, we can humbly sit in the presence of God. He positions us for purpose and purifies our hearts. As we acknowledge our desperation for His deliverance, He will forgive and exalt us.

Suffer Well

I started a study on the book of Hebrews at the beginning of January. I am currently a few months in and rounding out the last two chapters. Hebrews is such a theologically rich book that it has caused me to overlook or under-consider (is under-consider a word?) the books presentation of:

Jesus is enough and Jesus is always the answer

The last two months I have had some things come up that have given me a fresh comfort of this truth. This book has been a major balm to my soul and has increased my ability to abide in my relationship with Christ. When condemnation has came knocking on the doors of my memories and anxiety of the unknown has tried to shake meโ€ฆ these truths overcome!

โ€œFor because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญHebrewsโ€ฌ โ€ญ2โ€ฌ:โ€ญ18โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌ

โ€œFor we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญHebrewsโ€ฌ โ€ญ4โ€ฌ:โ€ญ15โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Earlier this month I had a scare with some unexpected blood lossโ€ฆ I go to the doctor and get a referral to surgery, which I am waiting to be scheduled currently. At that same appointment, unexpectedly, the doctor found a large lump on each of my breasts. This month made exactly one year since my last breast cancer scare in which my faithful church family anointed and prayed for me.

โ€œIs anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญJamesโ€ฌ โ€ญ5โ€ฌ:โ€ญ14โ€ฌ-โ€ญ15โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

So now I wait on another mammogram and diagnostic imaging but I wait knowing God has been faithful in the past and I can trust He will be faithful again. Because I can trust Him, and know He is never changing, I can have peace in this messy place and I know if I suffer well – I will be rewarded in this trial.

Suffering for the Christian always presents the opportunity for discipline and growth.

โ€œAnd have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? โ€œMy son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.โ€โ€
โ€ญโ€ญHebrewsโ€ฌ โ€ญ12โ€ฌ:โ€ญ5โ€ฌ-โ€ญ6โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

This month I also had someone reach out to me relaying that my earthly dad would like my address so he can write to me. This is a person who I have had zero contact with for over 14 years. This person was abusive in every way possible and in the past has denied any contact with me, even contact for me to relay I had forgiven him and would always continue to pray for him. In an act of grace and mercy, I said yes and sent my address. I cannot know if this persons heart has changed or what their intention isโ€ฆ but I can have faith in trusting the Lord to see me through whatever may be on the other side of this.

And I can know that I continue to pray with faith that my dad would confess his sins to the Lord, be forgiven, become a changed man, and one day join the Saints in Heaven.

Jesus endured the suffering of this world because He knew the outcome was worth it. You were worth it, friend and I was worth it. Jesus willingly obeyed God by coming to this world and in turn, it resulted in the restoration and reunion of God’s children. Jesus knew there was eternal salvation waiting beyond the suffering of this life! The same is true for us.

Eternity with Jesus awaits us. So what about this suffering in the meantime? If we allow it, this too can have eternal purpose. Our suffering can become a means of God’s disciplineโ€ฆ let’s define the word “discipline”.

Discipline here does not mean punishment. Jesus already took our punishment. (Isaiah 53:5) The Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible defines discipline as “Learning that molds character and enforces correct behavior; from a Latin word meaning instruction’ or ‘training.” Suffering can be a major means for us to learn, train and be molded into someone better. Much like using weights to discipline and condition our muscles, or using alarm clocks to discipline our use of time, if we let it, suffering can discipline our hearts toward empathy, compassion, understanding and more.

If you let Him, God can turn pain into something that will transform you and yield righteousness.

Friend, being a Christian does not mean that you will have a life free of pain and suffering BUT what it does mean is that: You have Jesus!

Jesus to cover you ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป
Jesus to walk beside you ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป
Jesus in the good times and the hard times ๐Ÿ™
Turns out, He is more than enough โค๏ธ

โ€œfear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญIsaiahโ€ฌ โ€ญ41โ€ฌ:โ€ญ10โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Keep showing up: Going to church with a Special needs child

The enemy would want nothing more than for my family to stop coming to church.

If any of you have read the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis then you may be able to imagine that the enemy doesnโ€™t need us to โ€œhateโ€ God in order to pull us away from God. The enemy would see to it that we would back away slowly, not completely. It would begin with missing one or two Sundays, looking to others who “watch online”, to compare the ways we are close to Jesus and to say that because of our circumstances being “different” we are excused from corporately gathering… then it would become that Jackson’s class is better off without him… that we are a burden to the church.

The Bible is so clear here though – and if you know the truth then you can discern the lie.

Matthew 18:20 โ€œFor where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

Hebrews 10:25 โ€œnot forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.โ€

And we are all important in the body as the Lord has blessed each one differently, “But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose.โ€ (1 Corinthians 12:18)

You may not know that 90+ percent of families with a family member experiencing autism don’t go to church. That 8/10 marriages end in divorce by the time the child is 4 years of age. Or that Suicide is the highest cause of death for young people experiencing autism with only drowning surpassing it.

These numbers tell me that we (special needs/disabilities families) need the church!!!

And that other families need to see us in the church. Pushing through the hard for the joy ahead.

This is not an immediate or tangible joy or a fit of “happiness” in the sense of what we think culturally when we use the term joy. I am talking the deep joy that comes from God alone.

The joy of knowing that in Christ is:

Healing

Forgiveness

Resurrection And Renewal

One thing I have learned is nothing, and I mean nothing, makes me yearn more for our King Jesus’s return than when I am carrying my hurting, sweet boy out of church crying out and unable to recover… hearing him begging to go back to his โ€œbig kidโ€ class but lacking the โ€œskillsโ€ needed for that dayโ€ฆ

the helplessness I feel to see him hurting and longing to belong and no way for me to to fix it…

I also know humility is best learned in the “lab” not by reading others experiences and outcomes but by allowing God to configure the right parts needed to meet you and change you in the season He has you. We are taught to surrender.

And so this I cling to:

God is good

God is good to Jackson

God is good to us.

And God is good in autism.

Lord, enable me and my family not to just keep showing up but to glorify you! That we would show up with empty and outstretched hands so that we may receive the abundant life you have for us. And in that we continue to learn that in YOU and being with YOU is sufficient for all of ours and Jacksonโ€™s needs. Amen.

Quiet morning thoughts

Quiet mornings with Jackson before work is one of my very favorite things โค๏ธ

Jackson having a morning snack by the tree

Last week, every morning was chaos. Dogs, child, pee and poop ๐Ÿ’ฉ of all kinds everywhere. Cold and flu season. All of the things. But man, Godโ€™s tender mercy got us through.

Itโ€™s hard not to be grateful when itโ€™s Christmas time.
A time filled with reminders of Promises kept.

๐ŸŽ„ Jesus, the Promised One, came to save and give grace. We cannot save ourselves, but Jesus died in our place so that we could be His forever and made new.

๐ŸŽ„ The Bible holds hundreds of Promises, and Jesus is the answer to each one. In Him, we have hope, joy, peace, and love.

๐ŸŽ„ Jesus came as the Promised One long ago.

๐Ÿ‘‘ Someday, He is coming again to make all things right forever because God ALWAYS keeps His Promises.

๐Ÿ™Œ God keeps every last one.

๐Ÿ™ Cling to this truth today if you need it friend. The holidays can be hard. I remember for so long this time of the year had a sting. It was a reminder of all the things I did not have. I did not have a safe home, family, a warm place to snuggle or a soft place to land. And some years were just dark.

๐ŸŽ I can now look back and see that I was hearing the lies of the enemy over the trumpet of grace. I was hearing the lies of the enemy say I was not worthy instead of knowing My King ๐Ÿ‘‘ calls me Worthy.

Because of Christ, I now walk in freedom from the bondage of sin that leads to death. โœ๏ธ

The greatest gift of Joy is knowing Christ. You CAN rest in His faithfulness to us now and in the future as we remind our heartโ€™s of Godโ€™s faithfulness in the past.

Friend, I donโ€™t know why you may be hurting today- It may be because it is cold and flu season and you have poop all over your house or maybe itโ€™s something deeper that you may not even know how to say –

Let me encourage you with a gentle reminder: HEALING AND HOPE will only be found in Jesus. Not in the Pinterest worthy pictures or elaborate decorations this season.

In Christ alone is rest, joy, comfort.
Behold Him this season.

โค๏ธ

The Faithful love of Jesus

How it started and how it is going! The faithful Love of Jesus! โค๏ธ

5 years ago this week we plugged in at Coastline Christian Fellowship, wholeheartedly committed.

We had visited on and off through the year prior but we had lingering church hurt from prior churches and to be honest we were wrestling with feeling Godโ€™s pull – Godโ€™s wooing of our hearts AND wrestling with our fleshโ€ฆ

This little church in Olney became and is our family and for Jackson it is โ€œthe place of his peopleโ€. Jackson greeted and gave hugs to at least 30 people yesterday and shook 4 hands! ๐Ÿฅน๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ˜ญ

Jacksonโ€™s first visit to Coastline post being in a car seat
Jackson helping dad and friend vacuum our kids class room.

A very early (miraculously early) autism diagnosis for Jackson was the hurt, the longing, the fear, the โ€œI cannot do this without you Godโ€ moment that changed it all for us. We surrendered and we kept showing up until we desired to show up and we hurt when we missed. 6 months later we began serving in the Minnows room and remain in there till this day. Seasons change but the everlasting Love of the Lord remains the same. He sought us and pursued usโ€ฆ


God pursued Adam and Eve after they sinned in the garden of Eden. (Genesis 3)
God pursued Hagar when she ran away from her problems. (Genesis 16)
God pursued Elijah when he ran from Ahab and Jezebel. (1 Kings 18-19)
God pursued Paul on the road to Damascus. (Acts 9)
And God pursues us.


Motivated by unexplainable love, God pursues humanity. No matter our state in life โ€” married, single, dating, living for God or running from Him โ€” God seeks to win the affection of our hearts by relentlessly and faithfully pursuing us.

We see a clear depiction of this pursuit in verses, John 3:16-17: โ€œFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.โ€

The love John refers to in this scripture is agape love, which is sacrificial and considered the highest form of love that exists. This love was costly for God, but He pursued us through the radical act of sacrificing His Son. Godโ€™s love is unmatched and far greater than any box of chocolates or bouquet of flowers.

And even more astounding is that God demonstrated His lavish and sacrificial love while we were sinners. He pursued us while we werenโ€™t thinking about Himโ€ฆ Once and for all, God valiantly saved humankind from the spiritual villain Satan when we were in distress.

But Godโ€™s pursuit of us did not end with Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. For all our days, He will continue to pursue us with His unexplainable love.

If you long to be romanced and pursued, may this be an encouragement: You are the object of Godโ€™s affection. He has relentlessly pursued and will continue to pursue you.

God will not keep you from anything that will make you more like Jesus. For us, Jacksonโ€™s autism is a tangible tether between the heavenly things and the earthly thingsโ€ฆ. But it took us โ€œsurrenderingโ€ this onto the Lord.

What is the thing that may be hurting you that the ONE who made you and loves you is wooing and asking you to surrender to HIM?

Surrender

These hidden years have been hard. The Lord has been giving me (us) more than I feel like I can handle of BOTH joy & pain. As expected the antibiotics caused a significant set back for Jackson in his gut health which leads to behavioral issues and his entire sensory system being high jacked.

At the end of each day to help Jackson prepare for sleep and his night time routine I brush him. What I am using here in this picture is a tactile brush made with a ton of little fine bristles, rubbing one direction is soothing and tells his body to relax and brushing in the other direction is alerting and sort of ticklish. Jackson has not been ticklish at all and instead has even been asking me to brush his palms and bottoms of feet which is typically too stimulating but in this season he needs the input to help him feel where his body is in space.

Brushing for sensory integration

๐Ÿ‘‰This is why he runs up to people and crashes hard into them when what he really is wanting is a hug.
๐Ÿ‘‰This is why he has the urge right now to stand up on tables and high places just to be seen because being down low he feels invisible.
๐Ÿ‘ŽAnd itโ€™s these things and others like it that is the hardest to communicate to those around him. Itโ€™s these behaviors that people donโ€™t understand or desire to. Itโ€™s these things that keep us โ€œintegratedโ€ but never really โ€œincludedโ€. Integration and Inclusion are two different thingsโ€ฆ

So itโ€™s been in these moments the Lord has shown me that grief left unattended will be become anger.
Grief left unattended is exactly what the enemy will use to keep you out of church, isolated, alone and distanced from Jesus. Even Jesus wept – but I in my pride have not.

Grief left unattended will become anger

I guess my message for today is SURRENDER ๐Ÿ™Œ
Surrender it all to Jesus. Lord help me to approach today with intentional and obediant faith – give me a fresh appreciation for your grace. ๐Ÿ™

May our affections for our YOU and our children increase each day as we โ€œpress on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us Heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).

I am clinging to:
โค๏ธ scripture for truth
โค๏ธ confidence of my identity in Christ
โค๏ธ holding fast to biblical conviction

I donโ€™t know why some of us seem to get an extra portion of hurt or griefโ€ฆ but I DO KNOW the one โ˜๏ธ who pours it out and He is GOOD and I CAN trust Him.

Opportunities for distraction, excuses, and envy abound – but the answer is always the same: Follow Jesus ๐Ÿ‘ฃ

An encouragement for you

This sweet memory popped up for me today out of my Facebook photos, and I can do nothing else but think of all the ways the Lord has been faithful to us these last five years. ๐Ÿ™ I had no idea what the path ahead would be – but HE did.

Me changing my sweet son just before he turned a year old

โ€œGod’s grace to sustain us through painful circumstances is stronger and is mightier and is much better than any deliverance out of those circumstances.”
-Joni Eareckson Tada

๐Ÿ™Œ Amen!

Godโ€™s grace these last 5 years as I have learned more deeply what it means to be a wife, a mother, and most importantly a disciple of Christ – has been life giving!

Godโ€™s grace is greater than any diagnosis, financial difficulty, broken expectation, or hurt. Insert your own hard into this fill in the blank:

Godโ€™s grace is greater then my โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”โ€”-!

God has great compassion for His children ๐Ÿ‘‡

โ€œbut, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of men.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญLamentationsโ€ฌ โ€ญ3โ€ฌ:โ€ญ32โ€ฌ-โ€ญ33โ€ฌ โ€ญESVโ€ฌโ€ฌ

God allows for us to suffer for a little while so that we will be strengthened and so that our HOPE will rest in Him ๐Ÿ‘‡

โ€œMy suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญPsalmsโ€ฌ โ€ญ119โ€ฌ:โ€ญ71โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

God answers prayer ๐Ÿ‘‡

โ€œYour promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญPsalmsโ€ฌ โ€ญ119โ€ฌ:โ€ญ50โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Share His hope and testify of His goodness ๐Ÿ‘‡

โ€œYou intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญGenesisโ€ฌ โ€ญ50โ€ฌ:โ€ญ20โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Experience the Joy that is ONLY found in Godโ€™s presence ๐Ÿ‘‡

โ€œYou will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญPsalmsโ€ฌ โ€ญ16โ€ฌ:โ€ญ11โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

While everything else will fail you and waste away –
Jesus can be trusted ๐Ÿ™Œ

REST in HIM!

๐Ÿ‘‰ โ€œThe thiefโ€™s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.โค๏ธ My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.โ€
โ€ญโ€ญJohnโ€ฌ โ€ญ10โ€ฌ:โ€ญ10โ€ฌ โ€ญNLTโ€ฌโ€ฌ

Friends, be encouraged!

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