He is Greater when I am less because it has never really been about me....all to the glory of Jesus.
Take Heart....
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John 16:33New International Version (NIV)
33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Take heart. I heard this whisper in my spirit this morning, as I was driving to work, admiring the white fields, covered with snow. I was thinking about the people I know who love winter and snow.....and conversely, the people who cannot stand winter and are miserable until it is over. I like winter. I like it when winter is over. Take heart. Take heart, my beloved, because this is a season and it will pass.....and when the season of winter is finished, springtime comes. The snow melts. The rains start in the Midwest. Little green buds pop out of the Earth and hang from tree branches, promising to bloom into leaves and flowers and plants.......take heart. He tells us, in John 16 that he tells us these things (he gives us the seasons that we can expect and predict and understand) so that we can have peace. This world has trouble. We have trouble. We get coughs and colds in winter. We slip on the ice. We sometimes have a blizzard with 2 snow days in the middle of the week and the children take over the house.....and make me crazy.....and then they don't sleep well.....and I'm exhausted, frustrated, anxious about the workload piling up, the laundry, the messy bedrooms, toys everywhere........oh wait. I digress. Take heart. Take heart my beloved, in this world we will have trouble but He.......He has overcome the world. All of it. Blizzards, rainy seasons, summer fun, autumn beauty.......One Man who was equally human and God......overcame THE WORLD. Take heart, my sweet people who are aching to grow your families through birth or adoption....I am praying for you. The road seems impassible and impossible.....but take heart. He has this. Take heart, my friends who are struggling with marriage, finances, contentment, pride vs. humility. You are not alone. Take heart. He has overcome the world. Next week is Valentine's Day with lots of hearts and love and sweetness.....I like this verse from John 16. Have peace. Take Heart. He's got this.
Today Claire came home from work and we sat at the table for awhile. Oh boy, if my dining room table could talk......there are more memories soaked into this table that I can recount, and more tears and bursts of laughter than I can ever remember. There are more lists and memos and plans etched into it that I could ever save...... She is making her lists for moving to college. It's true that she is only moving a couple hundred feet away to the college in our town, but she is still moving out. She is taking all of the things she uses every day and she is setting up a life in a dorm on a college campus with a new roommate and a whole new world. In 4 days we will move her out. It is so weird. It is the weirdest thing ever. Adding children to our home is not weird at all. Figuring out how to send them out is. I'm less sad and more....conflicted, maybe. I am so excited for her. Moving to college is probab...
Years ago, my oldest kiddo was struggling with some of her relationships. Friends she thought were good and faithful fell short. She felt unsafe and unprepared socially and so she and I sat down together after she had vented and cried and talked through all the things. I drew a circle, then a bigger one around it and a third bigger circle around that one. Together we came up with a list of people she could put in the most inner circle, defined as who she could trust no matter what. It is a small circle for a reason. Who can you say with certainty that you know will always put you first, care for you and come through for you? Because she wasn't sure we talked about options and why they could be reliable.....God, mom, dad (and maybe nana Barb but I don't really remember.) The second circle includes people we care about deeply who we know care for us...and why. We discuss who they are and what qualities they posess to put them in ...
In a handful of days, Roger and I will celebrate our anniversary. Our 20th wedding anniversary. This, friends, is a big, big deal. As a young girl, I didn't expect to marry or have children. God planted a longing in my heart in my mid-20s to have a husband and children.....and so I began to pray. My prayers were answered and on September 21, 1996, I became a wife. Often I heard that the first year of marriage was the hardest but we didn't experience that at all. We had so much fun! We worked hard, travelled, bought antiques and practical furniture.....we spoiled each other for Christmas and birthdays...... We were warned about a "7 year itch" where married people sometimes wander away from their vows and commitment to each other. 7 years into our marriage we had 3 children and needed each other desperately.....and loved the home and family we were creating......and didn't want to look else where or itch anything. Here we...
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