In v. 3 Paul points out “we give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”. Giving thanks is a foundational discipline in the believer’s life, and I had forgotten that. I had stopped giving thanks. I wasn’t choosing gratitude for what I had, instead I was in despair because I was focused on what I had lost, how hard things were, and all the difficulties I was experiencing.
That didn’t mean that my grief would suddenly disappear because I started being thankful. Gratitude and grief can exist together - God’s grace can handle both at the same time.
In v. 5 is where the word hope shows up, and the first glimmer of healing began.
As believers, we are thankful because of the hope we have in Christ. When we lose hope we become depressed and anxious, which is exactly what happened to me. But we have a secure hope in something that we can depend on, which is the hope of Heaven.
He went on to talk about Rom. 5:3-5 - where it say: “...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Read more...Through all of this, I continued to read my Bible, pray, and I was asking the Lord to deliver me from this intense grief and exhaustion, but it felt like God was so distant. I didn’t know how to close the gap.
I am not very good at opening up and sharing the deep struggles I am going through, especially with my family, but I was so desperate for help that I called my Dad a couple days after my dream. I told him about my dream and explained everything that had been going on and sobbed on the phone. It was like a dam that broke, as it all rushed out.
Dad, in his wisdom said that this was a heart issue, that I needed to give up my control over to God. I remember agreeing with everything he said, but I told him I didn’t know how to do that. He knew how much I had been struggling, even though I hadn’t shared a lot, and he and Mom invited the kids and I to come down and stay for a month or two, so I could get some rest and help.
Read more...Wellness is an important part of my journey. As a young widow, I was determined to be healthy for my kids, so they wouldn’t lose another parent. But I would go to extremes. I pushed myself too hard, and eventually my body crashed. It has taken me a long time to have a healthy view of wellness and to see it as an act of worship.
The Bible says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” I Corinthians 6:19-20
God gave us our bodies. They are His temple, and He wants us to take care of them. That is an act of worship! This can be easier said than done sometimes, as we get busy with life, stressed about various things, have little to no energy or are overwhelmed by the endless fad diets and exercise programs out there. Or we just don’t want to change our habits.
Read more...I started this blog a year ago on September 1st! It’s hard to believe it’s been a full year, and I am so thankful for the way God is using it.
Much of what I share are things that I have learned and am continuing to learn as a widow, and a child of God. He has done so much healing in my life, and if someone else can benefit from my experiences and the lessons I have learned and am learning, then praise God!
To celebrate one full year of this blog, I am doing a giveaway! To enter you just need to SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG. If you are already subscribed, then you are automatically entered into the give away. For a bonus entry, leave me a comment over the next two weeks on any of the blog posts.
Read more...We are getting ready to send two kiddos to college at Cedarville University in Ohio. It’s hard to believe that we are at this point in our parenting journey, but we couldn’t be more excited for them. This is why we raise them - to go out into the world and thrive. Jon and I met at Cedarville and graduated from there in 1998, so it’s wonderful to have my kids go there too.
The last couple of weeks have been a flurry of Amazon orders, Walmart runs and checking things off our lists. Since we are in the throes of packing, I thought I would share some things that aren’t usually on a normal college supply list, but we have found them to be necessities.
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