Praise You In This Storm

Summer comes and we can't wait to get outside in the sun to have some fun! Swimming, BBQ's, family vacations, no school. Life just slows down and we enjoy it just a little bit more. Day after day, we play and indulge. Day after day, we are gluttons for the sun and fun. One afternoon we slow down because a storm has moved in. But we don't complain because it has been months since it has rained and it will be so refreshing. Even if it has some hail and wind and lightening, we don't mind because our land is so dry. 

The rain brings with it cooler temperatures. Just what we needed! We've been so hot all summer and going out into that sun has lost its appeal. Fall has arrived and we can't wait for football and milder temps. Our meals get a little heavier and so do our fannies but that's ok because swim suit season is over! Can I get an Amen?!? Thank you Sweet Baby Jesus that we don't have THAT pressure hanging over us anymore! Could life get any better? 

We wake up one morning and a cold front has moved in. Thank goodness. Nobody wants to wear shorts on Christmas morning...a very real thing in Texas! We want to see some snow on the ground, make snowmen and snow ice cream if we're lucky, sing Christmas songs and do some baking! Our trees go up and it feels like a party every day.  We watch parades on television, exchange a mountain of gifts and bring out our ugly sweaters to hide all that baking we've been doing😳

One more day we are slugging through the mud and the ice and the muck to get to our cars to go to work and we see something bright green trying to peek through the crusty ground. Before we know it, tiny flowers are poking up all around us and our yards look like the grass fairy has made a sweep! It's so pretty and it smells so good! We look at ourselves in the mirror and wonder where the heck that 20 pounds came from. We decide it's time to do something about it! What better time than when everything is starting over? It's a new year and a new me! We work hard, drop a few pounds and start to feel really good. We look up and guess what? Sweet Summertime is here! And so the cycle continues. 

Do you notice what just happened here? Seasons changed. We embraced each one of them with very little thought to the actual change. We just went with them. We accommodate and make the best of the current situation. We find the joy to be had in each one of them. We can't control the weather or the climate so we adapt.

But what happens when the seasons change in our personal lives? You know, the ones that we say God is in control of but only when we want Him to be?.........

All of our lives we dream of finding a soul mate, a spouse, a person that we can grow old with. That special person is perfect, until they are not. You wake up one morning and realize your special person has a drinking problem. You can't fix it, you can't control it. It wrecks your marriage and you wonder what you did wrong. 

You carry your child for 9 months. You dream of heart shaped lips, 10 fingers and 10 toes and pretty pink skin. You can't wait to chase this little person around the house and hear their laugh. Your baby is placed in your arms and you immediately know something isn't right. Your baby is born with special needs and you wonder what you did wrong. 

You thank God every day for that special friend that He put in your life. The one that you can tell all of your darkest secrets to, the one that will always make you smile and knows just what you need, day or night. The one that calls you and tells you that they were diagnosed with cancer.....and you wonder what you did wrong. 

You spend every day talking to your parent. You think they will always be there for you, even when no one else is. You rely on them for everything. Until they are relying on you and they are in a nursing home and they can't remember who you are and you wonder what you did wrong. 

The seasons in our lives change just like the weather. But we don't handle the transitions as well. The bible says:

3 There is a time for everything,

    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,

    a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3     a time to kill and a time to heal,

    a time to tear down and a time to build,

4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,

    a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6     a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7     a time to tear and a time to mend,

    a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8     a time to love and a time to hate,

    a time for war and a time for peace.

God is going to allow the seasons in our lives to change. Every change will bring with it an opportunity to turn to Him, to rely on Him and to praise Him. 

God, I know that change is inevitable. You allow the seasons to change outside and you've always prepared me for it. I know that the seasons in my heart are going to change too and I know that if I keep my focus on You, that You will prepare me for those changes as well. I can't promise that I won't stumble but I can promise that I will praise You in this storm.

It's Not About Me

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.
Psalm 50:15

Problems Have a Purpose
God will use whatever he wants to display his glory. Heavens and stars. History and nations. People and problems. Death of a loved one or even a loved one who is suffering and is praying for death to take them. I remember my Grandaddy. He died around the age of 92. He was crippled, he was almost blind and he was in excruciating pain day in and day out as he laid in a bed in the nursing home. I would go to see him and he would cry to me and ask why God wouldn't just take him. But before I would walk into his room each time, before he knew that I was there, he would be praying to God to take care of my little brothers. He did this every day, all day long. He loved those boys with a heart like no other. I realized that maybe God needed my Grandaddy to stay on this earth, suffering and crying to go to his Heavenly home, because he was such a prayer warrior. Maybe my brothers needed his prayers because they couldn't pray for themselves and no one else was. I have no idea. What I do know is that my Grandaddy was the best example of a Christian that I have ever known! I miss him to this day and I am so grateful to have spent as many years with him as I did. Floyd Donica, you are missed and loved to this day❤️

A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the reward.
Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God…
Your pain has a purpose. Your problems, struggles, heartaches, and hassles cooperate toward one end—the glory of God.
—It’s Not About Me

Heavenly Father, when problems and pain come my way, help me to remember that nothing comes into my life without your approval. Rather than complain and cry about the challenges I face, help me consider them as opportunities to bring glory to you. Give me the strength and patience to bear my burdens in a way that will honor you. I will lift my eyes off the trials and keep them fixed firmly on you, amen.

Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us.
Daniel 3:17
Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.
Joshua 21:45
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Psalm 34:19

Listen With Your Eyes

 Psalm 116:2

I remember when Trey Casey was a little boy and he was telling me a story. I wish I could remember now what it was about because it was really important to him at that time. Being the young, first time Mom that I was, I was listening with half an ear while multitasking about 5 other things. He asked me more than once to listen and I assured him that I was. He then got my attention by getting in my line of vision and saying, Momma, listen to me with your eyes.........Light bulb moment! It never dawned on me that I was only giving him half my attention, half my time, half my heart when he wanted it all! I vowed that day that what he had to say from then on was more important than any unfinished business I had going! 

But I have to ask myself, do I give God the same undivided attention? The scripture says He bends down to listen to me. He gets in my line of vision and says, "I want to listen to you with my eyes, with my ears, with my heart". What I have to say to Him is the most important thing He will hear all day. Why is it so hard for me to spend time talking to Him? 

God, I am sorry that I always seem to leave you with what is left over instead of giving you what is my best! Please don't give up on me. I'm a work in progress but I promise to try harder to listen to you with my eyes. Amen.

Fear And My Father's Pockets

When I was a little girl, I had an awful fear of heights. It was ridiculous of course because all the best things in life happened above ground! Climbing trees, flying, jumping on a trampoline, roller coasters, my best friends second story balcony.....all of these things happened ABOVE my comfort zone. But the worst one was, my Dad's favorite fishing hole. I'm sure you are wondering how anything involving water could be up. Well, the only way to access his favorite fishing hole was to walk across this large metal water pipe that crossed over the water to a cement platform that stood in the middle of this little reservoir. He and my little brother would take off across this thing like it was a sidewalk and never miss a step. Me on the other hand, I would get to the edge and would freeze. I could not make myself put one foot on that thing for fear of falling off. I would tear up, my dad would coax, I would beg and he would coax and finally, I would cry and he would help. He hooked my hands onto his back pockets and told me not to look down and not to stop. He went before me and never broke contact until we were safely to the platform. This is one of my best memories with my Dad. He could have gotten mad, he could have yelled at me to stop being a baby, he could have left me there crying...but he walked before me and led the way because he wanted me to experience what was on the other side of that fear. 

Today, I'm a real live grown up. I'm no longer afraid to walk across the top of water......or am I? I think as adults our fears from childhood evolve into more grown up words like worry, stress, anxiety. I have worried if I would be smart enough to be a nurse. I have worried if I would be a good mother. I have had anxiety about how I would pay my bills. I have stressed about how to put my kids through college. The list goes on and on and on. My Daddy isn't here to put my hands in his back pockets and walk me across the water. But my Heavenly Father is. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."  Just like my Dad here on earth, Jesus puts my hands in his back pockets and says don't look down and don't stop walking. He wants me to experience what is on the other side of that fear. 

Lord, even as an adult, I admit that there are still things that scare me. Thank you for reminding me that you will always be there to lead me through them. Amen

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand