Life In My Kitchen

2017 is gone.  It is forever a year that I don’t have to relive but that I won’t quickly forget.  Job loss, emotional move, uncertainty, feelings of walking completely blind, step after step in the darkness but trusting in the Light…that was 2017 for my family.  And now, 2018 finds us settled with a path forward once again.  We made it through a few dark years of guessing, praying, hoping, wandering and came out of it, together- stronger in our marriage, more courageous, and with a clearer understanding of how the LORD carries us through trials.  He guides and leads and says “wait…rest in your knowledge of Me, and do not worry, I’ve got this.”

And boy is it hard to wait!  I felt like a toddler who wanted her ice cream NOW, not tomorrow!!! But that is not how the Lord works.  He grows our faith often by asking us to wait on Him and His perfect timing.  God, who sees all things before we can even begin to know…HE– HE is in control and will carry us through.  It reminds of me that lovely song “You Raise Me Up.”  He carries us through and gives us the ability to be more than we can be…to be more than we thought possible.  What a gift!  And what a hope-filled world when we let Him lead.

Be encouraged today.  If you are His and follow His lead, all things will work together for the good of those who love Him.  (Romans 8: 28)

May 25, 2018

Are you tired today?  Need refueling and maybe just someone to encourage you?  I have felt that way many times.  Sometimes it feels as if I just cannot get out of this “bleh” feeling on my own.  Truthfully, I cannot do it on my own.  If I tried, I’d expect all kinds of things from others who would only disappoint me- because we are only human and nobody can give you exactly what you need, except  the Lord.

You hear that in Christian circles and from the Pastor at the pulpit…that only the Lord can give you what you really “need”.  It all sounds great and you might even shout a little “amen” when you hear it–but until you truly are lacking in strength and motivation to push on…just …one..more…day, will you know just how true that statement is.  Nobody can fill the void, emptiness, loneliness, that you might feel at times in your life…only Jesus can.  Your husband or best friend simply cannot fill those needs and voids, nor can you do the same for your husband or anyone else.  But the Lord will, if you go to Him.

Cry to Him, tell Him all your sorrows, your frustrations, your hurts, your feelings of neglect, and He will speak to you in those moments alone as you pour your heart out to Him.  He will whisper to you the words that you might be needing to move on.  He will help you to feel the love that you might be desperately seeking.  You will walk away refreshed and able to make it through whatever trial you are facing.  He won’t make your life perfect and make every problem disappear…we do, after all, live in a sinful and fallen world.  BUT…He will get you through the trial with hope and peace and an inner joy from feeling loved.

So before you give up, before you thrown in the towel on parenting, marriage, jobs–whatever assignment the Lord has given you…fall at His feet, cry out to Him, tell Him all that needs to be said, and He will give you the strength and hope to continue.

Galatians 6:9 tells us-

“Do not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap,

if we do not give up.”