Living without Fear

How can we live in a society where 6 year olds are being killed? In the wake of the tragedy in Connecticut, now is the time to turn our eyes to Jesus.

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

We need to remember in these times of Crisis that the Lord is with us and will walk beside us all the way.  We got a phone call last night from our daughters high school that said they wanted to reassure the parents that the bomb threat that they received was not valid and that this morning the police were going to sweep the school and check for bombs.

My husband and I prayed that God would protect our daughter and sent her to school this morning. Our faith and trust needs to be in God. A friend of mine once told me something that rings as true today as it did when she told me. Our Children are not really our children, they are only on loan to us from God and we need to do our best to take care of them until God calls them home.

Lord,

I ask that you be with the community in Connecticut and wrap your loving arms around our nation and give us your peace Father and let us put our hopes and fears in You.

We love you Lord.

Love Your Servant 

Mary

Ungluded

^"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:2

Lately I have been reading a book called Unglued by Lysa Terkeurst.  It talked about how as women we are emotional and how we should use our emotions to Honor God.

I know for myself I am a emotional person, I am normally pretty calm, but every now and then I just blow up.  The other night I was cooking dinner, we were having steak and potatoes and I was doing the one thing I hate to do.  Cook in a dirty kitchen. Tim and the kids were getting underfoot and I knew I was about to loose it so I told my husband I want to be a Proverbs 31 woman and I went outside to calm down and pray to God about why my kitchen was dirty.

I have to admit in the pass I would have just blown up at Tim and the kids and then felt horrible the rest of the night.  I am very thankful God lead me to this book to remind me that I am not the only woman who struggles with my emotions.  

I know that as a human being that I am going to fail, but I just have to remember that God is bigger than anything and can handle all of needs and emotions :)

The Joy of the Lord

I was driving my kids to school this morning, feeling a little down. I am now on crutches again until my surgery and every now and then I get into my little pity party.

There was a song that came on the radio the joy of the Lord is my strength. I have not heard this song in a long time. The lyrics are The Joy of the Lord is my strength. He will uphold me all of my days. I am surrounded by mercy and love.

The joy of the Lord is my strength. In Psalm 28:7 is says,
 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”

God reminded me that in my pain He is my strength and my shield and I get my joy from Him. Even though I am struggling with pain, my strength comes from the Lord. He is my all in all. He is the Lord of all. All of our hopes and dreams. All of our pain and sorrow. Just know that you can trust in the Lord and He will take care of all your needs.

Blessings

My husband preaches at a nursing home once a month and during his sermon he referenced the song Blessings. As he mentioned it I did not think much of it until later. The songs chorus is, "Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops. What if Your healing comes through tears. What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near. What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise." Yesterday I was at church and I was in severe pain, I have a herniated disk pushing into my nerve sack and there are nights that I don't sleep because I am in so much pain and Tuesday night was one of those nights. There was a shortage in the nursery so I was working with the kids and there was this one little one that I was rocking and all of the sudden the song blessings popped into my mind. I started to sing it to the little one and I thought about the line in the song what if your healing comes through tears. I thought to myself that there are more than one way that God heals. God might not choose to heal my body but He can sure heal the soul. I was reminded and refreshed by this thought this week, that even though I am in pain I know he is carrying me all the way. He is the balm to my soul. In Psalm 23:3, it says, "He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for His name’s sake." He refreshes our should for His name sake. He is the one who guides us in our life and even though we might not know the why or the where we need to trust in Him and realize like the song says that what if the trials that we go through are our mercies in disguise.