Thankful

I hope you had a wonderful day of Thanksgiving!  Our family celebrated the day at my parents house.  It was the first time in a whole year that all of my kids had made it to my parents house at the same time.  I was so thankful that everyone’s crazy schedule’s took a break and we were able to stay for several days.

We of course, had to do our annual porch picture. My parents have this fantastic porch & we love to use it for pictures.

My guys.

Me & my little women.

 

And of course…Charlie.  Our little wild man.  He is almost 7 months old now.  He crawls, eats real food, does not sleep all night and has the most wonderful little smile, as you can see here.

When I think of where I was spiritually this time last year I am just about brought to tears by the reality of God’s amazing mercy and grace.  My heart was dismayed, angry, hurt and very troubled.  Today, I can honestly say my heart is thankful.  Thankful for the trials of this past year.  Thankful for the time to be quiet.  Thankful for the solitude.  Thankful for the hard lessons. I am content with where the Lord has us.  Yes, I most definitely still want our family to live in our own home, but I would much rather be where God wants me. I am learning to slow down and not get ahead of God.  I am learning to be quiet.

It’s been a good year…and it’s not over yet!!!

I need this reminder

Faithful Friday...at HIS Acceptable Time

I found this verse this morning and wanted to share it with you.

  But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. Psalm 69:13

Four words jumped out at me..."At an acceptable time".

My acceptable time & the Lord's acceptable time for answering my prayers are usually two different times.  This scripture takes my back to surrender.  Surrendering my want for God to answer my prayers at my acceptable time.

If you believe God truly is Sovereign and if you know He loves you with that love that is indescribable and incomprehensible, then you can be confidant that HIS acceptable time to answer your prayers really is the most perfect time.

His faithfulness to love us and answer when we call to him is perfect.  Never has he not answered.  He may make us wait a while, but that is so He can work out his plan through us. My prayer these days has been to ask the Lord for patience in the waiting.  I know he is at work.  I know he wants to bless us every day.  I know He is working out something wonderful for our family.  So, I continue to wait and pray,

O GOD, at YOUR acceptable time in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.

There is Purpose in our Trials

 

Sometimes I really wish the Lord would let us know why he takes us through certain trials or experiences.  So much of what we as Believers go through often seems a mystery. And my flesh wants to know why I have to go through this.

I was so blessed this morning to open my devotional and read the words of Oswald Chambers.  He explained why God doesn’t let us know.

Chambers writes…

If you are going to be used by God, he will take you through a multitude of experiences that are not meant for you at all, they are meant to make you useful in his hands, and to enable you to understand what transpires in other souls so that you will never be surprised at what you come across.

I know the trials and adversity I experience aren’t just for me, I have often told others that this trial is preparing me for the next season or the next trial.  And that is true, but it goes deeper than that.

If God is really going to be able to use me in the lives of others (including my family) he must prepare me by allowing me to experience things that won’t make any sense to me at all. 

For instance, why can’t my husband just get a job and make a living for us so we can live in our own house instead of living with his parents. So many times I have cried out & asked the Lord “how much longer?”.  And each time the Spirit whispers to my soul, “Trust me”. Some days are harder than others.  Sometimes it is hard because others watching our lives play out don’t understand what is going on because just like God doesn’t let us know the why…he doesn’t let others know why either. And their words can hurt when they think they are trying to help or maybe not trying to help, but maybe they are judging us.  I have to get past that & get over what others may say about us.

If I really want God to use me for his glory I must become satisfied with the “suffering” he has in store for me because I know that it is how he will use me later on.  I must go through it, not around it.  I have to stop trying to solve what I think to be a problem and rest in the understanding that He is God and loves me more than I can understand and is not trying to harm me, but is trying to prepare me.

This is how we can rejoice in our sufferings.  We must learn to look past the suffering and realize what is really going on…His glory will be revealed through our sufferings!  That excites me!  That makes the hair on my neck stand up.  That makes all of this worth it.

So my new prayer is to ask the Lord to help me not be so short sighted and to understand my tiny little trials are just a part of his bigger plan. If I am really going to honestly pray this I have to be ok with going through the trial.  I have to stop trying to figure out how to get us out of it.  I have to be content in the circumstances God has us in. OUCH!

Oswald Chambers closed the devotional with these words,

We never realize at the time what God is putting us through; we go through it more or less misunderstandingly; then we come to a luminous place, and say-“Why, God has girded me, through I did not know it!”

My Only Political Post

I really don’t know why I am writing this post except that it just keeps rolling around in my head. Many posts roll around in my head, but most never get published because I am just not ready to let them out or am not satisfied with the way I am wording my thoughts. So if you are reading this, it means I went ahead & hit the “publish” button.

Here we are only days away from possibly having a new leader for our country. It is exciting and then again I’m so ready for it to be over with.  It seems as though we have been talking about this for 4 years.

So, why am I writing about this? It definitely isn’t a typical topic for me.  I think our voting is really important.  I live in Texas where my vote, no matter who it is for, in a way really doesn’t matter because our electoral votes are cast for Mitt Romney. My husband at this point would get very loud as he explained that my vote still matters & not to say that. I love him. He is quite passionate about this election, as he should be.

To me, my vote is not just political, but is a spiritual matter. Scripture tells us to render to Caesar what is Caesars’ (Matthew 21:22) and that is where voting comes in.

But I’ve had a problem.  I didn’t care for either candidate, but I didn’t want to NOT vote. That doesn’t accomplish anything either.

I already knew I wouldn’t vote for our current President. For so many reasons I could not vote for him.  But, I also didn’t want to vote for Romney.  He was not my first choice at all.  So, I struggled with how to vote. 

As a Believer, I knew my vote had to be for the one who held closest to the biblical standards we live by. So, this is how I decided who to vote for. There are 4 things that are really important to me in a President, 4 things I look for. Below are those 4 things and the scripture I believe supports them.

I will vote for the most pro-life candidate, because God hates the shedding of innocent blood.

Proverbs 6:16,17, “There are six things that the Lord hates,seven that are an abomination to him:haughty eyes, a lying tongue,and hands that shed innocent blood.”

I will vote for the most pro-Israel candidate, because God blesses those who blesses Israel & curses those who don't.

Genesis.12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I will vote for the most pro-debt reduction candidate, because the borrower is servant to the lender

Proverbs.22:7, “The rich rules over the poor,and the borrower is the slave of the lender.”

I will vote for the most pro-marriage candidate, because God is for marriage as defined in scripture.

Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

There are so many other things I could say here, but I refrain.  I know that whoever wins this election was put there not just by votes, but by God.  I don’t have to agree with God’s decision or understand why, I am to trust Him & His way.

Also, I am not saying I believe Romney to be a Christian. He is Mormon and even though they are excellent people in the way they live their lives, they live according to a different gospel, not the gospel of Christ.

So, I guess I am writing this post to encourage you to vote.  Vote for the one of whom you believe best represents a biblical worldview.  As much as I would love to see a committed Christian become our president, I know that our nation can’t handle, nor would elect one. Thankfully, God can use whoever he wills in spite of their spiritual beliefs…or lack thereof.

 

He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings;he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” Daniel 2:21