New Beginnings
I hope ya'll are not tired of reading one more blog about starting over, adjusting this years focus, or recaps of last year's events. If you are, I will not be offended if you pass by my blog and go on to something else....I write what God moves me to write...from His heart through my fingers...so I am going to start the year by attempting obedience!
This year has been the best of years and also one of the hardest of years. This past February our son and daughter in law blessed with a very beautiful and healthy 1st grandchild, a grandson! "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers" Proverbs 17:6. Our precious Aiden Russell has completely wrapped us around his tiny little fingers. I have been told that grandchild change your life in a very special way but I just couldn't imagine it and now I understand...it is fabulous!
And then in April, our daughter got married. This is a miracle because she was the daughter we almost lost 5 years ago in a near fatal car accident. We were told that she wouldn't live, then that she would never walk, and finally, the doctors decided they just didn't know what the outcome with her was going to be. But God knew..."for I have plans for you; plans to prosper you not to harm you. Plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
Also, there has been prosperity in the job department...our son and son- in- law were able to move into jobs with hopeful futures and a chance for the jobs to be good career choice. And for our son-in-law, a job that finally gave him work everyday, rain or shine, and a pay check he could count on. "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds" Luke 12:24
My parents held their own this year and all in all had a pretty healthy year! They were health enough and mobile enough to take a Thanksgiving trip to California to spend the holiday with my sister, brother-in-law and the grands and great-grands out there."They will still yield fruit in old age;They shall be full of sap and very green." Psalm 92:14. My mama loves to travel and my sister does miss out on the holidays with them so I was so grateful that they were able to make the trip and in usual fashion the trip had some adventure to it...another memory for all of us!
These were some of the great highlights of 2013 but there were also some tough times. One of the hurdles we had to jump over was Amanda's health. She struggled all year and by late September her health escalated and she had to be hospitalized. We were tired, frustrated, discouraged, alone, trapped, and her pain was tremendous. We just felt lost and frustrated....did I say alone, lost, and frustrated!? "He has heard the cry of the humble" Psalm 9:12
And there were other tough times...so many changes and I don't adapt to change well. My husband was working 5 days a week at a regular 8-5 job and then pulling 24 hours on Saturdays working as an EMT. Needless to say our Sundays have no consistency to them at all. My stress level seemed to stay high while I tried to support Amanda, plan a wedding, help take care of the new grandchild, and serve my parents. I struggled most of the year with feeling like I did NOTHING well..that each person including God was only getting a small piece of me. And not even a good piece, just a already bitten into, crumbling, soggy, no frosting piece! "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."Psalm 34:17
And then God's grace and mercy was poured down upon us."Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3. The Lord ended that 11 day journey that had been underway for 40 years and he was bringing me down off that mountain into the promise land! AMEN and again I say AMEN! We experienced complete healing, we found restoration, we were delivered comfort and guidance, we were rewarded strength and fortitude, we were handed a season of thankfulness, joy, and peace..."Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." Exodus 15:25. Our waters were made SWEET!
And this is my focus for 2014...to drink of those sweet waters that the Lord has made for me! God sweetening the waters when I so needed something sweet...and it wasn't that I desired something sweet, like when you are laying in bed and start thinking about how good a chocolate bar or a dish of ice cream would taste. No, I needed it like a person who just had their blood sugar take a dive and the room is spinning, their hands are sweating, and their knees are buckling...that is how much I needed those sweet waters. But, the Lord waited until it was evident that all that was completed in us, given to us, restored to us, delivered to us, rewarded to us, and handed to us was completely and totally by his power and in his time. "I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. (Selah) God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness' Psalm 57:2-3
For most of us each year brings its own highs and lows, ups and downs, joys and tribulations. God wish for us is not to do away with the highs and lows but to draw us closer to him, for us to acknowledge his power, his mercy, his grace, his love for us. His desire, as we journey through this life holding his hand is for us to drink more often of the sweet waters made by him and to make sure that others know that that sweet water IS and BY God's mighty hand!
One more thing...I want to acknowledge that my journey so far in life has never been a journey with just myself and God...He in his tender mercy has graced me with a loving and devoted husband, selfless parents, patient and God-following children and spouses, supportive siblings, nieces and nephews filled with love and kindness, and the best friends a girl could ever ask for. I have never been able to articulate how much your love, support, service, and prayers mean to me...I can just say that I am always ready to pray for you and serve you just for the asking....May 2014 be a time of drinking of the sweet waters for you and your families and may God bless you all for your love, support, service and prayers!
This year has been the best of years and also one of the hardest of years. This past February our son and daughter in law blessed with a very beautiful and healthy 1st grandchild, a grandson! "Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers" Proverbs 17:6. Our precious Aiden Russell has completely wrapped us around his tiny little fingers. I have been told that grandchild change your life in a very special way but I just couldn't imagine it and now I understand...it is fabulous!
And then in April, our daughter got married. This is a miracle because she was the daughter we almost lost 5 years ago in a near fatal car accident. We were told that she wouldn't live, then that she would never walk, and finally, the doctors decided they just didn't know what the outcome with her was going to be. But God knew..."for I have plans for you; plans to prosper you not to harm you. Plans for hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
Also, there has been prosperity in the job department...our son and son- in- law were able to move into jobs with hopeful futures and a chance for the jobs to be good career choice. And for our son-in-law, a job that finally gave him work everyday, rain or shine, and a pay check he could count on. "Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds" Luke 12:24
My parents held their own this year and all in all had a pretty healthy year! They were health enough and mobile enough to take a Thanksgiving trip to California to spend the holiday with my sister, brother-in-law and the grands and great-grands out there."They will still yield fruit in old age;They shall be full of sap and very green." Psalm 92:14. My mama loves to travel and my sister does miss out on the holidays with them so I was so grateful that they were able to make the trip and in usual fashion the trip had some adventure to it...another memory for all of us!
These were some of the great highlights of 2013 but there were also some tough times. One of the hurdles we had to jump over was Amanda's health. She struggled all year and by late September her health escalated and she had to be hospitalized. We were tired, frustrated, discouraged, alone, trapped, and her pain was tremendous. We just felt lost and frustrated....did I say alone, lost, and frustrated!? "He has heard the cry of the humble" Psalm 9:12
And there were other tough times...so many changes and I don't adapt to change well. My husband was working 5 days a week at a regular 8-5 job and then pulling 24 hours on Saturdays working as an EMT. Needless to say our Sundays have no consistency to them at all. My stress level seemed to stay high while I tried to support Amanda, plan a wedding, help take care of the new grandchild, and serve my parents. I struggled most of the year with feeling like I did NOTHING well..that each person including God was only getting a small piece of me. And not even a good piece, just a already bitten into, crumbling, soggy, no frosting piece! "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."Psalm 34:17
And then God's grace and mercy was poured down upon us."Call to me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3. The Lord ended that 11 day journey that had been underway for 40 years and he was bringing me down off that mountain into the promise land! AMEN and again I say AMEN! We experienced complete healing, we found restoration, we were delivered comfort and guidance, we were rewarded strength and fortitude, we were handed a season of thankfulness, joy, and peace..."Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet." Exodus 15:25. Our waters were made SWEET!
And this is my focus for 2014...to drink of those sweet waters that the Lord has made for me! God sweetening the waters when I so needed something sweet...and it wasn't that I desired something sweet, like when you are laying in bed and start thinking about how good a chocolate bar or a dish of ice cream would taste. No, I needed it like a person who just had their blood sugar take a dive and the room is spinning, their hands are sweating, and their knees are buckling...that is how much I needed those sweet waters. But, the Lord waited until it was evident that all that was completed in us, given to us, restored to us, delivered to us, rewarded to us, and handed to us was completely and totally by his power and in his time. "I cry to God Most High, to God who fulfills purpose for me. He will send from heaven and save me, he will put to shame those who trample on me. (Selah) God will send forth his steadfast love and his faithfulness' Psalm 57:2-3
For most of us each year brings its own highs and lows, ups and downs, joys and tribulations. God wish for us is not to do away with the highs and lows but to draw us closer to him, for us to acknowledge his power, his mercy, his grace, his love for us. His desire, as we journey through this life holding his hand is for us to drink more often of the sweet waters made by him and to make sure that others know that that sweet water IS and BY God's mighty hand!
One more thing...I want to acknowledge that my journey so far in life has never been a journey with just myself and God...He in his tender mercy has graced me with a loving and devoted husband, selfless parents, patient and God-following children and spouses, supportive siblings, nieces and nephews filled with love and kindness, and the best friends a girl could ever ask for. I have never been able to articulate how much your love, support, service, and prayers mean to me...I can just say that I am always ready to pray for you and serve you just for the asking....May 2014 be a time of drinking of the sweet waters for you and your families and may God bless you all for your love, support, service and prayers!
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