Blessings in Strange Places

I'm finding blessings in the strangest of places. With my eyes focused on my Savior, what could burden instead fills my heart with gratitude. I'm learning that "in quietness and trust is my strength." And my safe place is called surrender.

In trust, I can be thankful for His plans even when mine don't succeed.

In quietness, I can hear Him whisper truth to my soul.

And in surrender and rest, I find peace within... no matter the circumstances that surround me.

Today I am thankful:

• He loves me anyway. In my moments of doubt, fear, mistrust, and wandering, He loves me still. He doesn't give up on me in my weakness, but reassures me and woos me back with His unconditional, extravagant, indescribable love.
• He allows the hard places. It's in these places I dig deeper and discover more of Him. It's here my heart grows and my soul embraces. It's here, in this place of deepest need I catch a glimpse of my Father's heart and find refuge.
• His peace is real. I can know peace while laying on a doctor's table waiting on a biopsy. I can know peace even when I don't have all the answers. I can know peace when the world is chaotic. Though our hearts ache, the peace He promises is real. It doesn't make sense and I can't touch it with my fingers but my faith confirms its existence.
• His Word is true. The lies of the enemy that pound my ears daily threaten to leave me hopeless, afraid, and insecure, but when I turn my eyes to Jesus I find truth and freedom.
• He gives and He takes away. The end of one season is often hard and we don't always understand our leaving or His taking but waiting on the other side is another part of our story. And just as we have left one thing, another finds us.

So I ponder these places I wouldn't normally call blessings, and I find Him there. I feel His refining and I know His provision. I marvel at His love and am humbled in His presence. I breathe deeply in surrender, laying it all at His feet, and rest, peace, and strength are mine.

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Joining with Melissa Taylor and a community of women as we seek God and His word in our current Online Bible Study: Stressed - Less Living by Tracie Miles.

And He Saved Them

My heart is heavy for so many families tonight. All week tragedy has filled my news feed and blasted from my television. I lay down in surrender, trusting that whatever happens around me, Jesus remains the same. In tragedy and loss, in heartache and sadness, in brokenness and grief, He offers comfort and peace the world cannot give.

When circumstances threaten to squeeze and strangle and take the very breath that fills our lungs, Jesus breathes life and gifts grace to trust Him even still.

"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble (anxiety, bad news, danger, difficulty, concern, dilemma, grief, heartache, pain, sorrow, stress), and he saved (defended, freed, guarded, healed, protected, released, rescued, safeguarded) them from their distress (ache, affliction, anguish, anxiety, concern, disappointment, sadness, sorrow, suffering, worry)." Psalm 107:19

Though our hearts ache, the peace He promises is real. It doesn't make sense and I can't touch it with my fingers but my faith confirms its existence. As uncertainty abounds in this unstable, ever-changing world we live in we must remind ourselves our hope is not found here. Eternity rests in the very depths of our souls and we know this world is not our final destination.

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

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Joining with Melissa Taylor and a community of women as we seek God and His word in our current Online Bible Study: Stressed - Less Living by Tracie Miles.

Scriptures - Peace

Some scriptures from our current Online Bible Study.

Hear It On Sunday, Use It On Monday & A Tribute

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. We will not fear. Psalm 4:1-2

At the beginning of service this morning, the congregation rose, hand over heart, eyes fixed on our American flag displayed proudly at the front of the stage. In unison, voices pledged allegiance to the red, white and blue and sang of the land of the free and the home of the brave.

A Tribute to lives lost ten years ago, on the day that forever changed America and left hearts aching

In the middle of crisis, the fierceness of the storm, the heat of the battle, it is easy to give in and give up. But the victory comes with digging in heels and drawing strength from the inner depths of your being, strength you never knew you had, strength that overcomes the greatest evil...His strength in our weakness. We continue to rise above this tragedy and pray for America to remember who she is, to take her rightful place, to once again stand for truths upon which she was founded ...and to trust in God.

A Tribute to Fallen Soldiers, a moment of silence and prayer for hurting families

A Tribute to active/retired soldiers abroad and in our own congregation

Below is Retired Sgt. Brian Fleming - our guest speaker.

http://www.blownupguy.com/

He gives a powerful testimony of one soldier's journey from being blown up twice in Afghanistan to using his story to bring hope to others and his voice to tell of the love of Christ all across the world.

We are the United States of America. We are the land of the free, the home of the brave.

God Bless America!

Linking today with Michelle at Nebraska Graceful

and counting gifts with Ann at A Holy Experience

76 freedom to worship

77 men and women who risk their lives for our freedom

78 the ability to forgive

79 courage to press on

80 hope to become better

81 love that covers and heals

82 His strength in my weakness

83 gentle reminders that keep things in perspective

84 grace for this journey

85 mercies new in the morning

Finding Something in a Time of Loss

I close my eyes and I can see his face.  I can hear his laugh and the shuffle of his old, tired feet in his worn out cowboy boots.

Today, I said good-bye to my grandpa.  Even though I know our good-bye is only for a season, this dull aching deep inside will not rest.  I know time will heal and the pain will lessen, but tonight my heart hurts.  He lived a long 92 years and it seems selfish for me to want him back.  He is no longer in pain, no longer without....but complete, fulfilled and perfect in the presence of our sweet, sweet, Jesus (and my grandma who was the love of his life). 

In times of brokenness, our heart is exposed and we spill out....messy and imperfect.  God picks up our pieces and gently reminds us that He is the Potter.  As life unfolds and the reality of pain, disappointment and loss are known, we can be molded as clay in the Potter's hands.  In our healing we can find that every pain has a purpose, every heartache can make us love better, and every hurt and disappointment can be used to reveal and expose and bring us closer to the One who loves us most.

Today, I am keenly aware of my frailty...my temporary and limited life on this earth.

My selfish ambitions and motives are being exposed, my heart is being enlarged, and my broken pieces are being molded into a vessel to illuminate His goodness, mercy, grace...His love, forgiveness, and healing poured out...if only I will yield and allow the Master to finish the work that He has started.

In times of desperation, when our world has been shaken, when we cry out with all that is within us, when we find ourselves grasping, reaching...needing something to hold on to...He is our resting place and our shelter.

I do not understand why we have to go through the things we do and feel the things we feel.  But my faith and my trust are in the One who promises to be with me even then.

Tonight, I quiet my soul....and listen.

Tonight, I hear Him speaking, and choose to yield.

Thou will keep in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee. ~Isaiah 26:3