Happy Sunday everyone!
It is a blustery day here in South Dakota. I am sitting by the space heater and soothed by the hum that it creates. I am sipping on some coffee and just soaking in this free time. Oakley is napping and Barry is watching the race and so this just seemed to be the perfect opportunity to update the blog.
I have been asked numerous times over the last weeks if I have stopped blogging? Or if I was going to continue... and the answer is YES! I am going to continue and I am going to try my hardest to update more often. Life is simply busy. ;)
Not too much going on here at our house. We are all antsy for spring, that is for sure! Just moments before I sat down at the computer I received an Emergency Alert on my cell phone saying that we are in a Blizzard Warning! It seems like every Sunday for the last month or more we have had some weather roll in and create more wintery scenes all around us.
Earlier today I was reading some scripture and a verse just like hopped off the page and into my heart. The verse comes from the book of Job. Job and I have things in common and I have become very familiar with the book of Job. The verse is Job 33:14 "God always answers, one way or another, even when people don't recognize His presence." Pretty simple, yet pretty powerful stuff.
My whole life, thus far has been all about learning and believing. Learning to trust. Learning to recognize my inner strength. Trusting in my heart and in my self. Believing that my God is real and He is my Father in Heaven. So much learning has taken place, but yet so much more to come. We never stop.
Life brings challenges. Every path of life, that every soul walks, brings challenges. Every time I see and overcome a challenge I feel as though I move closer to the path that God is leading me to and that path is blessed with health, happiness, and His holiness. Such blessings have taught me there's value in challenges. For one thing, they help us discover or rediscover and look inside ourselves. When we face some overwhelming problems or when we're urgently trying to overcome something, we cry out to Him, begging Him to help us. And in response, as the friend of Job told his problem-prone pal, God will answer.
Truth is I haven't always had this outlook. The challenges of my life thus far, especially in the loss of our sons and in the pain of our fertility related future, have led me on a path and given me a new outlook. I view life completely different than I once did. I sometimes am shocked at how I once viewed what was important and meaningful. Now I am humbled and grateful for the new eyes He has given me. Eyes to look at life's big picture. Eyes to see Him in everyday things. And eyes to look forward to eternal life.
The apostle Paul instructed us to "be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens." We should be thankful for the challenges we encounter, because God may be using them to ultimately help us. As Job's friend also said, God may use our difficulties to "get out attention through pain." Job 33:19
When I pray, I pray for so many things as I am sure you do too. Prayer is a sacred vessel I believe that helps oneself have strength to face another day. To have faith to believe; no matter what challenges we will face, we will be held in His hands. When I look back at the path that my life has led me down and the prayers I have prayed, and the challenges I have been faced with, and the challenges we have yet to face I am fascinated at how the prayers that reflect those moments go. Does that make any sense? :)
God is good. Challenges are a part of life. God is here. Life is hard. He listens. He will answer. I believe. I am a believer. I know Him. He knows me. I will pray for you. Please pray for me. :)
Blessings.
Sarah
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