Lately in our families, it seems that there have been a multitude of hardships. My sister-in-law's parents are both having major health issues. Her mom has brain cancer and her dad just had to have a liver transplant. My sister and her husband are trying to adopt their nephew and have come across all kinds of obstacles. My dad is having some health issues as well. He has some real sinus issues that have been causing loss of sleep as well as having problems with his back that puts him in horrible pain at times.
My immediate family is no exception to these hard times. I have been struggling with health issues for the past year. We recently found out that a house that we own in NC had been dumped by our property manager and we had squatters living in there trashing the place. Even our dog joined in the fun by getting pregnant, losing the puppies and then needing to be spayed to prevent any further complications from a mass they found on her stomach.
I am writing these things not to bring on a pity party for myself or to conjure up sympathy from anyone that may be reading this. I am simply trying to create a picture of what the lives of so many people look like who live on the earth in this present day and age. I know that so many others out there can relate to our difficult times. It often seems like trouble never comes alone - it always brings company with it. As the saying goes. "When it rains it pours."
Lately however, the Lord has been bringing to mind that His blessings also come in showers. When I think about all the good things that I have in my life and all the different ways that God has seen fit to bless me, suddenly all these problems don't seem to make such a big pile. They are still there, but they don't seem so impossible to handle. Satan would try and use these troubling times to bring doubt and discouragement to my family and me, but the Lord would have us lean all the more heavily on Him as He showers us with His grace, His strength and His peace.

This brings to mind the words of a great hymn written by Daniel Whittle.

There shall be showers of blessing: this is the promise of love;
There shall be sesons refreshing, sent from the Savior above.
There shall be showers of blessing, precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys, sound of abundance of rain.
There shall be showers of blessing: send them upon us O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing, come and now honor Thy Word.
There shall be showers of blessing: Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we're confessing, Now as on Jesus we call!
Showers of blessing, showers of blessing we need:
Mercy drops round me are falling, but for the showers we plead.

Thanks be to God that we can receive His abundant blessing in the midst of trials and pain! His grace is truly sufficient for us.

"My grace is sufficient for you. For My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Youth Advance

Dave, Julia and Jim had the privilege of attending Youth Advance 09 this past weekend. They had a wonderful time. I was so happy to hear that they not only had a fun time but they all came back having been either encouraged or convicted by the great teachings that they heard.
I am very thankful that there are people that desire to invest their time in building up our youth and drawing them closer to our Heavenly Father.

Retreat

This past weekend I had the luxury of joining the ladies in my care group for a time of retreat. A lovely couple in our church graciously opened up their guest house for us to stay in and even provided a map of their farm so that we could roam around and get alone with God.
What a refreshing time it was! We heard some great teachings from Carolyn Mahaney and were able to have several times of worship thanks to Amanda and Kjirstin. We even had a session of working out with Cheryl Wood. I learned a lot about exercise and a lot about the muscles that I didn't know existed! I had trouble getting in and out of chairs and up and down the steps for the next 24 hours!
Best of all, though, was the awesome time alone that I got to have with the Lord. As you can imagine, in a house full of kids the quiet moments are few and far between other that the early morning hours that I have set aside for my quiet times. To actually be able to spend several hours at a time talking to and hearing from God was simply amazing.
It was a beautiful thing to be able to pray with and for the dear friends that I have made in our care group. They are wonderful sisters in Christ whom I have grown close to over the last few years and will cherish their friendship for eternity.
I am so thankful for my husband being willing to release me to take this much needed break and also for my kids for letting mom go for a whole weekend!

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!"

Blog challenge

Two weeks ago I posted that I was "blog challenged" since I only posted a total of 12 times in 2008. So far, it looks like I am improving since this will be post #13 this year!
So, today I am thankful that I have the freedom to write down the things that God is teaching me so that I can share them with others. I may not have the gift of writing that some have, but the Bible says that we should be "living epistles" and I want to be faithful to share the wonderful truths that He is revealing to me through His Word and through the many life lessons taught simply by living out the life that He has called me to.

A good book

I love a good book! As long as I can remember I have loved to read. Many times I remember my parents either laughing at me or getting frustrated with me because I would totally tune out everything and everyone when I had my nose in a book.
Some of my favorite books growing up were the Bobbsey Twins series and the Mandie books. I liked those so much, that a few years ago, my mom gave me the last 15 books in the Mandie series for Christmas so that I could pass them on to my girls to read - after I got to read them of course!
Now my girls love to read as much as I do and it brings me great pleasure to see them curled up with a good book. I have a hard time keeping enough books around to satisfy their hunger for a good story!
The problem I face now is not tuning people out while I read, but finding enough time to satisfy my own cravings for a good book! I have two places that I find time to get into a good book. Sometimes I'll take a book with me when I relax in the tub. I use this time to preview a shorter book that one of the kids wants to read. Most of the time I find myself reading in my bed after all the kids are tucked in for the night.
I get a lot of my material passed on to me from my mom who I inherited my love for reading from. Together we have found some amazing Christian authors that I hope keep writing for a long time. Among those authors are Lynn Austin, Lori Wick, Beverly Lewis and Gilbert Morris.
I'm always looking for new authors to get into, so if you have any to pass on, I would love to hear your suggestions!

"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor?
Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).
Romans 11:33-36 (amplified version)

Today I am reminded that I am to set an example for my children not just by my actions, but by the words that I speak to them and how I say those words. How easily a child's spirit is crushed by words of criticism spoken too often or by shaming them into feeling guilty! Each and every minute that I spend with my children or that they spend observing me in my daily life is one more minute spent in developing their character that will determine who they are for the rest of their life. If I am so intent on them always getting things right and being critical of the things that they haven't mastered yet, then I will probably be causing them to develop critical spirits. Instead, I should be praising them for the things that they do well so that they will learn to appreciate others. I should be encouraging them and building them up so that one day they will turn into someone that is full of confidence. I need to portray patience in all I do so that they will learn to be tolerant of others. I need to practice fairness so that my kids will learn to be just. I need to live out 1Corinthians 13 so that they will learn to portray love in all that they do.
I need to cherish each day that I have with my kids. I don't want to be regretting precious moments lost when they've all grown up and left home. I want them to look back at these growing up years with fondness and have wonderful memories of the good times that we had together. I pray that they will be able to look back and see how God was shaping them and molding them into exactly what He wanted them to be. I want them to grow up to be Godly men and women that one day will be faithful to pass on the Godly heritage that I am striving to pass on to them. It is only by God's wonderful grace that I can achieve such an impossible goal.