A Need for Hope

Little did I know a couple of years ago that when I started this blog that HOPE would be something that I would yearn for....even on a moment to moment basis as I currently do. I need Hope like I need breath. I need a Reason to want to get through, life flowers need rain. And I know that without the Lord, it's going to be more difficult and filled with a lot more pain....than if I just yield to Him in the midst of it all.

You see, just 4 months ago, we lost our little girl. Her name was Hannah Leigh. She passed away completely unexpectedly at the age of 6 weeks old. It's been quite devastating to say the least...but I pray that some day down the road, what I have been through and continue to go through, will be used to help someone else that is, has, or will be going through this very thing. The loss of a child is I believe the worst pain a person can go through, other than perhaps losing more than one child. Anyhow, I guess you can never really minister to hopeless hearts if you have never really in fact....BEEN hopeless.

more to follow...

Turn Around

This morning, I started my day soaked in bitter tears. Not because someone in my family died, or because I was in physical pain, but because I felt almost hopeless. Even those that are the greatest of encouragers need encouragement at times. It seems that through the trials that my husband and I have been experiencing recently have just continued to increase, with the pressure mounting more and more each day. I'm not sharing this to find pity from others, but in order that people know that all of us have struggles of some sorts. What is a piece of cake for someone else to endure, might be utter hell for their neighbor.

I found myself in these times of tribulation, to lean towards small things to make me feel better or possibly even comforted. They are not sinful things, but in some respects, I was searching for a way to somehow escape the struggles by my reaching for something that I thought could tangibly comfort me. All the while knowing that it wasn't going to FIX anything, but rather serve as "padding" perhaps. One person might look to cigarettes in times of trials, others might look to food...mine, has been green tea. Again, not sinful...and don't laugh...for this might seem silly, but it was helping me. Anyhow, God has a way of removing things slowly, allowing us to see that He is the one that He wants us to depend upon...even for comfort in times like we have been having. My subject here is not green tea vs cigarettes, or even the fact that I had something that i reached for...but to explain what the small straw that broke the camel's back.

With little money in the bank, and payday not coming for two more days possibly...wondering if there was really going to be enough of everything that we needed to get through until then (gas, diapers, food, milk, TEA!!!) ha ha! Seriously though, the supplies was dwindling, and my hope slowly shrinking as well. With my faith flat-lining, I woke up this morning and got my husband off to work. I turned on the computer and put on a song that I had recently found that was ministering to me...one tear began to roll, which started an entire flood that wouldn't stop! It wasn't necessarily the financial struggle, or the thought that my tea was almost all gone, but rather than I needed the Lord's comfort, to know He was going to come through for what I needed most....which was not tea, it wasn't food, diapers, money....but purpose.

I suddenly realized that with all of our "current situations" the thing I needed most was to know that in all of what I have experienced in my life, that God has a plan for my life and that He is going to fulfill it. Then at one point, the Lord had me turn the music off. When I did, He began to drop something in my spirit that really changed my outlook of this day:

He spoke something to my heart and gave me a melody to it....it was so beautiful! But it wasn't until I sang it for the first time that it ministered to me. He said, "Be still and know I'm moving, Be still and know I'm here. Just rest for I am with you, and you do not have to fear.....Be still." That may not minister to others like it did to me, especially since you can't hear the melody, but God was showing me that what He has begun in me is not over, it's not ended, but He's wholly at work even though I can't see what He is doing. The let me know that even when i feel forsaken, that He is here. Not that He is here beside me, but He is IN ME, which makes all things possible!

There is no end to what God can do in a person that knows that Christ loves them and is always with them in everything that they do.

Friend, know that God has not forgotten you! Know that He is still working. Even when you can't see it on the outside, He's moving on the inside and doing things in the midst of your trial that is going to bring forth something SO BEAUTIFUL, and it's only something that He can do!

Oh, and to finish up the testimony: I checked the mail and got some unexpected money from someone for something I had designed them. Then when my husband came home, he told me that someone at his work had given him some money as well. THEN, on top of all of THAT, someone else told my husband today that they have some land they have been trying to sell for a while...but felt like the Lord wants them to give it to us!!! It's not like my husband and my trials have ended, nor were these we have had been the beginning. It's been a long road with lots of bumps and rabbit trails, but God DOES reward those that diligently seek Him, (like our teaching from yesterday said). So...keep your head up, God has BIG and GREAT things in store for all of us! He loves you...

The Power in a Testimony

We have felt led of the Lord to begin this blog in effort to share some things that might possibly help our readers to not only understand more about Christ and what He has done for us, but to also share our personal testimonies in order that it might free someone else as well.

Let's face it, life hands us challenges. The cards that are dealt to many of us have not been what we would deem "fair." Some people have been through more than others, but every story is an important one. There is no life story that is NOT important. Even the child that was born with the silver spoon in their mouth has had hard times in one way or another, for we live in a fallen and uncaring world.

One of the most unfortunate lies that the devil loves to tell people is that their story doesn't matter and that no one would like to hear it. Hopefully through the midst of this blog, we will be able to minister to the hearts of those that have been bruised, broken, hurt, forsaken, in pain and sufferings. Not only do we aspire to let people know that they are not the only ones that have gone through some things, we also desire to let people know that there is deliverance from the pain that you are enduring or have endured in the past. There is hope in the midst of all hopeless situations! No one is ever alone in their experience.

There was a man in the Bible that the disciples inquired to the Lord Jesus about. This man was born blind from his birth. the question that his followers asked Him, was why was he born blind? Was be blind because of his own sins, or the sins of his parents. Jesus answered them by saying, "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him," (John 9:1-3). The same is true for us and our life stories...bad things don't happen to us because we have done anything wrong to deserve it or because God is angry and punishing us. God doesn't inflict pain on people like that, but the devil does. What makes our God so awesome though, is that He takes those situations where the devil intends to destroy us and uses it to help others along the way. This is what makes our God so much greater than other gods, Allah doesn't give people hope, Buddah doesn't reach out and speak to people when they are in need of encouragement, but Jesus Christ has, does and always will!

As we share our personal stories with you, we hope that they will minister to you. If you read something that blesses your heart, feel free to share our cause on Facebook with them, we would like them to become members. If they don't have a Facebook page, please encourage them to get one, but we can always give them the address of this blog to share with them as well. We just want to share with others, and it matters not what platform is used, but just that the hopeless are given hope along the way.

We pray that the Lord bless you in everything that you say and do...