When life seems hard...we are not alone

Many of us have no idea what a truly hard life may look like. The idea of watching your child suffer seems inconceivable and we all pray we never out live our children.  I think how it must feel to live in a third world country and not have the means to care for your child and how awful it would be to watch them starve.  Or to see your child suffering from an illness they say has no cure.  And then there is our story, one where they tell you the statistics your child's life faces and I have had the blessing of watching as our daughter continues to defy "their" statistics.  I have had the chance to witness to the doctors and tell them our God holds the days of our daughter's life in his hands, not you.  She is not some number on a chart, a graph is not going to define her life, or ruin the plans God already has for her. We have an all knowing God, one with purpose and reason, one that has a far bigger picture than we could ever imagine.  Life can be hard, don't miss understand me, but those who have Christ know, we are not alone. This is not our home, we were made for so much more.  We face hardships, we get broken hearted, we cry, we make mistakes, but we have a God that loves us in our weaknesses, and holds us in our brokenness, and heals us from the inside out.  Sometimes the miracle we are searching for is found in the disease and suffering... when you are down to nothing that is when you are closest to God, and that is when you find this world is unable to satisfy, that we are here only temporarily and God has a bigger plan for us. As any parent who has a child in need of a miracle, we of course pray for that, but we have peace in the knowledge that for those who have trusted in Christ we have life beyond this world: one where there is no sickness, no sadness, and no suffering. A miracle on earth no matter how big it is, is still just a temporary healing, on average we have 70, 80, 90, or 100+ years but for those who have asked Christ into their lives you know this is not all that there is. I take comfort in knowing that there are no premature deaths that God had all of our days planned before the foundation of the world so no disease has the pleasure of stealing my loved ones before God says our time is up.  No one knows for sure if we will be here tomorrow, but I do know if I am not, where I will be headed. Do you?

The struggle for freedom

I have been stuck in a rut.  I feel trapped or in an endless maze where I keep running into the same dead ends.  The things I struggle with seem never ending and repetitive.  I keep making the same bad choices and then I wonder why I don't get different results.  How I wish I didn't have a self- destructive behavior disorder. (You know the type... we know when we are doing something, it is dumb, yet we feel compelled to do it anyways... that's me) I long for true freedom. I know I am forgiven, dearly loved, and a valued child of God.  However the weight of my sins, at times, hangs heavy around my neck.  I set the chains down long enough to feel what freedom might feel like. Then before I know it I am wrapping those chains tighter than before, around me like a security blanket. Jesus, take these burdens you've freed me from, allow me to see I was never meant to carry these burdens... it is not you that taunts me with my past, present, or future struggles...but rather the enemy disguised in a cloak of righteousness, making me feel dirty and ashamed.  When I turned to you for forgiveness, you wiped the slate clean, cleansed me, and made me whiter than snow.  You brushed the ashes of shame and guilt from my head, and put in their place a crown of beauty and splendor.  You call me child of the one true king, and removed the guilty verdict so I may lift my head in confidence that I am one of yours.  Though I may slip and stumble, you never leave my side, your hand is forever outstretched before me, ready to grasp me and pull me back to safety.  Let me never forget the power of your freeing love and mercy, of which I can not earn, but only can receive.  Amen