AND, I finally uploaded all the pictures from the kids’ joint “Celebrate” birthday party last year. I know, it’s been almost a year and I just uploaded them. Don’t judge. 
They are up now and I think you’re gonna love them!
I’ve been trucking along in my 90 day challenge. I’ve been drinking banana, peach, strawberry, and chocolate shakes. Those are all my favorite flavors. I have also been following along with Tracie’s 31 Days of Faith study. Yesterday, this really stood out to me when I was reading her 31 Days of Faith e-book:
“There is nothing greater in this world than to know you can fall onto a God who will catch you and will not forsake you. The hurt doesn’t go away, it still surrounds and continues to come.
But when you realize you are living for an eternal purpose, that the things of this world are temporary, you live with a greater purpose.
There’s something so freeing in knowing there’s more than this life.
What I know to be true is that when you believe in a greater, bigger eternal purpose and you have a relationship with a God who is holding you, you are surrounded with a peace that is not your own. It’s a peace that surpasses all human understanding.
You may not be “okay”. Y ou may feel broken and falling apart, but there’s a strength with you that’s not your own. It’s God’s strength holding you.”
(Tracie Johnson, 31 Days of Faith)
I wanted to share that with you because it’s what I feel right this very moment. It’s the whole message of my blog, really, wrapped up in her words. There will always be some sort of chaos, but HE is who HE is and HE is never changing. As my pastor always says, “You’re either going through a trial, about to be going through one, or just coming out of one.” It’s undeniable people. You can’t stop life. You can’t stop the world. But you know what….HE overcame this world. The other message I want to send through my blog is something I just realized myself in the past two years. Very few things really matter. When you get down to it, there are only 3 things that really matter — God. People. Eternity. God’s Word tells us that our lives on this earth are but a mist, a vapor compared to eternity. This tells me two things: 1. That eternity matters a whole heck of a lot more than most of the things that used to matter to me in my life. A mist is fast, short, and diminishes after itself. If God compares our lives to mists, what does that say about eternity? 2. What I make of this vapor says a lot about how my eternity will be. It has caused me to stop and really think about what matters. It really makes me want to love God’s people more, be obedient to God’s Word more, serve others more and spend my time and energy on things that I’m called to do that will grow God’s Kingdom. It really changes my perspective. I love how Tracie says that our lives in this world are only temporary and it’s so freeing knowing that there is something more than this life. Amen to that.
A friend of mine was really struggling with something recently and texted me. God laid so much on my heart to tell her in the next 5 minutes, I couldn’t text fast enough. I had to go back and find our email and copy and paste when I read Tracie’s words this morning….
To my friend, I wrote:
“…I understand you’re guarding your heart b/c you don’t want to get hurt or get let down, but in doing that you’re not fully trusting HIM. Or, trusting Him with your heart.
Phil. 4:6-7 — Don’t be anxious about anything, but in EVERYTHING by prayer and supplication with THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD. AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH SURPASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING WILL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MIND IN CHRIST JESUS!”
I really needed that reminder today and felt like maybe some of you might need it, too.
One Comment
beautiful update….love the challenge that you’re doing.
He is CONSTANT in the chaos.