Excellent Title

So I have thought a lot about the title of this blog.  It is a song that I absolutely love...and fits so perfectly with biblical living.  I have such a hard time praising God in the midst of the storms of everyday life.  And yet I strive to teach it to my children...am I modeling it for them?  We talk a lot about different bible passages such as Philippians 2:14 "Do all things without grumbling and complaining" and 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18 "Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all things for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  And then I look at the book of James in the very first chapter when he says "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds."

This week has been extremely difficult.  I am away from home and without my husband (so half of me is missing.)  The kids are really missing their daddy.  Lillyann has pretty much reverted to no longer being potty-trained.  I am having a baby in two weeks.  We have some serious financial stuff we are dealing with and need to move to another house because we just cannot afford the rent anymore.  My poor husband has to pack an entire house without any help from me.  Of course, I go into panic mode!  It really makes me question my faith.  I just keep coming back to those verses...and praying them over and over.  My father-in-law gave us some great advice this morning...and I am so thankful for it. 

God is continuing to work in our lives...refining us through fire.  James continues in the first few verses: " for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  So we have to remain steadfast and strong in our faith.  And I am going to continue to praise God in this storm.  It is a very humbling experience when you have to ask your parents if your family can live with them because you are facing homelessness. 

God knows our needs and our wants and our hearts desire.  He will make a way for us.  I am trusting Him...even through all the tears that I have cried this week.  Even through the fear that I have. Sometimes I question whether or not having another baby is such a wise decision when our finances are so poor.  And then I think about the Lord who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  And I think about the way that He has provided for us all these years.  And I think about His command to "be fruitful and multiply" and that "the children of a man's youth are like arrows in the hands of a warrior."  And I think about these verses from Deuteronomy 6 "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." 

We are raising children for God's glory.  In the eyes of the world, children are a burden.  In the eyes of the Lord, children are a blessing.  We went to Focus on the Family yesterday...and I am so thankful for what they stand for as an organization...sanctity of human life, family, marriage, blessing of children.  I am so thankful for my children...and I praise the Lord who entrusted them to me.