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. 

I Will Praise Him

What an incredible week it has been.  In preparation for this new life growing in my womb, friends celebrated and honored me with a wonderful baby shower.  It was so much fun...I had invited a cousin who couldn't attend because they were leaving for a long road trip.  Joy and happiness filled the air of our home on Monday night.  Then I got the phone call on Tuesday.  Sadness and tears filled the day...along with the rest of the week.  The worst part was not being able to be close to my cousin and her hurting heart.  They were involved in a car accident in the middle of Texas (so very far away from family and friends) that killed her oldest daughter and left her with some severe injuries.

It has been a difficult week...and I have tried really hard not to talk about it with anyone.  It's not that I don't want to share my grief and sorrow.  It's actually just so overwhelming when I think about what could have happened.  They all could have been killed.  It could have been so much worse. 

However, I am still praising God.  So many people want to blame God because He could have prevented the accident.  But I just can't do that.  I am hurting for this precious family and the heartache that will continue for a lifetime.  But I still can't blame God.  Yes, He is sovereign and in control of everything.  But I can't stop thinking about how He is going to glorify Himself through this awful tragedy.  I am praying for things that people cannot even begin to fathom.  I am praying for redemption of souls...souls that may end up in the pit of hell for eternity.  But if God can use this to bring people out of the pit of sin and darkness, then we could see the glory of God. 

May God's will be done.  He will be glorified.  Most people don't want to hear these things at a time like this.  So I just choke back the tears and say, "I am so sorry."

Door Posts

<a href="http://www.doorposts.com/blog" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.doorposts.com/blog/wp-content/themes/doorposts/images/doorpostsofyourhouse.jpg"></a>

So I am sharing about a neat new biblical parenting blog from Door Posts.  I have a few resources that I have purchased from them over the years and have been so pleased with their approach.

God Is Good All the Time

I often wonder where God is when I am going through a struggle.  We have been going through the book of James at church...and the 2nd verse of the book says to "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."

Seriously?  Count it all joy? 

Well, I am being tested...and I have been having a hard time being joyful about it.  But praise be to God!  He is actually helping me find the joy.  Every day, I see just a little more of Him and less of me.  I see His hand on my life and the life of my family.  When I allow Him to lead me, I am actually at peace in the very mundane tasks of everyday life.  Only a few months ago, I was so concerned about not having that extra income that we absolutely "needed."  But the more I pray about it and release control to Him, the more He blesses my soul. 

He has been preparing me for a while to go down this road of staying at home with my children full time.  And I am so eternally grateful that He led me down this path.  My heart has yearned desperately to be at home with them.  I just always thought that we "needed" that extra little income.  Well, the extra money is nice...but do we spend it wisely?  Probably not.  Thankfully, God has been preparing me and teaching me about depending more on Him.  So I have learned to be a little more frugal...and am learning more every day!  Of course, I didn't see those things a few months ago.  I also didn't see that my life would be so crazy with doctors and illness and sheer exhaustion over these last few weeks.  But God saw it coming...He prepared a way for me to be able to handle all of the busyness.  If I had been working that part-time job, I never would have been able to manage all of it. 

Even when we don't even know it, God is good all the time.  And for that, I am so thankful that He knows my needs so much better than I do!

Conviction and Obedience

"In the absence of biblical conviction, people go the way of culture."  Sally Clarkson

I absolutely love this quote...mainly because it is so very true.  I have had a lot of biblical convictions come into my life in the past few years.  I notice that the more I read the bible and interact with it, the more of those convictions I get!  Some have been incredible blessings to myself as well as my family.  Some have been hard to take.  Some have offended other Christians. 

I decided to follow Jesus and His commands...doing everything I possibly could to live biblically.  (I fail miserably almost every day!)  However, as I began to walk in obedience, I noticed that other Christians started to ignore me or harass me or even tell me that the bible didn't really apply to modern society.  Pain and loss invaded my life.  The pain of having so-called friends degrade me for my decisions...and loss of other friends altogether.  So it has been difficult to swallow.

Even though I have suffered (just a little) I continue to strive to live in obedience to God's word.  Every day presents a choice: I can walk humbly with my God or I can walk away from Him.  Experience has proven that when I am living in disobedience, life is so much harder.  So, I will choose to walk in obedience tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, etc.  Thank You Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to be my helper...how I desperately cling to You because I know that I am completely unable to do it by myself.

3am...seriously?

Yes, I am up at 3am and cannot fall back to sleep.  This is becoming a regular habit of mine.  Maybe it is God's way of preparing me for 3am feedings when our little guy arrives.  I just wish I could sleep now and store up enough rest to be able to make it through those first few months of newborn life!

I am feeling much better about trusting God to direct our lives.  When I wrote my last post, I was absolutely terrified of what the future held.  But as the week has progressed, I have felt more and more confident that we can make it on one income.  God's peace fills my heart today and I am encouraged.

I marvel at His goodness and mercy and grace.  It really helped soothe my soul to be able to encourage a friend who is struggling in her marriage.  I always love to give wonderful marriage advise.  But I also hate it...because I know that I should be following that advice in my own marriage.  So with the help of the Holy Spirit, I can start over again today.  I can be the wife and mother that He has called me to be.  I can stop being a worry-wart.  I can put my trust in Him and know that He will continue His work in my life.

I'm hearing strange noises throughout the house...those things that go bump in the night.  Well, we do live way out in the country and the mice are terrible!  But it still freaks me out a little...

Grain Grinder Giveaway

http://www.marilynmoll.com/2011/02/introducing-the-wondermill-junior-contest/comment-page-2/#comment-3971

This is a great homemaking site...they are giving away a grain grinder (something I have wanted for a long time!)