Still I'll Trust

Linking up with Charlotte at Spiritual Sunday  & Laura at Brag on Fridays

"It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them, is it?"  Anne of Green Gables

I watched the news last night....and heard about the tornadoes in the mid-west. I thought of those people caught its destruction. One devastating storm....and BOOM - everything that defines who you are.....gone. How does someone get over that? How do they begin to rebuild? Why did God let that happen? Why do some people around the globe have to struggle with horrible terrible things? Why the pain? Why the terrible losses? 

I used to wonder all the time why God let me go through what I did. I used to scream at Him....tell Him that He wasn't fair or loving like He said. Not if He'd let those bad things happen. But then one day....I stopped asking why. Something in me shifted....and I realized I may never know the answers.....but one thing I knew for sure......it was only His gentle love that worked in my life...... restoring....rebuilding..... healing...... freeing.  No matter what happens....how bad something is......I'll always trust in His unfailing love.....

 Still I sing of your unfailing love.......

Thankful Thursday

“When we least expect it, life sets a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change. At such a moment, there's no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we aren't yet ready. The challenge won't wait. Life doesn't look back.”    Paulo Coelho
               
Changes.....I don't like them. Even when I know they'll be good ones....I still resist. I get used to the way things are. I feel a sense of safety in the familiar. But life is full of changes. Big ones and small. I need to stop feeling like I'm running from wild dogs  when something begins to change.....and just go with their flow.... and to remember that the new isn't replacing the old...it's just improving on it.  This week I'm thankful that.....

-my issues with my computer are finally resolved. Bought an IBM corporate machine with 3 yrs. on site tech support.  The price was perfect....it'll be ready for pickup later today.  
-My oldest turned 16. She's growing up and changing...She's a great kid who inspires me to live my best life. I'm totally super proud of her.
-Good friends invited us over and surprised my dgt. with a party. They're the family I never had. The people who are always in our corner no matter what......and we in theirs.
-A friend called and asked if we could pray on the phone. Pray? I didn't want to pray but I said yes to be polite. Turned out to be exactly what both of us needed.... Right after that I bought the new computer and her exhaustion lifted. Prayer....it's the thing that makes the real difference
-Grace and His unchangableness. Okay not sure that's a word but still it's true. He never changes. It's the one unchangable I can count on. 

Linking with Cami at Thankful Thursday

Bridge

Linking up with Charlotte at  Spiritual Sunday and Laura at Brag on Fridays

"Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known." A.A. Milne

I've been going nuts with my computer. It ran out of memory and stopped functioning the way I needed. I bought a laptop ( I usually use a desktop), worked on transferring all my stuff and then decided I didn't want the laptop. In all my frustration I suddenly stopped and realized....peace...His peace....it's more important than anything else......and so this morning we're going back to exchange the computer....but with no more frustrations. 

He is the bridge over troubled waters. He is the peace that is constant. He is more important than any computer.....or getting something right.....or any mistakes I might make.   When I stop and listen and hear His whisper.......I know.....everything's right with my world....no  more worries....Nothing can ever beat that.....


Like a bridge over troubled waters.......

Thankful Thursday

"We'll be Friends Forever, won't we, Pooh?' asked Piglet.

Even longer,' Pooh answered." A.A. Milne

Funny how some people are friends forever.....even after they're not here anymore. I still think of those people who made a difference in my world.....who changed the way I look at things.....and who believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself.  People...even some animals showed me a different way of living than I knew. I never wanted them to leave but I've discovered even in death or life changes they still live on in me. Today I'm grateful for all those who happened in my life and made a difference.

-Mr. W. for his neat stories and words of wisdom. The thing I remember most about this wonderful elderly Jamaican man.....his simple words that still play in my head.....especially his phrase 'inch by inch it's a cinch. Yard by yard it's hard.'

-my first dog S. She was the best. A true friend who gave me incredible comfort at a time I desperately needed it. 

-My friend S who loved Anne Murray tunes. At night when she couldn't sleep she'd call and ask if I'd just hold the phone and listen. I did.
-Gaye....we connected on twitter. She told me I'm a fighter. I told her so was she. She lost her battle with cancer but her words and awesome slant of seeing things still live in my heart.
-I don't like changes. I don't like when people have to leave....I'm glad He's a constant....always there.....I'm totally grateful for that. 

Singing in the Rain

LInking with Charlotte @ Spiritual Sunday and Laura @ Brag on Fridays

"Life isn't how to survive the storm; it's about how to dance in the rain" Taylor Swift

Some days are amazing. Others a struggle. Some days I can't stop singing....other days I can hardly catch my breath. Some days I feel like I can conquer the world. Other times...it's tough just getting out of bed.

It's nothing like it was before. Most days now are pretty good.....still, there are those times when I wonder what life and mostly my life is all about. But then I feel His gentle touch....a reminder  He's there.....in my corner. Even in the down times...the sad days....I'm not alone anymore. I can even sing through them.....and I can trust those life blips won't last. Somehow I'll get through them and the sun will shine again. I'm learning to  get up and sing in the rain. I'm learning to trust Him no matter what.... 

Rain or shine....I'm gonna trust. I'm gonna dance in the rain.

Even though my heart is torn......I'll praise you in this storm.....

Thankful Thursday

"We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same"  Anne Frank

The week hasn't been very exciting. I spent most of it writing. I'm up to 27,000 words and now just want to get it done and over with. Writing this amazing story has opened up a different culture and a lifestyle different than anything I've known. Yet the similarities outweigh any differences and reminds me how much the same we all are. I'm grateful for.....

-my friend's wife reading what I have to date and telling me it gave her chills...that she couldn't stop turning the pages. I love that.
-an older friend whose expertise has opened up doors that I couldn't have opened had it not been for her.
-People. They're what really matters. Things break, get used up, and are eventually pushed aside. People live on even when they're no longer alive.
-sometimes I look at strangers and they look familiar....like I've met them before...seen them somewhere even though I never have. It reminds me of our connection to each other.....
-relationships.....the best one is with Him. He centres me. Guides me. Shows me the value in me and in every person I meet. 

Love that Heals

Linking up with Charlotte at Spiritual Sunday  and Laura at  Brag on Fridays

"I'm floating like mercury around the earth. My footprints shine with stardust. All because I love you. All because You love me." Maya Angelou

Feeling loved makes everything in life so much easier and fun. There was a time I couldn't feel it. When someone said they loved me......I pushed them away. It hurt too much. 

But when He loved me.....I couldn't resist. His love scaled my wall.....broke through all the shame and angst that had kept me living on life's edge. His love......gentle and powerful made the difference. 

He didn't care that I put up a fight and resisted....It didn't matter that I tried to push Him back. He stayed.....and loved and healed and freed what nothing else had ever been able to do. 

The gentleness of His love made all the difference

  Happy Valentines Day Guys!

He is proud of who you are and he has faith in who you’ll become.