Loving God and Loving Others

It's not what I thought it would be like. Life.  Can you relate? Has that thought crossed your mind, too?  Twenty- two years ago I first moved overseas on an adventure, me and God. The adventure has turned into a even longer one filled with ups (so many ups) and downs (many valleys as well). God brought a husband into my life who also shared this desire to bring light to dark places and together we took steps, steps that take us to the present. My husband still lies on his back, not the mobility we hope for after nearly 2 weeks of excruciating pain. He speaks of suffering this morning to the kids. Encouraging them in the midst of his pain to remember God's presence in our lives and his never changing love for us. I leave the room, tears fill my eyes. Parenting across the ocean with an iPad, now this is discipleship at its best. Our oldest is off to university next year and his journey will include pain and trials and he gets to hear from his dad what holding on to G...

It was just that. A surprise. One after another. I was caught off-guard by this past week’s circumstances. Life seems to throw curveball and sometimes they all land in the same week. Father saw fit to shake up my faith and remind me of His sovereignty and perfect grace in a hard way. Perhaps the journey had just slipped into a comfortable pace and I was really enjoying it. Then things began to happen. Though not one particular situation, it seems that altogether they formed one perfect storm. Perfect in the sense that I was left desperate for God. Perfect in the sense that it pushed me to my knees. Relational issues do that. They are by far more exhausting for the heart than many of life’s problems. Guarding my heart from anxiousness and fear is not always easy when things in my relational world aren’t faring well. I know I’m not alone in this. By Thursday, I was running into my afternoon of solitude depleted and weary. My sweet husband took over homeschooling and I locked myself i...