Hold us Together

It seems to me, that God is doing a major overhaul of my heart, mind, and soul. In the past year, God has taken every opportunity that life handed me to teach me something about Himself and His glory. And, I'd like to say, for the record, that it's painful, heart-wrenching, and exciting. But this shouldn't be a surprise to any of you, because I am a broken record when it comes to our life right now.

Today's events, have once again got me resting in His promises. And more than any other instance, surprised me and tested me. Like a slap in the face, a stub of the toe, a kick in the gut, here's what happened.

As the kids and I left my sister's house, I cranked up the radio (my kids love KLOVE), ready to rock all the way home. But, as we stopped at the traffic light headed out of the development, Garrett asked, "Mom? I want to have an a-p-art. . .thing." Gasp. . .cough. . .pray. I knew what was coming. "Um, what do you mean?" He continues, "Like what Aunt Ange had before her house, I want to live in one of those." Oh Lord, help me keep it together. "An apartment?

Why?" "I want to live by ourselves again. We need our own house." Okay God, I know where you want me to go with this, thank you.

You see, for a while now, Josh and I have really tried to use the words 'need' and 'want' correctly. So, as soon as he said, "we NEED our own house" I knew what lesson God was wanting me teach our children and at the same time, using this opportunity to reaffirm His promises to us.

I walked through things that we NEED. Food, (maybe not even three meals a day), heat when it's cold, shelter from the wind, rain, and snow, and most of all, love. Which, I was able to let them know we had LOTS of. But even with the 7 of us - we have all we need! We are blessed abundantly with the love of our family and friends. As we talked through this, we were able to come up with so many things to be thankful for and at the same time, was able to teach them that God wants us to go to Him when we have requests. I shared that mommy and daddy would love to be able to give them a house to live in, but aren't able to at this time. So, if they wanted, they could ask God to give us a house. They seemed satisfied with that and asked me to turn up the radio. After I did, I noticed that it was unusually quiet the rest of the ride home.

I was excited to tell Josh about the interaction, only to share the truths that God taught our children this day. I knew, just as I initially felt like a failure and unsatisfactory when this subject came up, he would feel much, much more. Through tears I shared the story and watched my husband's face fall in shame. Leaning over, placing his arms on the counter, his head fell between his hands, his heart filled with sadness. I knew it would take him longer to see God's promises. I turned to finish dinner and started praying.

He remained distant the rest of the night. Prayer time at bedtime was hope filled and humble, ending with daddy saying a prayer for our family. As I write this blog, he is on the couch listening to a song on his phone, really loud. So loud, that I turn to ask him what he's listening to and to ask him to turn it down because I can't even hear myself think. Before I get to the 'turn it down part' he says with a smile (the first smile I've seen all night), "This song was just what I needed to hear tonight. Did you hear it?" I tell him no, because I was blogging and trying to concentrate, but couldn't because of how loud the music was. He starts the song over for me. Here are the lyrics by Matt Maher:

"It don't have a job

Don't pay your bills 
Won't buy you a home 
 In Beverly Hills 

Won't fix your life

And find easy steps 
Ain't the low or the limp
Or the government 
But as soon you needed... 
 
Love, will, hold us together 
Make us a shelter 
to weather the storm 
And I'll, be, my brothers keeper 
So the whole world will know 
That we're not alone 

It's waiting for you 
Knockin' at your door 
Every moment of truth

When your heart hits the floor 
When you're on your knees then... 
 
Love, will, hold us together  
Make us a shelter  to weather the storm  
And I'll, be, my brothers keeper  
So the whole world will know  That we're not alone 

This is the first, day of the rest of your life

This is the first, day of the rest of your life

'Cause even in the dark you can still see the light
It's gonna be alright, 's gonna be alright."
 

Thank you God, for that breath of fresh air and for 

answering prayers so quickly and in your time.  

We wait on you.   

copy cat

I read this on MckMama's blog (actually an abridged version, credited to Mother Theresa) and then one of her followers found the original and shared it. Either way, I love it.

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

What did Josh and Eric do on our vacation?

I think these pictures speak for themselves. . .and give you the answer to the question.

Seriously, the boys didn't just play on their phones the whole time, but could often be found "playing" together like this. We did play games, wrestle with the kids, play guitars and sing, and have great conversation while we were together too. It was a great time of rest and play. More pictures to come!