Pondering

This past Friday and Saturday, I had the privilege to sit under the Bible teaching of someone I consider to be one of finest women in ministry today. I could listen to her for days and days and days....well - every day, if you want to know the truth! She is wise, she is funny, she has a heart for God and she sure does loves His people - oh so much!

One sentence she spoke the first evening resonated so resoundingly in me that I knew it WAS for me. In fact, it didn't even make it into the body of my notes but was pulled to the top of the page and starred - see:

(Sorry for my chicken scratch! Oh - that "c" with the line over it is medical shorthand for the word "with.")

In case you can't read it (entirely possible!), I wrote: *My new beginning begins with the Word of God.*

Can I tell you how I felt when I heard those words? Two things: first, comforted! Yes...a deep sense of comfort that He is so WITH me, so FOR me, so in LOVE with me that that message should move me to my core and that I know it was absolutely meant for me! And second, almost a sense of urgency...that I'm slipping a bit. I have let other "things" displace His Word in my life. Oh man, this day to day life just has a way of moving in and crowding Him out unless I take control and make Him (and keep Him) my number one priority. Amen? So yes - that message was a reminder from my Father. And I heard it loud and clear!

But as I look back on the words I have just written (typed!), I am again amazed (although I don't know why I should be!) by this God I love so much...did you notice that the first feelings I wrote about were comfort and love?

"I love you, My child...I'm here for you, tonight and always."

Which were then followed by:

"Now, about the amount of time we've been spending together lately..."

My prayer time hasn't suffered - at least I don't think it has. But the time I spend in His Word, well, that definitely has. So Father, I thank you for the message. And I thank you for the messenger!



In closing, I thought it so appropriate that my daily verse for today was the following:

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
Isaiah 52:7

"More than you can bear" is more than I can bear!

Ever hear this saying:

"God never gives you more than you can bear."

Ever found yourself saying it to someone as an encourager in times of stress, sorrow or despair?

Can I tell you that how much that saying has always given me heartburn?

It's true. It has. It still does...

Several months ago I went down to visit a friend in Savannah, Ga. She is a dear friend - in fact, she is the first one I called after we got my Sweet Hubby's diagnosis because I knew she would get busy praying. And she did. Anyway, we got onto the topic of that very saying. She said it was scriptural and I said I did not believe that it was, because I had looked and looked and could not find it and that I had asked others to look and they could not find it either. Well, as luck would have it our conversation took place on a Wednesday which is when she hosts Bible study at her house which is led by her pastor. So we asked him...and after some research on his part, he came to the conclusion that the saying itself is not scriptural but that people have taken 1 Corinthians 10:13 which addresses temptation specifically and kind of made it apply to all situations of duress and distress. Yeah - well...not so much is what I was thinking!

No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.
1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV

So imagine my surprise (and okay, a little sense of vindication too!) when I recently read the following passage in a book I have been carefully digesting for the past few months:

"Like you, perhaps, I grew up in church. And my overall experience with that was actually quite positive. I'm not one who walks around bitter and carrying a lot of baggage from my early church experiences.

However, there were several times in my life when well-meaning people spoke what they thought were scriptural truths into my life. But those "truths," which actually were not scriptural at all, just created layers of distortion about how I relate to God.

One particular phrase I seemed to hear over and over was this: "God will never give you more than you can handle."

It sounds so sweet and biblical, like something my grandmother would have done in needlepoint and hung on the wall in her house.

The problem is, nothing could be further from the truth.

Where in the world did we get such a whacked theology? Where's that verse in the Bible? Hallucinations 4:32 maybe?

Here's the truth -- and this one is thoroughly biblical: throughout life you will face one situation after another that will be completely beyond what you can handle.

The apostle Paul certainly did. He writes in 2 Corinthians 12:7 of a situation he calls "a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan" (NIV). We don't know exactly what it was -- a physical handicap or medical condition or a hard-to-break habit? Paul doesn't tell us. But he does tell us he couldn't handle it. He had to turn it over to God.

The Bible is packed with stories like that. In fact, most of the stories we learned in Sunday school are about individuals who faced situations that were completely beyond what they could handle.

Situations that forced them to make a choice -- either abandon God or worship him in the midst of a Plan B."
excerpt from Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up the Say You Thought He Would? by Pete Wilson

YES!!!!! A THOUSAND TIMES YES!!!!!!!! That feels right - at least to me!! And this time, there is a scriptural defense for it! What say you?

Of all the books I have read in my adult life, this one is truly life changing for me (yes, you read that correctly!) and I'm not even finished yet. Already pages are dog-eared and there are times I have to put it down to think and pray over what I have just read. I have a LOT more to share with you about this book in the coming days...I hope you want to hear more about it because it really is that good!

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 NIV

Crazy Love

Have you read it? No? Well, it's crazy good! And it's just sold 1,000,000 copies!! Yep, that was SIX zeroes...one MILLION copies!! Crazy, right?

And the author - Francis Chan - has donated every single penny made from the sale of Crazy Love to charity (the Isaiah 58 fund). That's walkin' the talk for Jesus!

So, if you haven't read it...I highly recommend it!

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. Isaiah 58:10 NLT

Ever feel like this?

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“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Psalm 46:10 NIV

Savior, please...

Boy, just when I thought maybe I could come up for air...

My sweet Lulu has been in the emergency veterinary hospital for almost a week now. We just got the definitive diagnosis back the day before yesterday. She has Lyme disease. She is a very sick girl and I am praying, praying, praying. I feel like I'm always requesting your prayers, but if you would be so kind to lift up my sweet Lulu, I would be so grateful. As you know, she is quite special to me.

Here's Lulu today during my visit with her:


Gosh I just love that sweet, sweet face...everyone at the hospital is in love with her! Can't blame them! She is the gentlest soul. But I need her to be home with me, where she belongs.

Friends...I feel like it is just "issue" after "issue." My Sweet Hubby's illness and his Homegoing, my mother's long illness, things I have not shared here on ItTR, my mother's current illness, my father's health status, now Lulu. One thing on the heels of another.

All I know to do is keep clinging to the One Who promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He promised.

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV

In the meantime, I'm re-reading the Book of Job and Dr. J. Vernon McGee's corresponding study. And like Job said: Blessed be the name of the Lord!

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
Job 1:21 ESV

Hallelujah!

After 33 days in the hospital following a middle-of-the-night fall in which she fractured both her coccyx (tailbone) and her pelvis in two places, my Mom is finally back at home!

She still has some rehabbing to do and the bones still have some mending to do, but all things considered - we are counting our blessings!

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The time has come for me to share my experience at the Extraordinary Women conference that I attended in May. So, I'll be working on that post and you'll be seeing it soon. Very soon. In the meantime, I'll share this with you...just to kind of get your feet wet, so to speak! I'll explain the connection in my next post. ;)

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A psalm of David. Honor the LORD, you heavenly beings; honor the LORD for his glory and strength. Honor the LORD for the glory of his name. Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness. The voice of the LORD echoes above the sea. The God of glory thunders. The LORD thunders over the mighty sea. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
Psalm 29:1-4 NLT

I can do all things...

This weekend my life was an example of Philippians 4:13. To God be the Glory! I am so in love with my Creator that I wish I had more words in my vocabulary! All the words I know seem so inadequate to express how I feel...the gratitude in my heart, the desire to be closer-to-Him-every-day! I just pray that when I reach Heaven I find that I earned one crown to lay at His feet in pure adoration...I want to so much to be able to do that...

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For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Philippians 4:13 NLT

Blink of an eye

In the blink of an eye. Ever wondered just how fast that was? I've read that it's been measured between 300-400 milliseconds. Or to put it another way - between 3/10ths and 4/10ths of a second. Anyway - it's fast.

Noun

1.

blink of an eye - a very short time (as the time it takes the eye to blink or the heart to beat); "if I had the chance I'd do it in a flash" instant, jiffy, New York minute, split second, trice, twinkling, wink, heartbeat, flash mo, moment, second, minute, bit - an indefinitely short time; "wait just a moment"; "in a mo"; "it only takes a minute"; "in just a bit

source: The Free Dictionary by Farlex

That is how quickly life changed for my Sweet Hubby and I just two short years ago today. I guess I'm just like the rest of you...I've heard it said my whole life that you never know how fast your world can be turned upside down. Until it happens to you. Well...I know now. It happens in the blink of an eye. One minute everything is normal and the next, it's not. Two years ago today, life as we knew it was about to come to a screeching halt. Only we didn't know it just quite yet...all we knew the morning of July 7, 2008 was that my Sweet Hubby woke up not feeling well. At all. But he proceeded to get ready for work...showered, shaved, dressed. Men! And yes, you may {insert eye roll here}! It was only when he bent over to pet our dog, Snoopy, and had to quickly sit on the floor before he fell down that he agreed that maybe, just maybe he should stay home for the day. We figured he had picked up some "bug" and that a day of rest and TLC would have him feeling better. But as we all know, that was not how it turned out when he was hospitalized the following day.

I have been eying the calendar with some trepidation. A gnawing sense of....something (Not sure exactly what...dread? anxiety?)...has been poking at me at varying times of the day and night. I guess it's only natural and perhaps in time I'll feel it less and less. But not this year. Not yet. Right now I have to admit that it feels pretty overwhelming, the reliving of it all as it plays out in my mind over and over again. Heartbreaking time and time and time again because the ending is always the same.

Still, we have a Savior Who knows our every need long before we do...and provides us with everything we need to weather the storm. He is our fortress! (And right now, I really need a fortress.) For me, many times, I find comfort in music. No surprise, right? I heard this song yesterday and two lines really stood out BIG TIME. I've always been a stargazer. Ask my kids...it's all my Dad's fault. And my Sweet Hubby encouraged it...even bought me a huge telescope for my birthday one year (I think I could have seen into neighboring galaxies with that thing!).

I'm giving my life to the only One Who makes the moon reflect the sun.
Every starry night, that was His design.

Think about that for just a minute! If you're like me, those details get lost in the "day to day." But when you really sit and just meditate on His design...well, I feel very loved by an awesome God. And it is my pleasure and honor to worship Him! And praise Him! And glorify Him! In spite of everything! Because of everything! So Lord, I'll be leaning on you...clinging to You extra tightly over the next week or so...but You already knew that, didn't you?!

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In you, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in your righteousness. Bow down your ear to me; deliver me speedily: be you my strong rock, for an house of defense to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress; therefore for your name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that they have laid privately for me: for you are my strength. Into your hand I commit my spirit: you have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth. I have hated them that regard lying vanities: but I trust in the LORD. I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy: for you have considered my trouble; you have known my soul in adversities; And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: you have set my feet in a large room. Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am in trouble: my eye is consumed with grief, yes, my soul and my belly. For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing: my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed. I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me. I am forgotten as a dead man out of mind: I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander of many: fear was on every side: while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life. But I trusted in you, O LORD: I said, You are my God. My times are in your hand: deliver me from the hand of my enemies, and from them that persecute me. Make your face to shine on your servant: save me for your mercies' sake. Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called on you: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for them that fear you; which you have worked for them that trust in you before the sons of men! You shall hide them in the secret of your presence from the pride of man: you shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the LORD: for he has showed me his marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes: nevertheless you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to you. O love the LORD, all you his saints: for the LORD preserves the faithful, and plentifully rewards the proud doer. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the LORD. Psalm 31

Happy Birthday America!!

May we always remain
"ONE NATION UNDER GOD"

So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:36 NIV

The Terrible Twos!!

It had to happen, I suppose. Tell me - do I run screaming from the building now or just wait and see what happens?!

In the Throne Room turned 2 today!!!!

Little did I know two years ago what the Lord had in store for me. Praise God! He's so good to us that way...

There's a lot of pain and sadness within these pages and I imagine there will be more. Lots of joy too...and God willing, there will be more of that as well.

This blog, the outlet it has offered and the friendships it has provided have truly been heaven sent - so thank you one and all from the bottom of my heart. Now...let's have some cake!