Showing posts with label God's Faithfulness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Faithfulness. Show all posts

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Sunday's Soothing Scriptures - He is There to Lead Us Home






I said, God I hurt
And God said, I know
I said, I cry a lot
And God said, That's why I gave you tears
I said, Life is so hard
And God said, That's why I gave you loved ones
I said, But my loved one died!
And God said, So did mine!
I said, It's such a great loss!!
And God said, I saw mine nailed to a cross!!
I said, But Your loved one lives!!
And God said, So does yours!!
I said, Where is he now??
And God said, My Son is by My side and
your son is in My arms!!

~author unknown



Sunday's Soothing Scriptures

He is There to Lead Us Home














He is There to Lead Us Home


Matthew 18:10-14 NIV

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep


10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father in heaven. [11] For the Son of man came to save that which was lost. 

12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 

13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 

14 "In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish."


~~~


As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after My sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 


~~~



"Indeed, the Son of man has come to seek and to save people who are lost."


~~~



9God showed how much he loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him.  



10This is real love—not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.



~~~


John 3:17 NIV

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." 



~~~





Over Slippery Stones
and through
Swirling Streams
He is There to Lead Us Home.










NIV = New International Version
GWT = GOD'S WORD Translation
NLT = New Living Translation

Graphics, thanks to

~Pinterest
...your son is in My arms!!



~Pinterest
Over slippery stones and through swirling streams HE is there to lead us Home.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Friday's Faith - "You Cradle Me When...Without Obvious Mend"






Friday's Faith 

"You Cradle Me When...Without Obvious Mend"











"How gently You hold me and cradle me when I rest in Your hands- when I am weak and broken without obvious mend. How beautiful You are to me, as I weep tears onto the pages of Your word and find solace in Your truths and promises. You envelope me within Your presence, and uphold me with Your right hand. You shelter me from all things that may stain or tarnish my heart, but leave me vulnerable enough to choose my own direction. How blessed I am that when I begin to wander, You call my steps back into line. And when the world attempts to tie down my arms and legs, when it fills me with doubt and I struggle to take flight- You replace all that is broken, and You give me wings to soar."

via jesuslovesalltheworldforever













Monday, May 26, 2014

Monday's Mourning Ministry - You Carry Me ~Moriah Peters






Monday's Mourning Ministry

You Carry Me

~Moriah Peters












You Carry Me

~Moriah Peters

from the album Brave





Feels like it's been miles and miles
Feels like it's an uphill climb
Sometimes I get weary on the way
But when I look back at where I've been
When I look back, I'm sure of it
I was right there in Your arms and I can say,

Every moment of my life
God, You never left my side
Every valley, every storm
You were there, You were there
I don't need to know what's next
You'll be with me every step
Through it all, through it all
I can see: You carry me!


There are days I wonder if
You can fix the mess I'm in
Times when nothing seems
To go the way it should
But then I look back on every season
I can find there's ten thousand reasons
To trust that You can work all things for good

Every moment of my life
God, You never left my side
Every valley, every storm
You were there, You were there
I don't need to know what's next
You'll be with me every step
Through it all, through it all
I can see 

Through the wind and waves
Through my worst mistakes
Through the times I thought I walked alone
You were holding me
You were whispering
I will never leave you on your own

Every moment of my life
God, You never left my side
Every valley, every storm
You were there, You were there
I don't need to know what's next
You'll be with me every step
Through it all, through it all
I can see

Every moment of my life
God, You never left my side
Every valley, every storm
You were there, You were there
I don't need to know what's next
You'll be with me every step
Through it all, through it all
I can see: You carry me!

You carry me!


~~~













1st graphic: 
http://unbrokenbygrace.tumblr.com/image/86435633120

Grief video: http://youtu.be/x2H-zQjgurQ


Memorial Day, Thank you to our veterans...
http://unbrokenbygrace.tumblr.com/image/86710515450


Monday, June 18, 2012

Monday's Mourning Ministry - The God On the Mountain ~Lynda Randle





For the God on the Mountain...








Monday's Mourning Ministry 

The God On the Mountain

~Lynda Randle



Life is easy
when you're up on the mountain
and you've got peace of mind
like you've never known.
But things change
when you're down in the valley ~
Don't lose faith,
for you're never alone.

For the God on the mountain
is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong,
He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times;
The God of the day
Is still God in the night.

You talk of faith
way up on the mountain
But talk comes so easy
when life's at its best.
Now it's down in the valley
of trials and temptations ~
That's where your faith
is really put to the test.

For the God on the mountain
is still God in the valley.
When things go wrong,
He'll make them right.
And the God of the good times
is still God in the bad times;
The God of the day
is still God in the night.

The God of the day 
is still God in the night.




...Is still God in the Valley.










Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. 
~Hebrews 13:8 NIV

http://youtu.be/hKE769CIPOM


Monday, May 14, 2012

Tuesday's Trust - "Sacred Hoax"






Tuesday's Trust
"Sacred Hoax"



A contrast of worlds,
A fury spent:
As I will not comply
With their "Sacred Hoax." 
"We will be 'happy' (though
they are not);
You will comply(though I am not). 
A contrast of worlds
A fury spent:
Death amongst life?
Their fury rife... 
"It's not the southern way;
We play pretend ~
As if all were gay,
Not 'Gone with the Wind.'" 
Their Battle Cry
Wants to overpower mine ~
"I've lost my child!"
~ "Oh stop your whine!
We like to play
As if all were gay;
You spoil our party;
Our 'Sacred Hoax' should win!" 
A contrast of worlds,
A fury spent:
I miss my baby girl ~
Reality wins. 
A contrast of worlds ~
Relationships hurled,
For they cannot deal
With what is real. 
Life is not fair,
But God meets me there...










Picture, thanks to FotoSearch.com

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Tuesday's Trust - Love Conquers All





Tuesday's Trust


Love Conquers All





Perhaps Love is more important than life. We are taught by the addiction specialists,


"Don't enable your child."


And while that may be important at some level, perhaps love is more important even than life. Love conquers all. Our child's heart and soul lasts forever. Life comes and goes and is replaced by new Life when our child is connected to the One who is Love.


Perhaps I deified "life" too much. Perhaps I turned my child's "life" into an idol to protect it more than protecting her heart with my love.


I fought my love for her, fearing it would hurt her life! (I could be manipulated by her "addictive" ploys, and it might cost her her "life," I told myself.)


So I implemented "tough love" to save her "life." But her heart was hurt, and her soul was put at risk. Fortunately, God's love is bigger than ours, and He went out to the farthest corners to "go after the lost sheep until He found it.*" (And in doing so, He was true both to His own heart AND was answering our desperate prayers cried out in love for our child.)


So when she lost her "LIFE" which I was valuing above all, I felt like a complete failure at some level (and still fight this). (At other levels, I understood I am not God and I cannot prevent catastrophes from happening, but still, my attempts at love and discipline did not save her "life.")


God got my attention enough to help me share our deep love with her two nights before she was killed. She and I hugged so tightly before she left.
Love conquers all...


It wasn't enough to save her "life" but it was enough to save her "love" and her "soul." (She came by the house on the day she was ultimately killed and recorded a c.d. full of songs that indicated her heart was turning back to God.)


And God, who is so much bigger and stronger than I, saved her "love," her "soul," and her eternal "Life."


She is with Him; she is safe; she is alive; her soul is safe, and


she is in the arms of Love forever.


Love conquers all.





*Luke 15:3-7
Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."



Sunday, September 25, 2011

Saturday's Sayings - "A Response to Grief Advice"





Saturday's Sayings


"A Response to Grief Advice"






Tommy and I have been away for several days attending a Trauma conference in Atlanta, Georgia. We continue to learn amazing things about this trauma through which you and we are walking; hopefully we will share more about it soon. So here it is Sunday, and I am finally posting "Saturday's Sayings"! I hope it ministers to you.





"A Response to Grief Advice"


by Marsha Bell on Saturday, September 17, 2011 at 9:43am



I am stricken when fellow bereaved parents report outsider’s advice on grieving or when I get a taste of that myself. I would ask the outsiders …move on? To what? No grief?


IMPOSSIBLE!!!


Feeling no grief for our dead children will only happen when we get to heaven and have our tears wiped away from the Lord, Himself.


Our children aren’t lost… like a pet. We have hope for where our children are, which is heaven, and we hope to join them; soon. And short of that hope, there is nothing we can do about where they are or aren’t but grieve for what we can do nothing about.


We mothers and fathers were created to create and to care for the creations God blessed us with as we glorify the Lord in fulfillment of that mandate.


Sin messed up the original plan, but we must do what we can to make the best of God's plan in a sin-laden world. I say, "we must", as we are not in charge - God certainly is. And God is good.

I don’t think we work through grief as if we could possibly get to the other side of it. I don’t think it’s going to end or be resolved. We don’t work through it; we work with it.


Storms have a season. While a storm is raging we seek shelter. We wait until the worst is over then deal with what remains. We pick up the pieces and sort through what’s worth keeping. Sometimes nearly everything has been destroyed and we must completely restock and rebuild. Sometimes we’re just in the eye of the hurricane and it seems calm for a while, but the rains still come; tornadoes are spawned; floods inundate and the banks are perilously crested.

But it’s still storm season; clouds will return and with them another round of storms. What’s more, when this season is over the next season will come in its due time. That’s life.

That’s life for a parent stricken with grief over the death of their child.


Grief isn’t an illness, chronic or acute. It isn’t a scabbed over scar that gets re-injured on holidays… it’s an intensely painful open festering unhealable mortifying wound. The only cure is heaven itself.


If we look rational or even happy on the outside… we’re just trying to spare YOUR feelings. We think YOU can’t handle it. We are. We have no other choice but to look for and count on the rainbow. It will come. God is good and he is faithful.





Thank you Marsha for your gracious permission to share with my precious blog readers. ~Bless you!









Picture via http://magpietales.blogspot.com/2011/09/mag-84.html
Article, thanks to grieving mother, Marsha Bell

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Monday Mourning Ministry - I Go to the Rock ~The Crabb Family





Monday's Mourning Ministry


I Go to the Rock


~The Crabb Family


(written by Dottie Rambo)



Verse 1

Where can I turn when there's no one else I can turn to?

Who am I gonna talk to when nobody wants to listen?

Who am I gonna lean on when there's no foundation stable?

I go to the Rock I know that's able

I go to the Rock


Chorus

I go to the Rock of my salvation

I go to the Stone that the builders rejected

Run to the Mountain and the Mountain stands by me

The earth all around me is sinking sand

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand

When I need a shelter

When I need a friend

I go to the Rock


Verse 2

Where can I hide 'til the storms have all passed over?

Where am I gonna run to when the winds of sorrow threaten?

Is there a refuge in those times of great tribulation?

When my soul needs consolation

I go to the Rock


Chorus

I go to the Rock of my salvation

I go to the Stone that the builders rejected

Run to the Mountain and the Mountain stands by me

The earth all around me is sinking sand

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand

When I need a shelter

When I need a friend

I go to the Rock


Chorus

I go to the Rock of my salvation

I go to the Stone that the builders rejected

Run to the Mountain and the Mountain stands by me

The earth all around me is sinking sand

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand

When I need a shelter

When I need a friend

I go to the Rock


Vamp

(I go to the Rock) When I need a friend

(I go to the Rock) When I need some joy

(I go to the Rock) When my body needs healin'










video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zatv-VqobA

Monday, March 7, 2011

Tuesday's Trust - Baby Girl's First Best Friend: Joe the Dog




Tuesday's Trust

Baby Girl's First Best Friend: Joe, the Dog









Baby Girl's First Best Friend: Joe the Dog




When Merry Katherine was little, we got our children's first dog. Tommy's pheasant-hunting buddy had asked if anyone wanted a Brittany Spaniel who was gun-shy; he had already been named ~ his name was "Joe." Tommy knew our children needed a dog as our boys had been afraid of dogs ever since growing up (in our former neighborhood) right next door to a Great Dane that would threaten to jump up on them. (This Great Dane even jumped up on my car, putting his head through my rolled-down window one day when I was bringing the boys back from an outing at a nearby playground. He could be quite scary and aggressive.) Merry Katherine was not yet born, so she had no real fear of dogs.


Joe was great~he soothed our boys' fears. And later Merry Katherine disclosed to us, he'd soothed many of her tears...







Joe the Dog




Closer you were to Joe than we’d realized;

He was your companion, confidante, 'nd friend.

Not knowing in your heart him you’d so apprised,

Though so sad you'd been when he’d reached his end.



He took your tears when you were shy to share;

Compliant he was as tears rolled down his hair…



We got Joe th’ Dog when you were only three

He grew up with you, he was your same height!

Always there when you needed him, he’d be…

Faithful was he to set your world aright.



He took your tears when you were shy to share;

Compliant he was as tears rolled down his hair…



Even when he died, and you cried and cried,

We couldn’t know the depth of love you'd had;

To share hurt with us, you could not abide—

Too shy you were to share when you were sad.



He took your tears when you were shy to share

Compliant he was as tears rolled down his hair…



Soon you came t’ know the Savior’s tears for you;

You turned to Him to pour your troubles out.

It comforts my heart, though from us you withdrew,

To know you had Him, when you’d have a bad bout.



He took your tears when you were shy to share;

He’d hold you close, as tears rolled down His hair…



Now you’re with Him, with no more need to cry,

You’re comforted now, carefree in God’s blue sky!

I wish we’d known more of th’ sadness you'd had,

It comforts t' know, you’ll nevermore be sad...


He took your tears when you were shy to share;

He'll dry all tears, and sweetly caress your hair…










Pictures thanks to puppypoopy.com
Poem - Joe the Dog - Angie Bennett Prince - 8/17/2009, revised 3/7/2011