A memorable day

Yesterday was a great day!

I woke up to a breathtaking sunrise.

I read a passage in Luke that had me in awe of Jesus again.

I hosted a brunch for seven girlfriends. A mini-retreat. A joy to do.

I had a long Sunday afternoon nap.

I went to church and heard from missionaries. Some of my very favorite people.

We stayed after church and listened to one of the missionary couples share some victories and some hope and some challenges. This particular missionary couple is a couple I was first introducd to eighteen years ago. They were just leaving for the mission field when we met them in Plano.

Over the years they have come back and shared how difficult the area they are ministering to is. You could see in their faces the burden they carried for this people who did not trust what they had to share about God. They would ask us to pray. We did.

This time the joy on their faces was so beautiful to behold. A church has been planted. The pastor is someone local. All that was prayed for, for so many years by so many people is now in existence.

So now there are new prayers to pray. There are new challenges to face. There is hope to face them with.

Then we went to dinner as a family.

Then God ended the day with a beautiful sunset.

It was a great day to become 40 years old. :)

Thankful

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. I'm receiving an answer to prayer today that I didn't know until just recently if this request was going to be in God's will for me or not.

I believe it is God's will to provide shelter from the elements. In some places that may just be a shade tree. In fact this morning I was reading on a blog about a mission trip to Africa, to the nation of Angolia. This country is five years beyond a civil war. Some progress is being made in feeding the children of this country. The mission orgaznizations however only have food to offer to the children and nursing mothers. So the workers feed the children and have to observe the adults standing off to the side waiting for their children to eat the one nutritious meal they will have all day.

On the same day I reflect on her mission experience, I'm receiving a gift today which is more than a shelter, it is a home that matches with desires of my heart. The cupboards will be bare when we walk in today but very soon they will be filled up with food. My husband and I will not have to choose which one of us will go without a meal so our son can grow and avoid dying from a mosquito bite.

The extreme differences between these two existences makes so little sense.

In places like Isaiah, which I can't quote right now, there are passages that basically translate, You got fat and happy and you stopped caring about those who were in desperate need. I, God, hold this against you.

So I'm extremely grateful that God has orchestrated the purchase of this home in such a way that I am confident this is a gift from God to us. Our family is going to enjoy living there and sharing the home with others. And I'm asking God to somehow help me enjoy it and at the same time avoid getting fat and happy and ambivalent or arrogant towards those who have less.

Dear Lord,

Thank you. Help us to truly be grateful and even humbled by what you have done for us. Thanks for taking stuff away from us and showing us its more blessed to be without stuff and with you then the other way around. Thank you now for trusting us to have stuff again. Please convict us when we're losing perspective. Please show us how to demonstrate that we care about the needs of others.

In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

Wondering what God is going to say...

Many people I know and love are asking God to answer a long-term prayer request this week. When you sit and contemplate the number of lives that will be affected by the answer to this one request it's a mind bender. God deals with these kind of requests everyday all day long.

His answer may be "not yet" and then the waiting and praying will continue. Or his answer may be "yes" and a new list of prayer requests will begin.

So we pray:

Our Father who is in Heaven, Sovereign over all people and situations, we praise your holy name. We desire your kingdom and we desire to be a part of your plan here on earth. So above all of the things, we think or we want, we turn our wills over to you and ask for your will to be done. We ask for your grace.

Thanks for giving us what we need every single day. Help us to get that it is you meeting our needs. Keep us mindful when we don't do things the way you desire us to do them. Help us to forgive others when they make that same mistake. Since we know that evil is real and this decision this week is a really big deal. We ask for protection for all those involved.

Lord we praise you for letting us be apart of you and your kingdom. We desire to give you the glory and honor and praise. It's good to be a part of what is eternal. Help us to increasingly desire to be a part of what is eternal.

Amen

Needing Humility

I've written here before about my recent experiences with memorizing scripture. Its a topic that has been on my mind quite a bit over the last two weeks.

Back in the spring a small group of us were meeting together to pray for each other and for our church family. During that time we came to the conclusion as a small group that we would participate in memorizing scripture together. We gave each other hints, discovered how differently some of us memorize from others. Enjoyed having something in common as well as our uniqueness.

After the first passage was memorized, it was time to choose another. Someone in the group was reading from a book that had a suggested list of passages to memorize. Choosing another set of verses happened to coincide with my discovering of the verses in Lamentations that I have commented so much on in the last few months. The group understood how much these verses had touched me and why and agreed to memorize them with me. This meant that memorizing portions of Phillipians 2 got put on the back burner.

When we all had the next set of verse memorized everyone but me was ready to move on to Phillipians 2. I think this was a good lesson for all of us. At that moment I had a decision to make. I knew that meditating on what I had learned in Lamentations was getting me through challenging days. I also knew that if I gave up that time of meditation and jumped in Phillipians 2 I would be doing it to please the group. I would be obeying some kind of group law. I explained this and they understood. I didn't start memorizing with them.

But now I find it interesting that Phillipians 2 is exactly where I think I need to be memorizing and meditating on the word. This passage reflects on and worships the Lord Jesus Christ for his humility. It challenges us with the reality that being transformed into the image of Christ requires humility and is the experience of humilty. I am now ready to work on learning these verses.

I'm hesitating to type this next part. I'm very embarrassed. But I have been struggling to have an attitude of humility in the midst of God answering so many prayers for us. I'm very grateful the Lord has been convicting me of this. I'm grateful for his forgiveness. There is probably no better passage for me to be working on memorizing than Phillipians 2.

Like so many others, there has been a song that has meant so much to me over the last few years. One of the lines of the song is: Blessed be Your name in the land that is plentiful where the streams of abundance flow. Blessed be Your name. I allowed myself moments of blessing my own name. That is sin. I'm very sorry those moments happened. I hope and pray that I am learning how to walk truly praising God and giving Him credit for all He has done and is doing in my life.

Strength and Courage

I'm doing bible study this summer about faith. The teacher of this bible study is asking us to believe God.

This particular week she has spent time reminding us that God intends our walk of faith to have the qualities of strength and courage.

As I face the challenges associated with moving, especially the challenge that God may be asking me to enter new territory regarding work, it has been a good reminder that God will provide strength and courage for such a place.

One of my greatest inspirations in this area of walking with the Lord is my boy. My boy who is turning into a man. This guy hasn't known for over a year what city or state he would be attending high school in. And, I couldn't even count on two hands the number of minutes he has spent angry or frustrated about it. I can't even tell you how many times people have asked me about how he is doing. When I have described it, I think most have had a hard time believing he was coping so well. We have attributed this to answered prayer. God has provided him strength and courage over this last year to face change.

Since we've been back in Texas, I've seen it show up in new ways. The fact that his old friends don't or haven't been able to attend Wednesday nights at church hasn't kept him from braving new territory. He is determined to have meaningful relationships with God's people. He understands that requires showing up in places and situations that your not always comfortable in at first. That touches this Mama's heart at its very epicenter.

Dear God,

Thank you for giving my fourteen year old boy/man a vision for why on earth church matters. May the journey we've been on as a family this past year be a spiritual marker for him. May he be able to look back on how you provided for him during this time of transition. May that fuel trust in you for days that are even more challenging than the ones he has passed through this last year. May he have the courage and strength to give you his whole heart. May he continue to be willing to walk by faith and not by sight.

Amen

Are you waiting for an explanation?

Have you ever looked back on a time period in your life and said, "Now I get it God!"

It feels like I'm having that conversation with God almost hourly the last few days. Light bulb moments are firing off faster than I can remember them. I keep thinking God I want to have time to write down everything you're doing because I want to remember.

I've also noticed that in relationships with people, especially the parent child relationship, a parent says, "Just do what I'm telling you." Sometimes parents say this because they don't have time to explain or they're to tired. Other times it is because their child is not ready to comprehend the reasons why. And still others the parent doesn't really know "why" well enough to explain it themselves. And then when the child comes around to seeing the wisdom of the instruction or action a parent can be very tempted to have an, "I told you so attitude."

Looking back I think there were times when God said, "I just can't explain what I'm doing yet. You just wouldn't understand." But instead of feeling hung out to dry in those moments, I felt a calling to persevere with hope. A call to believe in God's goodness.

Its one thing to believe God is good when things are going smoothly and linearly. Its quite another when God takes seriously your desire to be transformed by Him into his likeness and therefore his perspectives. Because letting go of earthly values can be very difficult and even heartbreaking. But not I can see so many purposes in wandering around in the desert. I needed time away from what was my normal in order to have eyes to see and ears to hear what God wanted to show me.

A crazy part of that journey was that I was wandering around in the desert with people who were in their homelands the last four years. Their love and hospitality went a long way towards making the spiritual desert experience survivable. But it was never meant to be our homeland as well.

So what's my point? If you find yourself in circumstances that don't make sense to you. You wish God would lighten up. Hang on tight to the truth that God loves you. If you have told God that you will go an do and be wherever and whatever He wants you to be, there will be some sifting out of earthly perspectives and their will be some fires for refining. But on the other side of the sifter and the fire there is love for God that can be obtained no other way. I truly trust Him more than I ever have before.

Dear Lord,

You are blowing me away. I am flabbergasted by your orchestration of the details of my life. I am just one little soul on the planet of billions of people. I also watch you doing these things in lives of people I love. Lord, help us all to put our faith in you every single day. Give us opportunities to testify with love and gentleness and humility about who you are and what your up to. Help us not to squander what you've done in our hearts and the resources you have given us. Thank you for providing what we need to hang on to you when things just don't seem to add up. We love you Lord and we want to learn to love you more.

Amen

Resurfacing

Oh my goodness, so much has happened in the last eleven days.

Sad "see you laters" to our California friends.

27 hour road trip with all our stuff. Stuff is so overrated. If they would allow families to live in a commune I would seriously consider it this week.

Large and small God-incidences. So many prayers were answered so wonderfully.

Fabulously fun reunions with family and friends.

We are experiencing the fruit of waiting on the Lord. The fruit tastes very sweet and wholesome.

There are many decisions ahead of us over the next weeks and months and we rejoice that we are confident that the Lord will guide us as we make them. We're looking forward to what surprises await us as the plan unfolds.

So what's the adventure God has you on this summer? I would LOVE to hear about it. :)

Praising God

In a particular area of our lives, we have been in a season of waiting on the Lord.

This season has been long from an earthly perspective. It has been full of one central question. God has been asking, "Will you trust me?"

While our testimony of what God has provided for our future is so generous and sweet and a hundred other words, what I want to say today is that God was generous, sweet, faithful, hopeful, good and a provider of peace and joy during the waiting. When I doubted, life was awful. When I believed in Him, the words on the pages of Scripture came alive in me. There is so much life available to us in submissive dependency on God. There is so much life available in a state of humility. There is angst and misery in pride and independence.

So why was it good and loving for God to force me into a state of waiting the last couple of years? I have discovered, at least in part, the answer to that recently. It turns out one of the hallmarks of my personality is a drive to acheive. This is a quality that God has place in me. It has been a strength. But as we all know strengths are also our greatest weaknesses. You see, I haven't been good at all in the past at waiting on God. I think God looked down on me and said okay now is the time. It's time to teach our dear Cheri the value of waiting. I think God knew that I believe just enough in His goodness and His love that forcing me to wait would not break my faith instead it would strenghen it.

I can honestly say that I am grateful for what I have come to know about the Lord and what I understand about myself as a result of the journey I have been on. I don't think an easier path would have provided me what I am so grateful for now.

Here's the crazy generous part! Five days before getting on the road to return to Dallas to continue a job search for my husband, he got a job offer in Dallas with a move package included for the company he most wanted to go to work for. Grace, Grace God's Amazing Grace!

Do you know that God loves you just as much when he is saying "no" and "maybe" and "I'll let you know eventually" and "yes"!

Yet this I will call to mind and therefore I have hope, because of the Lord's GREAT LOVE, we are not consumed. His COMPASSION never fails, they are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I will say to myself, the LORD is my portion, I will wait for Him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. Lamentations 3

Dear Lord,

Thank you for going out of your way to teach me to wait. Thank you for pouring your love out on us. Thank you for brothers and sisters in Christ that we could depend on as we waited. Thank you for being who you are and doing what you do on our behalf.

Amen and Amen

Promotion Day

It's official. As of today, I'm living with a highschooler. Our son walked across a stage and into a new era of his life.

Days like today take me back to our son's preschool days. There were so many choices for educating him. Homeschool, public school and private school. All our friends wanted to make a good decision and one that matched our families and matched our kids. We asked God for guidance. We were given an answer. It went well. The cycle has continued every year since then. I marvel at what God has provided every single year. Great teachers. Great schools. Both great and small challenges. We have been blessed and we are grateful.

In addition to feeling reflective, I'm also very delighted. I have often pondered what my son would be like as he grew into a man. The little boy is fleeing and the young man is emerging. And, I like him. He is engergetic, fun loving, eternally optimistic, good to his friends and quick to wear shirts and sweatshirts that declare to the world his love of God.

Many of you who read this blog have contributed to his life in countless ways. I want to say Thank you!! From the bottom of this Momma's heart, Thank you!!

A suprising idol.

A conversation, a teaching time and a magazine article have led me to ponder a question this week. How do I avoid worshiping a doctrine as an idol?

A few ideas have come to mind. First of all, I believe it is important to remember that anytime mankind takes a look at scripture and makes decisions about what they understand the Word of God to say they risk being only partially correct. I think the Lord I worship is so complex that to determine that I can sum Him and His teachings up is at best persumptuous. So I allow myself to consider doctrines and listen to how they were arrived at. But when I camp, when I dwell, when I worship I do that based on my relationship with God. I have seen evidence that if I worship a doctrine I run the risk of becoming arrogant and self-righteous.

Thinking about a doctrine is usually an intellectual exercise. Consistently this exercise has a pattern. I read a doctrine. I read the defense of the doctrine. I read the verses used to defend the doctrine. Usuall, I come to the end of the arguement thinking I can see why someone could arrive at that belief. But then that next thing almost always happens. "But what about this passage or this verse?" Right now I am more afraid of what I will miss if I ignore that last question then what I will gain by being rigid in my interpretation of God's Word.

I hope this perspective invites a walk with God that is marked with humility, because this requires me to pay close attention to the Lord. It is my hearts desire to have a relationship with and to be a worshipper of God not doctrine.

Silence

There are authors in my life that are introducing me to a new way to grow in my relationship with the Lord. It is called silence.

The thing about silence and our culture is they really don't go together very well. I personally have avoided silence like the plague and welcomed with open arms the noisiness. Silence only represented a lonely place for me.

Sitting, in silence with the Lord, is not for the faint of heart especially if your one who naturally loves noise. It is also not an invitation to mindlessness. Many Christians avoid this topic because they are afraid they are being invited to participate in mindlessness.

When I read different authors explain their way of sitting with God silently I found there are many variations of this practice. It was very helpful to read a handful of them. I'll leave that to you to explore on your own if your interested. The times when I sit quietly with the intention of focusing on the Lord is quite random. These times are very short in their duration. Usually five minutes maybe ten minutes tops.

My intention for writing this is to share what I have discovered so far from choosing silence:

I am more comfortable and even often prefer to have nothing going on in the background of my life.

Silence is not lonely anymore because overall I am more aware of the presence of God.

I more readily accept that God is God and I am not. My attitude can be more easily brought to a place of surrender in everyday circumstances. I yearn for God's words, "Be still and know that I am God" to be the attitude of my heart. In other words I don't feel as full of my own agenda. I am hopeful it is easier for God to get my attention.

Which brings me back to my very favorite verses these days:

Lamentations 3:21-26

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

El Moro Canyon

A friend suggested we change up our usual Friday walk at the beach and go on a hike instead. So we went 15 miles or so south to a place called El Moro Canyon. It was one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on. Amazing vistas. For a Colorado girl that's saying somethin'. :)

We saw:

big birds and little birds
minding their own business birds and hunter birds
sandy canyons descending to the ocean
the beautiful blue pacific
a regatta race of sailboats
power boats
grey squirrels
bunny rabbits
pink, purple, yellow and white wildflowers
30 plus miles of California Coastline
cliffs
whitewater
confusing trail signs
fellow trekkers
moutain bikers
rangers
homes with views that have no end

California really is an amazing place. I still can't believe I've had the opportunity in my life time to live in a beach community and in a mountain community. I'm so very grateful .

What do you love about where you live now or where you come from?

The Happy Dance

I just completed the Spring Quarter at school. After reading seventeen books and writing down 94 pages worth of thoughts it was time to do the happy dance! It felt good! And no, I don't have video! And without God's help and the support of my family I could not have done it! Thank you!

Cliff Diving

I am standing on a cliff. I've been invited to jump. I've been provided a parachute pack in order to accomplish a safe cliff dive. The pack is full of the knowledge and heart of God.

The questions are: Do I believe that the contents of the pack are true and trustworthy? Do I believe it is a good decision to jump? Do I believe that jumping is really my only way of knowing whether or not what's in the pack is true? Do I believe the pack creator and designer has provided me with all I need to survive even soar next to this particular cliff? Do I believe...?

I bow at the edge of the cliff and I sing words from my new favorite song.

Falling on my knees in worship
giving all I am to seek your face
Lord all I am is yours

my whole life I place in your hands
God of mercy humble I bow down
in your presence at your throne

By God's grace and only because of His grace, I believe. I stand. I jump.


Is there a cliff God is inviting you to the edge of?

Parting Words - Part two

2nd Half

OBEDIENCE

I believe God has called us to live obedient lives. But with out love for God and realization of His love for you and without a relationship based in knowledge of the Scripture and what you experience and learn in prayer it has been my experience that obedience is virtually impossible. I believe this is especially true in those areas where bondage runs deep. I am not asking you to strive for perfect obedience. I am asking you to believe that God wants to develop in you, a heart that is more prone to obedience than rebellion. Don’t give up on believing in freedom in Christ. This process of being converted from one who rebels to one who obeys is grounded in trust. Trust develops over time. Invest in your relationship with God and you will develop trust in God. I’ve joked that a good title for a book would be “OBEY is not a Four Letter Word.”

THE TRINITY

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, all three, always have a united yet unique roll in your life. Be intentional about not leaving any of God out.

THANK YOU

I want you to know that you have blessed me, encouraged me, strengthened me, challenged me, given me reason to have hope, helped to guide me and have been the source of great joy in my life.

It is now time for me to go a different way, taking all that you have given me in my heart. Rejoicing that we will have eternity to spend on each others front porches, back yards, beach chairs and mountaintops and all in the presence our indescribable Triune God. HALLELUJAH!

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May he make his face to shine upon you and grant you His peace, both now and forevermore.

With love and a thankful heart,

Cheri

Parting Words - Part One

Since we are moving back to the Dallas area at the end of June, my time as teaching leader in our Bible study has come to an end. I've decided to post the letter in two parts because it reflects my big picture perspective of walking by faith in relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Dear ladies,

For a month or more I have been dreading the last time my name was on the list to teach. I knew it was going to be difficult for several reasons. Initially my thought was that I would share with you what I hope you’ve heard me emphasize over the last three years. But because I love and appreciate each of you so much and because what is most important to me creates a great deal of emotion also, I couldn’t imagine how it was that I was going to be able to do that. A few tears when someone teaches are no big deal but I wasn’t sure a few tears were going to be the limit.

Then this week I started pondering what the message of the last half of Daniel is and different songs came to mind. One thing led to another and we ended up having a worship service instead. I hope it was an encouragement to you.

Then I thought there is no reason why I can’t share in a letter what I had previously wanted to do from the front of the room. So I share the following words from my heart to yours.

LOVE

I feel like I’ve said this one hundred times but its never less true than the last time. God loves you.

Ephesians 3: 14-19

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

It is my prayer for each of you that these would not simply be words of knowledge for you mind but you would come to know them with heart, soul, mind and body. Everything begins with the love of God.

PRAYER

I wont be able to speak to everything that matters to me about prayer in this letter. So what I want to make sure you’ve heard me say is that prayer is in part about your conversion. Praising God in prayer converts us from being worshipers of ourselves to being worshipers of God. Confession converts us from self-righteousness to awareness that we are dependent on the righteousness of Christ. It leads to a willingness to be changed by God. Thanksgiving converts us from be self-reliant to being aware that all goodness in our lives comes from God. Prayer is the action that gives God the opportunity to convert us to believing that God’s will is what matters. When we believe that we will choose to die to ourselves and begin to live in Christ. I believe this with everything I have in me. Please allow God to draw you into a life of prayer.

So asking God for things has become my lowest priority in prayer. I absolutely believe in asking. I believe that God has designed interaction with Him and He with us to include asking. It has simply been moved from the way I most pray to the way I least pray. I am asking God to teach me more about prayer and how and what to ask for. I’m so thankful for what God has taught me so far about prayer.

To be continued...

Why do we go to church?

I'm taking a class called Empowering the People of God.

One of my assignments has been to write about my journey of discovering what it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

I've done timelines before of significant spiritual markers or events in my walk with the Lord but this time I was struck by something new. While the Lord is always central, I was amazed by the timing of the particular people who have arrived in particular stages of my journey. Those with genuine faith in the Lord and a love for Him and for me have drawn me into their lives. I have gained so much from my time with each one of them. For some, that has been brief encounters for others we have a long history together. It made me so grateful that I have never questioned the value of being an active part of the body of Christ. Almost every mentor and spiritual friend I've had has come from my local church family.

Discipleship is not about just passing on what you know. Its about passing on a relationship through a relationship. At least that has been my experience.

So, thanks for the assignment Dr. Rexroat! May God continue to bring into my journey those who can help me put my faith in Christ. May I be used by the Lord to invite others to do the same.

Thanks Grandma and Granddad

Yesterday was hard because it was the last time, I was to lead the Bible study I have been a part of for the last three years. Because I was so sad about many things related to that and needing to answer peoples questions about what decisions we've made. The emotion of sadness was overwhelming any awareness of peace I have had about our decision to move back to Dallas at the end of June.

After Bible study, I enjoyed a spontaneous lunch that went on for close to two relaxing hours with three other ladies. It was a great gift after a hard morning. Then it was time to go home. My husband is away this week so he called to check in on how my morning went. The anxiousness and sadness was steadily building.

After our phone call, I started working on the blog entry I posted yesterday, the words from Lamentations were so helpful to me. I went from being depressed and sad to generally hopeful again.

But God wasn't done encouraging me yet!

Last night I had class, I took an old Bible of mine. There is so many things about this Bible that I love. The number one thing is that is was given to me by Grandparents who dearly loved me and dearly loved the Lord. They gave it to me for my seventeenth birthday and I loved it from the very beginning. On the first inside page, my grandmother wrote these words:

Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks for this is the will of God concerning you. With much love, Grandmother and Granddad True. I Thes. 5:16-18

I have read this inscription countless times over the years. I can remember thinking in years past, why did Grandma pick these verses over all other verses to write in the bible she gave me?

But this time I realized this was not only a verse she appreciated, but a prayer for me. She wanted me to be able to live my life with the kind of relationship with God that would lead to rejoicing always, praying always and knowing that it was God's will for me to be thankful no matter what.

Being prayerful yesterday about my questions and my feelings led me to two places, a passage in Lamentations and a passage in 1 Thessalonians. The Word of God and the Spirit of God truly brought me back from sadness and insecurity to deep joy and hopefulness and certainty in Him.

One of my biggest concerns is that I do not want to be intentionally rebellious or blind to any rebellion associated with this situation. Am I being rebellious? I need to know if we are doing the right thing.

The second I finished reading 1 Thes. 5:16-18 I realized that I have been given an opportunity to rejoice always, pray always and to be thankful. To be living right smack dab in the middle of the will of God and the prayers and hopes of my grandparents. It was a powerful moment for me.

Oh the joy that has flooded my soul! I intend to enjoy every second of the lingering joy. God has been crazy good in spite of me again today.

One last thing, I wonder if an angel got to go tell my Grandparents what happened last night?

I like HOPE

Thoughts

I wish the best way to learn to trust God wasn't in the midst of circumstances that are out of my control.

I wish God wasn't so willing to be an excellent Father and was more on board with spoiling me rotten.

I wish that the illusion of being in control of my life didn't run so deeply in me.

I wish bringing joy to one group of people didn't mean bringing a little sadness to another group of people.


I'm glad God does what is best for me even when I don't like it.

I'm glad that when I question my decisions that I can be confident that if they were not made in rebellion that He will redirect me and work it all out.

I'm glad prayer works.

I'm glad I had to memorize an outline for Ecclesiastes last week. Timely.

I'm glad my family continues to get closer.


Lamentations 3:21-26

Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:

Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;

it is good to wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.

Dear God,

Thanks for bringing me back to hope. I like hope.

Waiting as quietly as I know how,
Cheri

A way of praying

"Lord Jesus Christ, help me to trust you."

That's been my breath prayer for a while now. I've been taught that a breath prayer is something you can say in one breath. The process to discovering a breath prayer can be thinking about what title or way of addressing God that is currently most important to you. Then adding to that what you believe God wants to most work into or out of your life right now.

Out of considering those two questions came this breath prayer that I pray.

Some days this prayer gets prayed many times over. Some weeks I don't think of it at all. This has been a week when I've prayed over and over again.

This week God closed a door that we didn't expect. He has yet to open a new door.

God gives and He takes away. God has taken away before he has given this week. He has asked me to trust Him with that. He has also made known to me how He has been preparing me for that. Amazing!

On Tuesday this week I was digging through my papers from school looking for a resource I need for this quarter. I came across a Bible study I completed over four years ago now called I'm Believing God (Beth Moore is the author). I started thumbing through and reading the first week's lesson and then I remembered that I can still watch the videos online so I watched the first one. So helpful. Just what I needed to listen to.

God: "Dear daughter, are you going to believe me? Are you going to trust me? Are you going to walk by faith and not by sight?"

me: Yes, by your grace and with the help of my family members and brothers and sisters in Christ I am. I am going to believe you are my provider. I am going to believe you have plans for my husband, my son and me. I am going to believe that you will be my comforter, our guide, our hope. I am going to believe your intentions towards us are marked by your goodness and faithfulness. I am going to believe my weakness can be exchanged for your strength. I believe it is good for me to sit in the lessons you intend to teach me and not run from them.

I believe because it is your will that I trust you and because I have been praying this prayer that you have provided an opportunity to grow me in my trust of You. Thank you God for answering my prayer.

When I get tired Lord, help my unbelief.

Have you ever had a breath prayer? If so what did the Lord lead you to pray? How did God change your life?