This month is a month of one-year anniversaries for us. One year since I felt like my world fell apart. One year since I started walking through this dark providence. One year since God rescued me. One year since we experienced our quick and traumatic move to America. One year since saying good-bye to dear friends. One year of being a single mom. I have cried more during this past year than I ever thought possible. But I was thinking recently, that rather than marking my days of sorrow, I should rather mark them under God's grace. Afterall, I have one year of seeing God's faithfulness. One year of the comfort of the Holy Spirit being poured out in ways I had never known were possible before. I have more than 365 mornings that God has literally lifted me out of bed and set me on my feet. He has pushed me through every day, seen every tear, provided for every single need, given me every ounce of strength needed. And not only that, he has given us a measure of healing. Restored some joy. We have seen, especially in the last month or so, the sun start to peek out again. He has allowed my trauma brain fog to be lifted and a measure of restored hope that I will indeed "look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." (Psalm 27) I've come to the conclusion that marking God's time is more beneficial than marking my own days of sorrow. It encourages me keep the eyes of faith which see God and say, "He is enough." This picture is from the Entebbe airport parking lot. The big kids and I were struggling with a broken suitcase and weighing the luggage. And in that moment, the littles were struggling with broken hearts and the weight of all that was happening. But when I looked over at them, I knew that one day they'd be okay because in their own personal desperation, they had dug out their Bibles from their backpacks and were soaking in the Psalms while they sat waiting for us to finish.
One year later, I can say that God has never failed us. No, not once. The pain has been intense, but so has his love. I have one more big day that is coming that I'm still struggling to see my way through: May 27 --what would have been my 20th wedding anniversary. I'm asking that you please pray for strength to walk through it, that I'll keep my eyes on Christ, and that God will wrap his arms around me on that day, just as he has done so many times this past year. I have also seen this past year how he has continually used the prayers and love of his people to minister to my heart and this upcoming day just feels like a big one right now that I need a lot of prayer for. So thank you! "The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him, he also hears their cry and saves him." Psalm 145:18-19.
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Whew...has a whole month passed since I've posted? This past month I've been enjoying time with the kids and getting things done around the house and still pushing on with my grad school work. God has blessed us with many moments of joy and hope this past month. Here is a smattering of pictures. The kids loved me enough to dress up for Easter still this year. I am so blessed by this crew. We are really enjoying the warmer weather. No need for heating or airconditioning and we eat supper outside almost every night. We've also planted flowers and a garden. It's been refreshing. Talitha got another hamster. Sadly, her other one managed to escape. This is Hamlet. He's pretty cute! My parents have been kind to let us come hang out at the lake. The water is just starting to get warm enough for me, but the little boys have been in for a while. We got Louisa May a life jacket and have been slowly coaxing her into swimming. The kids have a goal of getting her to jump off the dock wth them. Yesterday was our last day of school for the 2019-2020 school year. It's been a CRAZY year, but I am so thankful that I can honestly say we had a strong finish of the year and after our rough start and our "real school" detour things got so much better. While I know we'll enjoy our summer break, I'm really looking forward to next year and am already mentally planning and getting excited about the future. When I think about where I was when we started this past year, I consider the fact that I can say that to be nothing short of the grace of God. Thank you to everyone who continues to pray for us...particularly as we move through a month of difficult anniversaries. We really do see God wrapping us up in his arms and we would covet your continued prayers to that end.
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Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 Archives
August 2020
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