Thankful Thursday

Yesterday evening our small group from church met. Most of the time we will go over Sunday's sermon in these meetings, but last night our Group Leader had questions prepared that he wanted the group to think about and answer.

The first question out of the box, "What good thing has God done in your life this week?"

I hate to admit it, but I thought to myself, nothing good going on in my life, please don't ask me. I've been thinking a lot about that since. My attitude, was bad (sinful) I was so focused on the circumstances around me that I wasn't seeing any good in my life...really?!

God is good, always, and even though our circumstances may not be to our liking, he will use them for his purposes and for our good. I know this, his word says so, and I have experienced it during other times of my life.

My circumstances aren't likely to change any time soon. I have a choice, I can focus on the storm swirling around me and eventually sink (remember Peter) or focus on Jesus who commands the storms, by his strength I will focus on Jesus.

Despite the stormy waters we are in right now there ARE many good things, mercies and grace moments that I am thankful for

• Sweet Lady continues to make slow but steady progress following her hip fracture. This week's x-ray didn't show any improvement but it didn't show any negative findings either. Therapy will continue and my friend will continue to help get her to those appointments.

• My own Doctors appointment went well this week. My PCP  finally feels things have turned around since my surgery more than five years ago, and I don't have to go back to see her for for three months.

• My son, has offered to sort and move furniture in my in-laws house while off on spring break. His willingness to give of his time has meant a lot.
• Warm days and flowering trees. There is something about being able to get outside and marvel at the beauty of spring that refreshes my soul. I brought sandwiches to the park close to my husband's work the other day and we were able to eat outside.
• I am thankful for my siblings that are doing what they can to help my parents. Mom celebrated her 85th birthday this week.
• My Bible Study Fellowship. It has required commitment and time, which I have struggled with from time to time, but what a blessing it has been to us. It has helped me to refocus on things eternal when I started getting sucked into the here and now. (we are studying Revelation)
• Finally I want to thank all of you that have prayed for me, I was so blessed and encouraged by the comments I received after my last post. I am thankful for this blogging community, for those that are willing to pray and encourage. This was an unexpected blessing when I started blogging five years ago. 

How about you, can you find the blessings amidst the difficulties of life, I know there are things you can be thankful for

Season of Change

When it first started I didn't think our season of change would last so long. It started when my husband lost his father and our grandchildren moved away. Each event impacted us in a different way.We grieved the loss of the closeness of the grands and felt the added responsibility of keeping closer tabs on my husbands mom. Now that she is gone, there are different responsibilities and EMOTIONS that wash over me like wave after wave, I'm often caught by surprise.

In the midst of all of this, my parents health has been failing. My dad has had two significant events in the last six months, the last one happened just a day after my mother in law passed away. Life has changed for them, which means life has changed for us. I want to fix it but can't. 

When I look at the situations around me it is easy for me to get anxious, to despair, to be depressed or to even get angry. Thats what happens when I focus on the here and now. Some days I'm so bombarded by events that it's hard to focus on anything else. We need to keep our focus on things eternal.

I don't believe there are random events in this life. I believe the Lord orchestrates everything. I believe he is sovereign. I believe he is good and that he uses all things for those that believe and are called for his good purposes. Seasons of change are so hard but I am continuing to learn to trust him. He has proven himself faithful again and again, he will be this time as well.

The comfort of holding a child

Happy days at the Garden

The Story Continues

I mentioned in my last post that there was a "bump in the road" in Sweet lady's recovery from her surgery. Days before we were scheduled to fly out to see our grandchildren, she had to be readmitted to the hospital and a second surgery done....we were devastated.

When things like this happen, I find myself looking for what God is doing, holding fast to Romans 8:28

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose"

That particular scripture, plus the belief I have that God is sovereign over all things gave me comfort. I knew that this did not come as a surprise to God and that he was going to use it for his purposes. Regardless tears were shed. My head knew truth but my heart was disappointed.

I questioned what the God was trying to teach me through it all, was it that I hold "my plans" with a clenched fist and I needed to release them. (I still like control) Would I be willing to do that? (in this case the plans were to see the Grands) It was tough, my husband and I talked about one staying home and the other going, but in the end we decided either both go or both stay home.

Sometimes God lets you see his purposes right way, sometimes you may never understand. I still don't understand the whys to all of this but there are good things I can report

We were home and able to take care of all the details, like getting her to doctor, getting her to the hospital she had her first surgery done at and talking to discharge planner at the hospital. We also were able to make plans about what would happen after she was discharged from hospital. 

We knew she would be well taken care of and the timing of the second surgery was such that we could be there for her and still go and see our Grands. (we made the decision to go hours before we were scheduled to leave) 

This is not the end of the story, Sweet Lady is still in the process of healing and there is going to be some recovery time, the future is uncertain, as it is for all of us. Taking one day at a time for now, holding on to Romans 8:28

Thankful Thursday

It's been another quiet blogging week for me. Life has been busy with routine things that needed to be done. Throw in a bad tooth and a misbehaving back and you get a quiet blogging week.

Things are settling down, back is better and tooth is *in process* Almost everything on my to do list for this week has been done, with the exception of Sweet Lady's laundry so thought it would be a great time to stop and reflect on the many things I have to be thankful for this week.

I had jury duty this month. In our region you are on call one day a week for a month. I found out I had to go in one day this week.  I really didn't want to do it, my tooth was bothering me as was my back. I called and found out I could have gotten excused but was informed, I would have to serve again another month this summer. I decided to go in. I was there long enough to go through orientation and see the video, we were then told we were free to go home there was no longer going to be a trial. Because I went in, it counted as service. This was a huge blessing

I was able to get a physical therapy appointment on short notice. He was able to figure out why I was in such pain with my back and correct the problem.

We had youngsters in the house for a couple of days. It has been so much fun interacting with these little boys.  Their family has been part of our Care Group. They are moving out of the area and have blessed us with staying in our home during their "pack out"

New recipes for our winter CSA

I was able to get an earlier appointment for the tooth that has been driving me to distraction. The last week or so has been bad. Again I am thankful for the kind staff and compassionate dentists that were willing to *work me in* I was originally scheduled for the 3rd of February. This has been a long process and it's going to take several more months before we can call it done.*Expect to see more soup and smoothie recipes in the future* Just sayin!

A harder week than most, and I could easily focus on how bad this week has been. But in the midst of all of it I can see God's mercies, and grace. I can see how he worked out many of the details in the difficulties and how gave us little gifts along the way in the form of laughter and phone calls from loved ones far away.

Life is hard sometimes and it's easy to get swept away in it all, it's easy to get discouraged, believe me I've been there a few times this week, but I belong to him and I know he is working good in my life through my circumstances.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those, who love him, who have been called according to his purposes Romans 8:28

I believe this to be true