WOW! That one word pretty much sums up the last seven days. As many of you know, my sisters and I were treated - yet, again - by our mother, to a cruise. One week ago today I flew into Ft. Lauderdale, and today I am flying back home. But I will be returning to Texas with a wealth of new memories, new pictures in my camera and in my mind of places I never thought I would see, and new friends that I probably will never have the joy of meeting again, but friends that have added to my joy!
I can't write very much right now, but I do want to share a video of just one of the entertainers that was on the ship with us. What a thrill to see Nicole Mullen up close and personal...she is so tiny!! But what a powerhouse! Here she is, singing a song she wrote after reading the book of Job...
WOW, indeed! We LOVE that song at our house. Keri sang it in church a couple years ago and now everytime I hear it on the radio, I sing with it - and end up in tears! So glad you had a great time on the cruise. I can't wait to hear all about it from Mom and Grandma. Love to You! Kathie
Oh, Kathie, it gives me goose bumps when I think back to when we heard her perform it LIVE!!! And to be surrounded by 900 other women, all declaring that we know our Redeemer lives!!! It was a little taste of heaven here on earth! Love you!!!!!
It makes me smile to see you and your sisters and your mom having such a wonderful time.I'm sure your dad was smiling proudly as well shouting thats my family.I know he wished he could have been there with you all and indirectly he was because you are all reminded of him each time you get together because just like your Heavenly Father watches over us your dad is till doing the same. Isn't it great to be a Christian Family Henry
Thanks, Henry...your words are so true! I'm sure each one of us, in our own way, was thinking of our Dad. He taught us many things, and at the top of the list was the importance of family. He always made sure we had wonderful family times together...and his legacy continues! It truly was a special time for the four of us!
I am a middle-aged woman born and raised in Michigan. I attended college in Chicago, Illinois where I spent many years trying to determine the course my life would take. Just when I thought I had everything all mapped out, God taught me an invaluable lesson...I AM NOT IN CONTROL!!! My life has been an interesting roller coaster ride - packed full of amazing highs and devastating lows - and just enough twists and turns to remind me of the One who is not only my Savior but also my Shepherd. Because of Him, this white-knuckled,breath-taking journey called life is also filled with His peace and presence and faithfulness!!! Come and join me on my journey...
One thing we may be sure of, however: For the believer all pain has meaning; all adversity is profitable. There is no question that adversity is difficult. It usually takes us by surprise and seems to strike where we are most vulnerable. To us it often appears completely senseless and irrational, but to God none of it is either senseless or irrational. He has a purpose in every pain He brings or allows in our lives. We can be sure that in some way He intends it for our profit and His glory. --Jerry Bridges
God is doing a greater work in us, and that can only come as we learn to trust Him no matter how dark the days and sleepless the nights. And it is only as we have been through the darkness with Him that what we know with our heads slides down into our hearts, and our hearts no longer demand answers. The “Why?” becomes unimportant when we believe that God can and will redeem the pain for our good and his glory. . . . When I put the sovereignty of God beside His unfailing love, my heart can rest. --Verdell Davis
Our circumstances are not an accurate reflection of God's goodness. Whether life is good or bad, God's goodness, rooted in His character, is the same. --Helen Grace Lescheid
All of us have wondered at times why God doesn't do more to fix our problems. But our human eyes often fail to see that God isn't rushing to change our circumstances because he is concerned with a much more serious problem -- our character. While you struggle with the woes of this world, God's main occupation is preparing you for the world to come. The focus of what God is doing in your life takes place in you, not around you. --Andy Stanley, in "Like A Rock"
There is no circumstance, no trouble, no testing, that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment. But I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart. --Alan Redpath
The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this: irritations get into his shell . . . . and when he cannot get rid of them, he uses the irritations to do the loveliest thing an oyster ever has the chance to do. If there are irritations in our lives today, there is only prescription: make a pearl . . . . And it takes faith and love to do it. --Harry Emerson Fosdick
What a difference it makes when a trial comes, to see in it not the hand of an avenger, but the loving discipline of a father and the gentle admonition of a mother! God would not have us feel even the shadow of His anger. Judgment hardens the spirit and God never wants to break the spirit of His obedient child, but to win us by His love and transform us by the gentleness. Beloved, let us ever look upon our trials in the tender light of the Father’s love. It is not the token of His displeasure, but the very pledge of His jealous love, a love so inexorable that it will not let us miss His holiest and best. --A. B. Simpson
4 comments:
WOW, indeed! We LOVE that song at our house. Keri sang it in church a couple years ago and now everytime I hear it on the radio, I sing with it - and end up in tears! So glad you had a great time on the cruise. I can't wait to hear all about it from Mom and Grandma. Love to You!
Kathie
Oh, Kathie, it gives me goose bumps when I think back to when we heard her perform it LIVE!!! And to be surrounded by 900 other women, all declaring that we know our Redeemer lives!!! It was a little taste of heaven here on earth! Love you!!!!!
It makes me smile to see you and your sisters and your mom having such a wonderful time.I'm sure your dad was smiling proudly as well shouting thats my family.I know he wished he could have been there with you all and indirectly he was because you are all reminded of him each time you get together because just like your Heavenly Father watches over us your dad is till doing the same.
Isn't it great to be a Christian Family
Henry
Thanks, Henry...your words are so true! I'm sure each one of us, in our own way, was thinking of our Dad. He taught us many things, and at the top of the list was the importance of family. He always made sure we had wonderful family times together...and his legacy continues! It truly was a special time for the four of us!
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