Digging Deep

Tonight I am writing with a heavy heart.  It seems that in our little corner of the world life has been heavy and hard lately.  Sadly teenagers do get diagnosed with cancer, sadly a young mother of twins goes home to be with Jesus after a shocking medical crisis, and sadly mental health issues are so real and pervasive that folks feel suicide is a viable option.

Cancer taught me that even though on this side of heaven tragedy and heartache do not make sense, but through it all our God is working always.  On this side of heaven we are not allowed to see the full picture of His "puzzle" we are only allowed to see individual pieces one at a time.

Hard times such as these remind me to dig deep.  To dig deep and remember this Earth is not our home.  Hebrews 13:14 reminds me that For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come. It is so easy to get cozy and comfy here in this Earth and this World, but we are only temporarily here and things that we collect and store up here  are nothing compared to what awaits us in heaven.

Hard times remind me to dig deep and to remember my purpose here.  My purpose according to Philippians 3:14 is to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.   I choose to take hard days like today and remember who I am in Christ and that my purpose here is to run my race well.  I want to use these heartaches to remind myself of the importance of God's Kingdom work and that our ultimate goal is to reach hearts and lives for Him.

So today I am sad.  I am really really sad.  I am heartbroken but I am using this sadness to remind me that God's kingdom work of loving my neighbor, serving the least and the lost, trying with all of my might to point our youth to Christ, and modeling a solid walk with God in my home for my own kids is more important than anything else on my to do list.  That is what I feel called to do and today reminded me that life is short and can change on a dime and I need to sharpen my focus on what God has called me to do.

This gal can tend to get sidetracked on silly stuff like social media and netflix.  I am going to take these tragedies to remind me that to run my race strong I need to push aside distractions and silliness and focus on God, my neighbors, my family, and our youth.

I know I have shared this song a million times but it is my life song.  I want my youth and my own kiddos to know that God is everything to me.  He has changed my life and changed my heart and I want the peace that I have for them too.  That peace that passes understanding holds true when you stand over a puke bucket with your sick cancer kid.  That peace holds true when at his birth you were told he would have a lifelong cognitive disability.  His peace holds true when young mothers die and teenagers are diagnosed with cancer. His peace is what makes this troubled world bearable.  Enjoy this song, say a prayer for those who are hurting and remember that our most important work is followng and serving the one True God!