How often does God answer a specific prayer and you rejoice over it? Maybe your excitement bubbles into a desire to tell everyone you know of the amazing work of God in your life by answering that prayer. How many times have you faced something big and suddenly your faith-o-meter plummets?
 
“This is impossible,” you may think.... Of course, we know God will never fail us, but even if we do not directly admit it to ourselves, our thought patterns can reflect this false belief. It is easy to grow discouraged. What can we do to avoid this pitfall? Remember.

The secret of life
Is letting go.
The secret of love
Is letting it show
In all that I do,
In all that I say,
Right here in this moment.
 
The power of prayer
Is in a humble cry.
The power of change
Is in [yielding] my life
And laying it down,
Down at Your feet,
Right here in this moment.
 
This songwriter beautifully, truthfully captures the secret to Christian living. It applies to all of us across the spectrum of life—young and old, women and men, followers and leaders, daughters, mothers, sisters, wives. Amy Carmichael puts it this way:
 
But all through life I see a cross,
Where sons of God yield up their breath.
There is no gain except by loss;
There is no life except by death.
 
What does surrender to God ultimately mean? What concepts does it carry into our lives as we seek to walk it every day? It’s helpful to lay groundwork at the start of our discussion. Please muse with me for a moment. Read slowly and ponder.

“Stop!! There's a car coming!” I cried out impulsively, as we started to accelerate after a stop sign at a highway intersection. A car, fast approaching at highway speeds, was less than 120 feet away and headed straight toward our vehicle. In that millisecond, I knew there was scarcely time for our vehicle to stop before we were completely in the lane of the incoming car, and a t-bone collision was inevitable.
  
As I sensed the oncoming wreck, I knew—without a shadow of a doubt—this would be it. We have had close calls in our travels before, from which God had always so mercifully delivered us—but this time, I felt so keenly it was too close to be a “close call”—it would be “the call” for me to go Home.

Recently, our family had the opportunity to volunteer at a pioneer festival.  After our “shift” was over, we walked around to see the different skills being demonstrated.  Because our son is fascinated with blacksmith work, we spent an extended period of time at the blacksmith shop.
   
​As we approached his work area, we noticed several items on his table in front of us.  There were nails, fancy hooks, knives, hammers, as well as many other useful items.  Even though the items were all for different uses, and were each uniquely made, they each bore a resemblance about them to which one could notice the special touch of their maker’s hand.  

"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes."
Psalm 119:71

Trials. That simple word brings to your mind something real and personal that you have walked through in the past or are currently experiencing right now. Whether your trial is acknowledged by many who know you or remains private to you and the Lord, you know what that trial is, for "every heart knows its own bitterness" (Proverbs 14:10).

“Ah, what a mercy that it is not
your hold of Christ that saves you,
but His hold of you! What a sweet fact
that it is not how you grasp His hand,
but His grasp of yours that saves you.”
 
“Trust all your concerns with Him
Who can never be taken from thee,
Who will never leave thee, and
Who will never let thee leave Him.”
~Charles Spurgeon~

My Dear Sisters,

Earlier this year, I was asked to share at a ladies’ retreat. I felt very honored, but I also felt overwhelmed. Last year was hard, and to be honest, I felt inadequate to talk about having a heart of trust and surrender and contentment…because I knew that these were areas that I needed to grow in.

However, as I prayed about this opportunity, the Lord reminded me that we will never “arrive,” and through my own journey, He has graciously given me so much truth and encouragement from His Word to strengthen my heart and renew my focus…why would I not pass along that encouragement to my sisters in Christ?!

​This article is simply my notes in written form. Truly, it is not about me or anyone else “having it all together,” but about leaning on the Author and Finisher of our faith. You see, Christ wants to live His life through us. Understanding this truth has given me so much peace and victory, because it reminds me to depend on His strength instead of my own. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Himself for me.”—Galatians 2:20 My prayer is that the things God has been teaching me would encourage you and point you to Christ…not because of who I am, but because of Who He is.

An accident. A cancer diagnosis. A terminal illness. A miscarriage or child born prematurely. It pains our hearts to see our friends, neighbors, and church family hurting from medical crises. We want to help lift their burdens, but it can be difficult to know how best to help. Sometimes it is difficult to find ways to help because we don’t really understand what they are going through or we don’t know what the person or family needs. Sometimes we might even wonder if our efforts to help are truly helpful. Though each crisis and each family’s experience is different, there are many things you can do to help these hurting people regardless of the specifics of their situation. Through my own family’s experiences with medical crises and my nursing training, I would like to share with you some thoughts and practical ideas to empower you to effectively meet the needs of those in medical crisis around you. 

Sometime ago, the Lord impressed upon me how wonderful it would be to spend a whole day focused on Him. Life is so busy. I make time for eating, sleeping, exercising, even shopping and vacations. But could I take a whole day off from my normal responsibilities and focus totally on the Lord?
​
I told my family about the idea and they were very excited. It occurred to them, that if I was very sick for a day, they would all manage without me. They liked the idea so much, they even offered to deliver meals and snacks upstairs to my bedroom!

Sigh! Do you have the habit of allowing sighs to escape your lips throughout the day? Have you ever thought to consider that little gesture? Most of the time they transpire without our realizing. I was convicted about sighs recently and would like to share with you what the Lord revealed to me. Are they only harmless little puffs of air?
   
​What type of sigh do you utter?