Little Treasures

I'm so grateful for the love and concern of all those that keep asking how I am doing… and especially grateful for their prayers.  It's hard to give a simple answer of how I'm doing.  I have good days, not so good days, and hard days.  I'm never quite sure when I wake up in the morning how the day will go.

On good days, I'm full of energy, perky, and I get a lot of things done on my "to do" list.  On not so good days, I move slower and keep asking the Lord for fresh energy.  On hard days, I don't do much.  I read, pray, and take it easy......while wishing I had more strength and energy.  

It's not just physical - it's emotional too.  I have found grief to be a strange thing to deal with.  Amazingly I can often easily deal with "big" things that come along.  It's usually "little" things that bring a flood of tears my way.  It's always unexpected.

A few days ago I was doing some reading about grief, and learned that everything I'm experiencing is "normal."  That was good to know!  And everything I read said that what I need most is time.  I've actually felt encouraged by the Lord to just take things one-day-at-a-time.  I'm familiar with that - it's how I've survived the last few years.  It's trusting for day to day perseverance with whatever comes along.

I've found that God faithfully meets my needs in my weakness when I express my dependence on Him and my need of Him.  It keeps me connected to His heart of love for me.  It protects me from discouragement as I lean into Him and receive His grace.  It helps me face whatever the day has in store for me.  It helps me live an abundant life even when things around me feel lacking.  His meeting me in my weakness is every bit as much a miracle as the more dramatic things we pray for.  His power is truly made perfect in my weakness.  He's an awesome God.

Every once in a while I get little "treasures" that are so special....something someone sends me that I haven't seen before or telling me about something I didn't know about.  It's like a sweet kiss from the Lord to my heart.  So special!  One of those treasures is a sweet photo that I hadn't seen before.  I have posted it above.  It was taken in the late 1970s when we were at Heidebeek in Holland.  I think it was one of Dennis Fahringer's photos - he's my favorite all-time photographer!  We had lots of his photos, but I don't remember seeing this one before.  It brought sweet tears!

"To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!"  Jude 1:24,25

"But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."  2 Corinthians 12:9

"Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, thought the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights."  Habakkuk 3:17-19

I'm so grateful for God's help to enable me to make it through whatever kind of day I face!