The Quiet Place

Tonight as I sat in the light of my freshly decorated "halls", I couldn't help but think of all of the things that 2020 has brought (and has yet to bring!). This year has been quite the challenge to say the least. For me, 2020 has been year of great streching. God has pulled this clay of mine and folded it over and over again. This year God also brought me to my knees in humility, literally. Everyhting He did in me was SO needed! And I'm extreamly grateful for all of it. God's word says, " No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace  for those who have been trained by it. " (Hebrews 12:11). I'm grateful to now have a measure of experience in God's discipline. His discipline though painful at the time, has brought me SO MUCH JOY, PEACE, and fruit from His throneroom. I am a much better person today than I was before 2020, and I know that as I continue to yeild to God...

Your feelings don’t determine the divinity of a situation. Just because things seem difficult or aren’t what we expected or desired, doesn’t mean that they are not divinely ordered. Scripture says God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways. Rather the divinity of a situation is determined by God alone. When we stick near to Him, dwelling in His presence and hiding His word on our minds and hearts, that’s when He shares His secrets and plans with us. That’s how we are able to see with clear eyes if the circumstance we are in is God ordered. We don’t see through the eyes of emotions, rather we see with the eyes of the spirit of God, through knowing Him and His voice. The things of God are discerned through the knowing of God. Thus, we need not be thrown around by what we feel, rather we can overcome these emotions by seeing through the eyes of Christ, and knowing Him.  Blessed is she who believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her. 

Today I came across a post of Niagara Falls. It had me remembering how it was my frame of reference for waterfalls. Growing up I lived in a small town and didn’t have a lot of experience seeing waterfalls in person, but I had family who lived in Niagara Falls and we would often go to see the Falls when we went to visit them. I remember I was at Letchworth State Park with my Girl Scout troop and a Park Guide was taking us on a walk and showing us the waterfalls at the park. She asked us all if we had ever seen something so big and beautiful, to which I responded something to the effect of “That’s nothing! I’ve seen bigger falls for sure”. The tour guide was just about shocked and asked where I had seen a bigger waterfall. I then told her “Niagara Falls”. She responded with laughter and said something like “well of course this isn’t as big as Niagara Falls, that’s the biggest One!” I was surprised to hear that! I had absolutely NO IDEA that Niagara Falls was a wonder of the world. As I g...

Living in the midst of pandemic is hard.  Tonight the Lord led me to read about Noah. And it made me think so much. Yes, a pandemic is difficult to live through, but imagine being Noah! He was THE only man on the earth that found favor with God. Imagine how hard it was for him to stay encouraged and not give up and give in to the ways of his culture and surrounding world. Imagine how difficult it was for him to remain obedient in the face of such backlash! I often picture Noah being called crazy and being cruelly mocked for his ways, especially when building the ark. I couldn’t imagine going through that! It would be SO difficult!  Then, even after all of that, he finds himself in a situation so grieve - worthy. Living on an ark in a ridiculously long storm, with imaginably smelly animals, while knowing everyone (minus his wife and children and their wives (praise God!)) he’s ever prayed for, hoped for, loved, was being washed away in judgement. What a great sad silence it mus...

Tonight I opened my Bible App up to this verse image.  This tugged at my heart because I have been hearing the pull and yearning of God calling me back to himself. I so desire to pour more of myself and my time into Jesus. Yet, I see how I fill my time with tasks and entertainment day after day. I see myself struggling to give God my time and full attention. Yet my desire for intimacy with my creator increases, eventually this desire does pull me into Jesus and his word. I’m thankful for that. Today for the first time in awhile I opened up His words, the words of my God and spent a little time with him. I’m glad I did that but even that time was interrupted by a phone call. Sometimes I look at everything happening and I look at myself and I feel so imperfect. I feel guilty for not managing my time better, for not being better with my finances, and for not giving God the time that somewhere deep in my heart I truly do want to give him. I just wish I could handle it all perf...

A few days ago I was on the phone with my Dad and he informed me that I couldn't come home for Easter. Because my mom's job has her helping distribute food to the community during this pandemic, she is not able to have contact with anyone who lives outside of her house. Unfortunately, that means me too. My heart sank a little when I realized not only could I not visit with my family and little nieces and nephew, I also would be completely alone in an empty, mostly packed up house for Easter. I knew it wasn't the end of the world, I had spent Easter away from my family before, but it's never been like this, it's never been completely alone. The world has never been quite like this before at all. Shut down, silent, on pause. If that wasn't enough for you already, I'm also being required to move from a place I've been living for the last almost 6 years, during this crazy, and those logistics sometimes feel like something entirely else on its own. BUT this ...