This will likely be one of my last Dressember posts. I may surprise you with a post-New Year's post (kind of like the new hat-see picture above- I got from my friend Carey as a "mistake" as it didn't fit my husband), but as of now, I'm not going to promise any more posts in December. I've found out that I'm not willing to give up certain things to blog (while working full-time). For instance, for those of you who know me at all, you know how much sleep I typically function well on (and it's at least an hour more than most of you!) and since I now have two children who essentially sleep through the night, I'm allowing myself to sleep for that amount of time, and thus it doesn't give me a lot of undistracted time to type on the computer as my morning times are spent with Jesus before my wee ones wake up ( a gift I hadn't had for about 18 months when my littlest was having a challenging time with sleep in general!) So enjoy what may be my last dress picture/post...with my most handsome hubby who really was a lot happier than his facial expression in this picture denotes.
And now on to the topic that's been on my heart for a while. Trials. We all go through them, the Bible promises them, and not only promises them but tells us to count trials as all joy. What? I've never really had a clear understanding of what that actually meant. I mean, I get that trials often cause us to lean of Jesus more, so that's a bonus. But joy? For the trial? I feel in the last month or so the Lord has allowed me to gain a little bit more of an understanding of trials and counting it all joy. 5 years ago, if you would have told me the trials I would face in the upcoming few years, I would have said a big NO THANK YOU! And likely walked away from some of the best blessings of my life. I'm not going to spell out the trials because I think we have a tendency to "compare" trials- saying things like, "well that's not a big deal, look what I'VE had to deal with", or "wow, I shouldn't even be the least troubled by my trial when they've had to endure that!". And I don't want the comparing to hinder what the Lord may want to teach you right now.
Let's just say the trials I've had were HARD, REALLY HARD for me. I've been thrown some loops I wasn't at all prepared for, in areas where I've had NO experience, at times when other trials hit hard simulataneously (refer to the 18 months of sleep challenges!). And there were times when I could only put one foot in front of the other, one minute at a time, even one second at a time. I got really good at pretending the knot in my stomach didn't exist while I preformed the necessary tasks of life. Often just when I needed it most, God would send someone to help me in some way. I remember a time when I was driving home with both boys by myself and it was past their bedtimes. Both were asleep, so I had to carry both into the house. My youngest was an infant and would need nursed and changed before I put him to bed and my oldest, who was a little over 2 at the time just wanted mommy to hold him. As I was opening up the door to go into the house, carrying my 2 year old (leaving the infant in the car for a moment), I suddenly smelled poop. I quickly realized the poop was on my arm, from an intense blow out from my 2 year olds diaper! I actually stopped for a second as I had to think about what to do first. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, my dearest friend and neighbor pulled into the driveway and got out and asked if I needed any help bringing the boys into the house. She hadn't known my plight, didn't know my infant was wailing in the car and I had a huge poopy mess with my tired and crying 2 year old. She had just stopped because she was driving by and "remembered how it was to get little ones into the house by yourself". What a blessing!
There were other times, though, when I didn't think I could make it another minute and none of the people who normally could give us a hand were around or able to help. And you know what? Those times were a blessing too. I realized that God was saying that He and I really could do this together and that when He was all I had, He was really all I needed. What a blessing!
The additional "joy" of trials that we have recently understood (we being my husband and I), is that when we go through a trial, we often get first-hand experience of how the enemy operates. We see the strategies, we see the causes, and we see the effects more clearly because we are living them! What if we realized that what the enemy has planned for our destruction can be flipped right on its head and all that is really happening is that we are gaining more and more insight into the enemy's schemes and therefore can be more equipped to fight and win and help others do the same. If we believe that the Cross and the resurrection actually means that death/evil/darkness has been defeated then we, as co-heirs with Christ in that victory, also have victory and power over that evil. So the next time we are faced with a trial that looks or seems overwhelming, we can begin to thank God for allowing us to see and experience the enemy's schemes, and trust in His promises that we are overcomers with Him. We can thank Him for giving us more tools to combat the enemy's schemes and equipping us to plow ground that others won't have to plow because of our experiences and resultant knowledge/understanding/equipping.
If you want to contribute to those fighting for those enslaved in human trafficking, click on the link on my Facebook post to donate! When they are freed and living for Christ, those that are now in chains and living through trials we can't imagine, will become some of the fiercest warriors in the Kingdom of God!
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