​Growing up, my parents modeled caring for family members so well. My paternal grandmother lived with my parents for a time in the late ‘60s (before I was born), and my mom and aunt cared for my maternal grandmother toward the end of her life in 1991. Even as a family that was mostly non-religious, they taught me that caring for elderly parents was important and valued. The elderly are God’s image-bearers, and he tells us in Exodus 20:12 to, “Honor your father and mother that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”
 
In 1996 I was helping to care for my own mother as she unsuccessfully battled ovarian cancer. And now 27 years later, my dad is living with us as he battles dementia. It’s a legacy that I’m thankful for and that God has used to teach me about myself and him.
 
My dad has been with us for a year and a half now. Nothing (except maybe motherhood) has exposed my sin and weakness like this.
 
Many times, I’ve relied on the comfort that being in control has provided. I’ve had to learn to relinquish my control where my dad’s dementia is concerned. Flexibility and patience have helped to communicate love and care to him when words sometimes can’t.  
 
Time constraints and expectations I’ve put on myself (and my dad) have only led to frustration, resentment, and angry exchanges. I’ve had to learn to embrace his limitations. I’ve had to understand that I don’t always have to be right. I’ve had to enter into his reality and be okay that he’s telling me something for 10th time or something I know isn’t accurate.
 
The only way I’ve been able to do this is with God’s help. Seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? Being an only child, I knew that my dad was my responsibility, and I felt like I needed to carry all of it by myself.  
 
One morning God impressed upon me that I couldn’t continue to do this without him and asking for his help occasionally wasn’t enough. I started asking God to “give me what I need for THIS part of my day.” As I’ve done this, my trust in God has grown and he has increased my joy!
 
Caring for parents towards the end of their lives is a great privilege. It’s messy, wonderful, surprising, tiring, and humbling. It honors God and our parents. It changes us for the better.

Recently a woman at PCC told me she never feels like she fits in. This would have been less surprising to me had she not been someone who seems to have so many friends – in fact, someone who so many want to call friend. This caused me to reflect on how often I hear women say they feel like they don’t belong. I imagine that social media plays into our feelings of exclusion – the pictures of parties and gatherings to which we weren’t invited, or the BFF who we thought was our BFF with someone else. But long before Facebook or Instagram tempted us to portray ourselves as part of the in-crowd, people felt like they didn’t fit in.
 
Fitting in is something that I’ve struggled with as well. A few years ago, I, in a small group meeting attempted to answer an ice-breaker about high school years. I shuddered. For me, they were years that had left me a bit scarred. The others in the group, however, had assumed that I had been one of the popular kids, probably home-coming queen and a cheerleader. NOTHING could have been further from the truth. And even now as a believer many years later, I struggle with coming to an event on my own. I worry about who I will talk with at half-time on a Sunday morning, and I can feel left out of the social hubbub I’m convinced everyone else is enjoying on a Friday night.

I’m starting to understand, though, that I’m not the only one who feels like she doesn’t fit in. It’s in all of us – perhaps that’s the appeal of social media, posting in order to prove to ourselves more than anyone else that we do fit in, that we have a place in this world. But that, too, is a lie. We are actually strangers and aliens in this world. We are a people who don’t fit in with the prevailing spirit of the age; Instead, the Lord has made us a people who become aware of our own inadequacies and thus more thoroughly dependent on His sufficiency. He’s made us a people who long for justice in a world where it feels too often denied. He’s the One who sovereignly allows our sufferings so that we can enjoy the fellowship of His suffering, all the while growing in compassionate care for other sufferers.

No matter our earthly circumstances, well-off or poor, healthy or sick, mentally ill or relatively stable, educated or illiterate, in Christ we have been grafted into an eternal family where we unequivocally belong. And once in, we won’t get kicked out. There are no losers in the Body of Christ. None. The Lord is preparing for each one of His own a crown of unfading glory. (1 Peter 5:4) He has clothed [us] with the garments of salvation; he has covered [us] with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” (Is 61.10) He has given us the wedding garments which guarantee us a place at His table, the ultimate invitation. We have a guaranteed reservation for the new heavens and new earth where we’ll know, without any more doubt, that we belong.

In her book, Confronting Christianity, Rebecca McLaughlin takes on the task of addressing 12 difficult cultural questions that many around us, including those inside the church, are asking. She does not shy away from the hard questions but instead responds to them in a biblically centric, intellectually thoughtful, and compassionate way. I found this book extremely helpful, and I am confident that many others will as well.  In this short review I want to offer three reasons why you should consider reading this book and two ways that you could use it this year to engage with our prayer and action goals.  
 
First, you should consider reading this book for your own edification. As I was reading, I was so challenged and encouraged by the thorough treatment of each topic. Her thoughts are not reductionist or dismissive. She validates the impulse of each thought and then carefully addresses the flaws that exist in each argument and presents the answers that the gospel provides. I was particularly helped by her chapters addressing the denigration of women and homophobia. My love for Christ abounded as I saw his love for his image bearers and his desire for our good. You too will find many causes to be stretched and grown in these chapters. 
 
Secondly, you should consider reading this book to stir compassion in your hearts towards those who do not yet know Christ. I find that many Christians harbor more contempt than compassion for sinners…especially those who do not outwardly conform to a worldview that only Christ can truly enliven. We are quick to forget that our worldview is a gift and our obedience to the gospel is empowered by the work of the Holy Spirit and not by personal wisdom. This book helps us see “those other people” with compassionate hearts. This was especially true for me when Rebecca shared her own story in the chapter addressing homosexuality. When I see a person I respect wrestle with the Scripture in the way that she does it reminds me of the cost of discipleship. Obedience at the heart level is not easy and we are all prone to create narratives and worldviews that support our desires. Reading this book will help us love those who are wrestling as well as those who are in bondage to other worldviews, for the sake of their desires, in a more compassionate way.
 
Third, and lastly, you should consider reading this book to help you engage your “neighbor” in a more compelling way, prepared to bring the hope of the gospel as you engage with them over their felt needs and values. Often, we don’t engage because we don’t feel prepared. This usually fleshes out in two ways. The first is total disengagement. We want to bring the gospel to others, but we don’t know how to address their felt needs and worldview. The second is to say our beliefs louder and stronger from a distance (social media anyone?). We want people to know the truth but we are afraid to engage them face-to-face, so we launch truths from a distance. No matter where on that spectrum you fall, this book is helpful! It gives you tools for engagement and also reminds you that you do not have to know everything to start a conversation with someone who thinks differently than you. More importantly, it stirs your affections for Christ and for sinners in a way that makes you want to engage where you may not have previously held that desire.  

Now that you are completely convinced that you should read Confronting Christianity, let me offer two suggestions on how you can use it to engage with our prayer and action goals for the year. First, you can use this book to Equip you for the work of the gospel. Gather a small group of women, a few couples or someone you are discipling and read this book together. Be prepared to share about how the content is challenging you and receive help in growing in your ability to love the non-believers in your life better. This would also be a great resource to use to Engage in our community! Do you have some skeptical, thoughtful, curious friends who would be interested in reading this book with you? Ask them to grab coffee once a month for the next year and cover 1-2 chapters. Who knows how the LORD will use those conversations in the lives of those people!  
 
This is a thoughtful, engaging and sound resource that I highly recommend for anyone who wants to engage the cultural beliefs in a compassionate and helpful way…and even if you don’t want to do that, it is likely that the Holy Spirit could use this book to change your mind!

​Women’s ministry hosted the most delightful autumn Firepit evening. The weather was crisp which made the fire all the more delightful. The steaming crockpots of chili, soft cornbread and good cookies made everything welcoming. There were three speakers, who each told stories of their experiences engaging with Buddhist friends and family. Their stories of their personal encounters with truth - head truth and heart truth, were engaging. 

As I headed home, I felt a strange sadness about all that I had heard. I turned off the car radio and drove in silence, kind of asking the Lord why I was feeling sad after such a refreshing evening. The thing was, each of the women, in very different ways, had shared an encounter with the Lord that was visceral, and tangible. One of the women shared how she had a time in her life when she was seeking God to show her that her faith had truly moved from cognitive understanding to her heart. She had gone to sit by a quiet dirty pond she had frequented because she knew no one would bother her there because no one liked that pond. She stayed there for hours until the moment came when God showed up and she knew in her heart that her belief was not just mental assent. So she got up and went home.  

Another woman shared how she was awakened in the morning with a dream of an ugly evil face – right in her face. She described how it wasn’t so much the frightening face, but the utter darkness and blackness behind the face that overwhelmed her. The depth of blackness and the abyss behind the darkness was so deep. She spoke with intensity about the expansive dark. 

The last story was about a conversation the speaker had with a friend who was seeking to know God. He was a bird watcher who was bragging about the multitude of varieties in the area. He did lament that even though there were owls in the area, he had only ever seen one a long time ago. The speaker said that she whispered a plea to God and then told her friend that she would pray to her God and ask for an owl to show up.  She did just that, out loud, with her friend. They rounded a corner in the park where they were walking and there sat two owls on a wall!!   Not one, but two. Oh my, God did show off a bit.

​So why did this all end up making me sad as I drove home? Was it spiritual envy? Did I need something special like that from God?

And then just as clearly as you please, I heard my heavenly Father say to me, "And if I don't show up with special encounters, am I enough? Is knowing me enough?"

The rest of the way home, I told Him that dirty ponds, deep darkness and two owls was plenty!

I would give this book an unequivocal thumbs up as a thoughtful balanced look at the subject of social justice.  Thaddeus Williams, while a white male, himself, is a close friend of John Perkins, a black leader, with whom he has discussed and worked through so many of the ideas in this book. That kind of Christian cooperation and community makes what is written more authentic and honest.

Williams begins by stating that “the gospel is the foundation for social justice.” Social justice, like any other value can be approached from a Christian or a secular world view. When Williams tackles the hot topics of racism, sexuality, socialism, abortion, critical theory and identity politics, he argues that while social justice is not the gospel, it is not optional for Christians.  Williams also affirms that the starting place for doing justice must be worship.

But what kind of social justice?

For the believer, justice is not just for justice’s sake, it is for redemption, reconciliation, and restoration. Like love – it’s an action verb. “DO JUSTICE.”

From the outset, Williams defines social justice in two categories – Social Justice A and Social Justice B. These categories help throughout the rest of the book. When Antifa and the American Nazi Party both consider themselves to be seeking social justice, we can agree that this is not what we’re seeking! So what are we seeking and what are the boundaries?

Williams organizes this book with 12 questions under four categories:

1. Social justice and worship
2. Social justice and community
3. Social justice and salvation
4. Social justice and knowledge

His nuanced graciousness combined with unbiased truth-telling enables him to navigate this minefield of contemporary opinion, questions and tension even in the believing community.
 
Not one of us is ever going to say, “I’m anti-justice.” So what divides us?

Williams believes that social justice is both biblically required and socially necessary. But he also believes it’s “threatened by an unhealthy imitation that’s biblically false and socially destructive. The former he calls “Social Justice A” (as in “awesome”) and the latter “Social Justice B” (as in “bad”). “ 
 
Perhaps Williams’s greatest contribution is to remind us that justice is vertical as well as horizontal – it is practiced in worship and in community.
 
Social Justice A sees human identity as fundamentally either fallen in Adam or redeemed in Christ. Because we’re saved by grace alone, we have no room for self-righteous boasting over any other person, regardless of race, class, or gender. Because our fellow men are made in God’s image, it’s a heinous sin to wrong or oppress any of them. This is why practitioners of Social Justice A have historically rescued babies from trash heaps, hidden Jews from Nazis, and abolished slavery and widow-burning—because “God does not suggest, he commands that we do justice.”

Social Justice B, however, is what many people think of first. It leans to the left in the academy and the arts, political activism and the Black Lives Matter movement. It’s a philosophy Williams thinks is dangerous both for the church and society. 

It’s not that Social Justice B contains no truth, but that it represents a different worldview. God is often marginal or absent. Rather than understanding human beings fundamentally as either sinners in Adam or saints in Christ, it tends to classify people as either oppressed or oppressors (44), often allowing the oppressed to demonize their opponents and avoid self-examination.
 
Scripture recognizes that oppression exists, and strongly condemns it. The problem with Social Justice B is that it tends to both unduly expand and oversimplify the definition of oppression. Specifically, it oversimplifies oppression by grouping people into the oppressor/oppressed category based on identity groups like race. A more thoughtful perspective would be to recognize it’s possible for the same person to be both oppressed and oppressor.
 
Williams continues not only to admonish us to start with God and worship, but he also reminds us that we are all in the Imago Dei. “Size, shade, sex or status,” –all in the image of God. If we either exalt these things above God, or seek to destroy them, we are making idols out of them. “Idolatry then, is the first injustice and the carcinogenic source of every other injustice.” (pg.22).

Does our vision of social justice make an idol out of our social beliefs and ideologies? Williams looks at the things we make as our idols in our discussion of social justice.

1. Idols on the right: stuff, solitude, sky (going to heaven) status quo, security/safety
2. Idols on the left: oppressed and poor, political correctness (cancel culture), gender theory, CRT.

“The comparison with When Helping Hurts is a good place to conclude. Like Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, Thaddeus Williams loves the oppressed and wants to help them. He appreciates the good intentions of many Christians trying to fulfill the biblical mandate to do justice. But that is precisely why, like Corbett and Fikkert, he feels compelled to oppose so much of what flies under the banner of social justice. He’s convinced that not only will it not help the oppressed, but it will consume limited time and resources that could have been spent alleviating oppression. “Is it possible that the Social Justice B story can have an unintended dream-crushing effect on the very communities it seeks to uplift?  So first, let’s do no harm; the only thing worse than hurting the oppressed is doing so in the name of Jesus. Let’s work smart at doing justice as well as working hard. Let us be quick to hear, slow to speak, and cultivate a love that hopes all things. And in all our justice, let us “start with God.” Because as Dr. Perkins observes, “If we don’t start with him first, whatever we’re seeking, it ain’t justice” (xv).

This brief, readable and to-the-point book answers the questions that those who are wrestling with “deconstruction” most often cite. Before You Lose Your Faith may, however, prove far more helpful to those who are engaging with those who are wrestling with their faith. In ten short chapters on how the Bible and the Church respond or have responded to the issues in this book, the believing reader takes away far more than talking points to combat the untruths that draw someone away from the faith. Rather, this book provides the truths about Christianity which combat secular untruths about the faith. Including chapters on everything from LGBTQ+ questions (Sex: Telling a Better Story) to the issues brought up through Googling answers to your struggles with Christianity (Internet: Deconstructing Faith Online) and from science as worldview (Science: Why Scientism Can’t Explain Morality or Reality) to the idea some have that biblical Christianity is only for the uneducated (Anti-Intellectualism: We Must Ask Hard Questions), along with chapters on racism in the church, tough questions about Hell and still other stumbling block issues, this book makes for relevant reading.  

As I read, there were times I was challenged to look at an issue from a different perspective from one I hold. At other points, I felt spurred on to engage with winsomeness and love those who hold contrary viewpoints from my own. Particularly encouraging to my own soul were the authors’ reminders to dig deeply into the 2000-year history of the Church and to take my own doubts back to a God who, by His Holy Spirit, is ready and able to answer my questions through His Word.

Since living in this world as a Christian comes with challenges and hardships, the contributors (each chapter is written by a different author) address some of the unspoken doubts and fears, as well as the lies of the surrounding culture, we all must deal with if we’re to live honestly and fruitfully in this fallen world. Whether you turn to this book as a ready resource, as preparation for honest conversation with deconstructing friends or simply to shore up your own faith, you won’t be disappointed.

I absolutely loved reading Secular Creed by Rebecca McLaughlin! She writes in an easy to read style without compromising the significance or depth of her research. Secular Creed dives into five contemporary claims (Black Lives Matter, Love is Love, The Gay-Rights Movement is the New Civil-Rights Movement, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, and Transgender Women are Women) and unpacks each of their meaning, their history, their heart/significance for our culture, and the biblical truth that speaks to each of these claims. I appreciate that she did not necessarily give prescriptive “this is how believers should respond when someone says ‘love is love’…” but rather she reminds believers that God is love and all humans are made in his image. She allows (and hopes) the truth of scripture will root us in His love and determine our responses to these claims in a way that is honoring to God and to his image bearers. 

This is a book I would recommend to anyone who is hoping to learn and understand more about these five claims and their impact on the world around us, regardless whether they are in these types of conversations or not. This book is a helpful research tool to understanding our neighbors and communities at large and its thought-provoking content can help us engage in these conversations in an educated and biblical manner.  Even if someone is not in a space where these conversations are happening actively and passionately, this book is a quick read to better understand and be equipped for the possibility of those conversations.

I personally am not close with anyone who has made any of these claims to me, or at least not close enough to really engage and wrestle with them through them; but I felt like this book was so helpful for me in that! Since I am not in those spaces currently, I don’t have anyone to bring forth an opposing viewpoint or challenge a biblical assertion (i.e. where does the Bible say that, etc.). Yet, McLaughlin’s research helped me see the support that people use to back these claims. And while she continues to point to various logical holes in their claims and the biblical truth that refutes or undermines their argument, she does so in a way that helps the reader grow in compassion rather than confusion and frustration for those who stand whole-heartedly by these claims. 

When I was in 5th grade, I tripped over a low-hanging chain link fence – about six inches off the ground – and fell in front of the entire playground. It was an embarrassing moment, but instead of acknowledging the moment and moving on, I felt shamed. Other equally minor moments of shaming have amplified and reinforced that moment on the playground, but until recently, I’ve never been able to tell anyone about those, admittedly, incredibly minor incidents.

There are many other incidents and situations from my adult life that have been far more shameful and some for which I should be ashamed! But I was able to talk about them. I had to talk about them, or I would have died inside. The Lord, who came to cover my guilt and shame, worked to make sure I knew that the big stuff that resulted in guilt and shame was covered. But I never brought Him the little stuff that had built up from childhood. And the thing about shame is, that the longer we take to share our story, the tighter shame’s grip has on our hearts and with each passing day, the feeling of shame only grows and becomes bigger and scarier to reveal, no matter how ridiculous that might seem to others.

Shame is different from guilt. Guilt uses courtroom imagery before the Judge while shame comes upon us in the public square. When I am guilty, only the eyes of the Judge who declares me innocent matters; but when I’ve been shamed, it feels like everyone knows it. In our guilt we are legally liable and need salvation, forgiveness, and cleansing; in our shame, we need forgiveness and cleansing, but we also need to be included and invited back into the community. Guilt names our sin and begs forgiveness; shame, rather, becomes our very identity and needs to be renamed.

A perfect example of this comes from Hosea. When two of Hosea’s children are born, the Lord tells him to name his daughter “No Mercy” and to name His son “Not My People.” He names them as outcasts, disobedient and disinherited lawbreakers, representing the flagrant apostasy of Israel. But God does not leave it there. He calls them back through the promise to rename them “Children of the Living God” (1:10), You are my people and You have received mercy (2:1). Shame needs to be renamed.

The truth is that the Lord covered both my guilt and my shame many years ago. I no longer walk as one naked and exposed to the mocking crowd, but instead have a robe of righteousness, a robe of priestly garments, and carry the name of Beloved Daughter. Learning to walk in that reality, however, has been a process. Yet God delights to uncover what we have hidden, and not for the purpose of humiliation, but for the purpose of redemption. Our part in the process is to share the stories of shame and guilt, so that we can also share the stories of God’s healing. The Lord calls us not only to walk in the His Light (John 8:12). but to be lights of the world ourselves (Matt 5:14).

I hope you can trust the One who knows all your stories, the painful ones as well as the joy-filled ones, enough to share with another believer those things which have caused you to hide. There’s freedom in speaking the stories because in so doing we drain the power of the lies the devil has held over us and learn to walk in the freedom Christ died to give us.

*(this blog was written as the devotion for the Women’s Ministry field trip to the Gloucester Daffodil Festival)

Daffodils and daffodil festivals remind me of Williams Wordsworth’s poem:
 
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
 
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
 
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
 
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
 
“The true, the beautiful and the good.” Historical Christian tradition affirm that these values are inseparable for the believer. Beauty is the splendor of truth. Or as one scholar has said,  

“The Glory of the Lord, therefore, is the super eminently luminous beauty of divinity beyond all experience and all descriptions, all categories, a beauty before which all earthly splendors, marvelous as they are, pale into insignificance.”

These are things we do not think about a lot in our normal Christian experiences. Often we believe we are seeking truth – black and white truth. But it is in our nature to seek to reflect the image of God in us that from the moments of creation, has filled this world with truth, wrapped in beauty. Black and white truths burst into glorious color when Jesus, the radiance of the Father touches our lives. 

Today a small town is celebrating the beauty of one small yellow flower. A whole day of festival activities because we have found something beautiful and some of us, see that as an opportunity to worship a God of truth. 

Daffodil flowers are born from bulbs. Unlike seeds, bulbs are plants that actually live under the ground but are visible above the ground when their leaves grow up through the surface of the soil. Whereas seeds are only the final stage of a plant's reproduction, bulbs are the entire life cycle of a plant from beginning to end. So, what we see above the ground are just the visual leaves of the plant that is whole and complete under the earth, a seed, the final stage of a plant’s reproduction cycle. These brilliant yellow flowers have been waiting in darkness, yet fully alive, for many cold winter months.
 
The scripture has many beautiful and true references to the creativity of our God who loves to put his visual creation together with his words of truth.  A few reminders are:

Isaiah 55:10- excerpts: 
As the rain comes down from heaven and waters the earth, making seeds sprout and give seeds to the sower... so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth.  It shall not return to me empty but will accomplish that for which I sent it. 
 
Luke 12:27: 
Think about the lilies of the field.  They don’t toil or spin, but even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like even one of these.
 
1 Corinthians 3:7: 
It isn’t the gardener or the waterer, but only God gives the growth.

Song of Solomon 2:12: 
When the flowers appear on the earth.  The time of singing has come.

Isaiah 35:1-2: 
​The desert will rejoice and blossom like the crocus.  It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.
 
May God use something as ordinary as daffodils as a reminder for Him to lavish your hearts with truth and beauty.

​Abide…surrender…joy…it’s amazing to experience how the Lord uses trials to draw us closer to Him and walk boldly in faith. I recently had such an experience when I experienced a health crisis. While at work in late October, I was suddenly hit with excruciating abdominal pain and nausea. My symptoms worsened and a rare, life-threatening obstruction was discovered -- I needed to have emergency surgery. As a nurse in the surgical department, I suddenly found myself a patient in our department. As I waited to speak with the surgical team, I reflected on seeing the Lord’s hand on everything that led up that point and was reminded of the His faithfulness in the past. I knew He would continue to be faithful. I went into the operating room with His courage and was reminded of Joshua 1:9 hanging in our family room: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” I woke up after surgery and was comforted by seeing my co-workers’ and Jason’s faces. I was then admitted to the hospital to recover.

As an active person recovering from major surgery being connected to lines and tubes and needing assistance to do the smallest things was difficult. I wanted to drink water, eat food, use the restroom without help, sleep soundly, and my surgical incision to heal overnight! Faced with the uncertainty of my health and separation from my family in the loneliness of my hospital room, I cried out to the Lord to be filled with His peace. I prayed to be filled with His strength to face the challenging road to recovery. The Lord heard my cry and met me in the day-time busyness and late-night stillness of my hospital room. I experienced beautiful quiet and still moments as the Lord filled me with His peace. He reminded me of the scripture I had prayed as theme verses for the upcoming year on my birthday, a week ago. My fears, loneliness, and doubts were replaced by the rest and peace found in abiding in Him.

Matthew 11:28-30:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
 
and John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

He called me to surrender it all to Him and to keep my focus on Him, not on myself. I continued to trust in His goodness, love, and faithfulness. He wasn’t a distant Savior but understood what I was experiencing as He carried me through. His promises were the lifeboat I clung onto in the ocean of uncertainty I found myself. In my humility and weakness, He filled me with His strength. His grace was sufficient for me!

“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. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in the weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV
 
With the Lord’s strength, I was able to eat, walk longer distances, rest, and recover. I was so grateful for the small things and able to experience joy in the midst of my trial. I knew no matter the outcome, His love and my salvation would remain. I found joy in His grace and presence!
 
The Lord was also working in my husband and children’s lives, and He used fellow believers, friends, and co-workers to show us His love, comfort, and support. After 4.5 days I was discharged and filled with joy to be healthy enough to go home to my family. We were also grateful to have my mom’s help, who flew immediately from California to be with us. My recovery didn’t end when I left the hospital, He continues to refine and equip me to do His will (it is a continuous story!). I am reminded that the hope and joy found in His peace, grace, and presence transcends the trials we experience. I am thankful that I can hold onto His promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us, a reason to rejoice always! I pray that His power and glory is evident when I share my experience with others, and through the continuous work He calls me to do.
 
“When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will be not be burned;
The flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy one of Israel, your Savior.”
Isaiah 43:2-3 NIV
 
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”
1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV