3 hours ago
Forgiveness is sometimes a hard thing for me.
I have no difficulty whatsoever forgiving someone who asks me for forgiveness. They are obviously sorry and know that they hurt me if they ask for forgiveness, so it's easy for me to forgive them then.
But it's really hard for me to forgive someone who hurts me and never expresses the slightest bit of remorse about it.
In these situations, each time I think of the offense, I get more and more frustrated. After all, I was clearly right, and that other person (whoever they may be), was clearly wrong, and don't they see how they've hurt me?
This frustration just festers, like an infected sore on my heart. Then the bitterness takes root.
Once the bitterness starts, it spreads like a cancer. It seems to me that at this point it is not just my relationship with the offender that is hurt - my whole outlook suffers.
Little annoyances or inconveniences that I would normally brush off with a smile suddenly irritate me to no end. Every little rude remark from a stranger sets me off, and I find myself complaining about all the rude people in the world, without realizing that when I snapped back I became one of the rude people.
I become a complainer, because when all the little irritations build up, I've got to get my frustration out somehow.
My relationship with the Lord suffers, because when I try to pray, I either can't focus or I find myself complaining to the Lord about so-and-so (I don't think He appreciates that).
What I've described above sounds a bit extreme when I read it back to myself. You must realize that this doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen every day. It's just an ever-so-gradual shift in my way of thinking, and after several months in this downward spiral, I realize where I've fallen. I realize what a crabby person I've become. And I realize this is not who I want to be.
How does this all come about from one little offense that should have been no big deal? It all comes back to selfishness. I get absorbed in my own hurt, I feel a little self-righteous, I take things into my own hands and refuse to forgive because it makes me feel better - not realizing that this self-absorbed, self-righteous attitude will gradually extend to every other situation I find myself in.
Not realizing that in the end, it's a poison to me.
Not realizing that of course that Lord would want to deal with that poison in my system before He takes care of the situation.
Bottom line: I've yet to find a verse that says you only have to forgive someone if they apologize first. In fact, I can think of plenty of examples in the Bible where the offended party forgives the offender before they ever ask for forgiveness. They are some of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, and some of my personal favorites. The story of Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal son, and Jesus and Peter come to mind.
I think if I really realized the weight of all that I've been forgiven, I wouldn't have a problem forgiving someone else - even if they never apologize at all.
Instead I become like that despised servant who was forgiven so great a debt by his master, and then had a fellow servant thrown in jail over a few pennies (Matthew 18).
It pains me to even write that sentence, because I don't want to be like that. And when I come to a point when I realize that I have been like that, there is only one thing to do.
Let go of those silly pennies. Ask the Lord to forgive me (again) for allowing that bitterness to take root in my heart, for not extending the grace that has been extended to me, for being self-righteous and selfish. And then change my attitude toward those who hurt me, and toward those innocent bystanders who have felt my anger without doing anything to deserve it.
When will I learn this lesson for good? When will I not have to go through this over every little offense that is not accompanied by an apology? I feel ridiculous to still be struggling with something like this. I'm so glad the Lord forgives me - if only I could more readily extend that forgiveness to others, instead of taking so long to realize what is happening.
Unforgiveness is such a sneaky sin. It sneaks into your heart when you aren't paying attention, and you barely realize it's there until it has grown out of control. And then it's painful to cut it out, but once it's out, things begin to heal.
I confess my sin to the Lord, and He helps me root it out. I take steps to change my attitude. I offer a token of renewed friendship; I practiced giving grace to an innocent bystander.
Little by little, I get back on the right track.
It feels so trite to say it now, but it is so true. Refusing to forgive someone really hurts them much less than it hurts you.
I have no difficulty whatsoever forgiving someone who asks me for forgiveness. They are obviously sorry and know that they hurt me if they ask for forgiveness, so it's easy for me to forgive them then.
But it's really hard for me to forgive someone who hurts me and never expresses the slightest bit of remorse about it.
In these situations, each time I think of the offense, I get more and more frustrated. After all, I was clearly right, and that other person (whoever they may be), was clearly wrong, and don't they see how they've hurt me?
This frustration just festers, like an infected sore on my heart. Then the bitterness takes root.
Once the bitterness starts, it spreads like a cancer. It seems to me that at this point it is not just my relationship with the offender that is hurt - my whole outlook suffers.
Little annoyances or inconveniences that I would normally brush off with a smile suddenly irritate me to no end. Every little rude remark from a stranger sets me off, and I find myself complaining about all the rude people in the world, without realizing that when I snapped back I became one of the rude people.
I become a complainer, because when all the little irritations build up, I've got to get my frustration out somehow.
My relationship with the Lord suffers, because when I try to pray, I either can't focus or I find myself complaining to the Lord about so-and-so (I don't think He appreciates that).
What I've described above sounds a bit extreme when I read it back to myself. You must realize that this doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen every day. It's just an ever-so-gradual shift in my way of thinking, and after several months in this downward spiral, I realize where I've fallen. I realize what a crabby person I've become. And I realize this is not who I want to be.
How does this all come about from one little offense that should have been no big deal? It all comes back to selfishness. I get absorbed in my own hurt, I feel a little self-righteous, I take things into my own hands and refuse to forgive because it makes me feel better - not realizing that this self-absorbed, self-righteous attitude will gradually extend to every other situation I find myself in.
Not realizing that in the end, it's a poison to me.
Not realizing that of course that Lord would want to deal with that poison in my system before He takes care of the situation.
Bottom line: I've yet to find a verse that says you only have to forgive someone if they apologize first. In fact, I can think of plenty of examples in the Bible where the offended party forgives the offender before they ever ask for forgiveness. They are some of the most beautiful stories in the Bible, and some of my personal favorites. The story of Esau and Jacob, the Prodigal son, and Jesus and Peter come to mind.
I think if I really realized the weight of all that I've been forgiven, I wouldn't have a problem forgiving someone else - even if they never apologize at all.
Instead I become like that despised servant who was forgiven so great a debt by his master, and then had a fellow servant thrown in jail over a few pennies (Matthew 18).
It pains me to even write that sentence, because I don't want to be like that. And when I come to a point when I realize that I have been like that, there is only one thing to do.
Let go of those silly pennies. Ask the Lord to forgive me (again) for allowing that bitterness to take root in my heart, for not extending the grace that has been extended to me, for being self-righteous and selfish. And then change my attitude toward those who hurt me, and toward those innocent bystanders who have felt my anger without doing anything to deserve it.
When will I learn this lesson for good? When will I not have to go through this over every little offense that is not accompanied by an apology? I feel ridiculous to still be struggling with something like this. I'm so glad the Lord forgives me - if only I could more readily extend that forgiveness to others, instead of taking so long to realize what is happening.
Unforgiveness is such a sneaky sin. It sneaks into your heart when you aren't paying attention, and you barely realize it's there until it has grown out of control. And then it's painful to cut it out, but once it's out, things begin to heal.
I confess my sin to the Lord, and He helps me root it out. I take steps to change my attitude. I offer a token of renewed friendship; I practiced giving grace to an innocent bystander.
Little by little, I get back on the right track.
It feels so trite to say it now, but it is so true. Refusing to forgive someone really hurts them much less than it hurts you.
Do you ever read a story in the Bible and just wonder if you've ever even read it before?
I'm not lazy in my Bible reading. I've read through the entire Bible several times. So I know, no matter what story it is, I've read it before.
But it's amazing to me how different stories and different verses stand out to me each time I read it. I think it has alot to do with my life situation - I pay attention to certain stories more depending on where I am in life.
This is why it says that God's word is "living and active". The Bible will never become obsolete, and there will always be something new you can take away from it! I love that.
Oh, yes, but back to the story I'm sure I've never read before (that's not true, I vaguely recall it, but it never stood out before).
You know in the Old Testament, when the Hebrew people are in Egypt, and they become a great nation, and the new Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, enslaved them? Then he decided he needed to start getting rid of the Hebrew boys that were born?
Well, his first plan to get rid of the baby boys was to tell two of the Hebrew midwives (whose names were Shiphrah and Puah) to go ahead and help the Hebrew women deliver, and then kill the new babies if they were boys, but to let the girls live.
I don't know what made him think they would actually obey those orders. I wonder if Shiphrah and Puah were Egyptian or Hebrew themselves? Anyway, the Bible says they feared God and did not do what Pharaoh ordered. (Can you imagine actually obeying an order like that? It makes me shudder.)
So Pharaoh called them and asked them why they didn't obey his orders (that would be so scary - after all, he could order that they be killed).
And they said something along the lines of "Oh, Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women - they have really fast labors, and we don't get there in time to kill the babies."
Sounds a bit like a lie to me. But the Bible doesn't specify, so maybe that was actually true. Regardless though, Shiphrah and Puah didn't obey Pharoah's orders because they knew it was more important to obey God's orders.
Amazingly Pharaoh did not kill the midwives, the Hebrews continued to multiply, and God was pleased with the midwives because they feared Him and chose to obey Him over Pharaoh.
In fact, God rewards the midwives by giving them families of their own.
Now, isn't that a happy story?
I know the rest of the story goes on and horrible things happen before God delivers the Hebrews out of Egypt. But I like that in this facet of the tale, we have a happy ending on our hands. It's comforting to me to hear another example of God rewarding those who fear Him.
And He does reward us when we choose to obey Him - sometimes we can see those rewards here on earth, and sometimes our rewards don't become evident until eternity, but they are there nonetheless.
Are there any stories or verses that you've read lately that you had forgotten about?
P.S. The above is just a paraphrase of the story in Exodus 1. You should go read it yourself if you're interested.
I'm not lazy in my Bible reading. I've read through the entire Bible several times. So I know, no matter what story it is, I've read it before.
But it's amazing to me how different stories and different verses stand out to me each time I read it. I think it has alot to do with my life situation - I pay attention to certain stories more depending on where I am in life.
This is why it says that God's word is "living and active". The Bible will never become obsolete, and there will always be something new you can take away from it! I love that.
Oh, yes, but back to the story I'm sure I've never read before (that's not true, I vaguely recall it, but it never stood out before).
You know in the Old Testament, when the Hebrew people are in Egypt, and they become a great nation, and the new Pharaoh, who did not know Joseph, enslaved them? Then he decided he needed to start getting rid of the Hebrew boys that were born?
Well, his first plan to get rid of the baby boys was to tell two of the Hebrew midwives (whose names were Shiphrah and Puah) to go ahead and help the Hebrew women deliver, and then kill the new babies if they were boys, but to let the girls live.
I don't know what made him think they would actually obey those orders. I wonder if Shiphrah and Puah were Egyptian or Hebrew themselves? Anyway, the Bible says they feared God and did not do what Pharaoh ordered. (Can you imagine actually obeying an order like that? It makes me shudder.)
So Pharaoh called them and asked them why they didn't obey his orders (that would be so scary - after all, he could order that they be killed).
And they said something along the lines of "Oh, Hebrew women aren't like Egyptian women - they have really fast labors, and we don't get there in time to kill the babies."
Sounds a bit like a lie to me. But the Bible doesn't specify, so maybe that was actually true. Regardless though, Shiphrah and Puah didn't obey Pharoah's orders because they knew it was more important to obey God's orders.
Amazingly Pharaoh did not kill the midwives, the Hebrews continued to multiply, and God was pleased with the midwives because they feared Him and chose to obey Him over Pharaoh.
In fact, God rewards the midwives by giving them families of their own.
Now, isn't that a happy story?
I know the rest of the story goes on and horrible things happen before God delivers the Hebrews out of Egypt. But I like that in this facet of the tale, we have a happy ending on our hands. It's comforting to me to hear another example of God rewarding those who fear Him.
And He does reward us when we choose to obey Him - sometimes we can see those rewards here on earth, and sometimes our rewards don't become evident until eternity, but they are there nonetheless.
Are there any stories or verses that you've read lately that you had forgotten about?
P.S. The above is just a paraphrase of the story in Exodus 1. You should go read it yourself if you're interested.
Well, it's been a while since I posted a review for the Blogging for Books program! The last couple of months have been so busy that I just never got around to requesting my next book, so a few weeks ago I logged back on and picked my next book.
When I was looking for my next book to read, "To Be Perfectly Honest" by Phil Callaway caught my eye. The description sounded very interesting to me - a guy decides to tell the honest truth for an entire year. As one of Callaway's friends says in the opening chapter, for a Christian "Isn't that a bit like giving up arson for Lent?"
His friend makes a point, since we should all work to live honestly anyway - but as Callaway began his "truth vow", it's apparent that there are many small ways where we may not be acting in an honest way without really realizing it.
The book is written in a journal format, with Callaway telling relevant stories from each day of his truth vow (sometimes he succeeds in being honest, and sometimes he doesn't). Callaway is a "humorist" and the stories are told in a funny (and honest) way. He pokes fun at different people he encounters in day-to-day life throughout the year - not in a mean way, but you should be aware that no one is safe.
There were a couple points where I wasn't sure I agreed with something Callaway said, but I could appreciate the humor in his observations. It takes alot for me to laugh out loud at something I read, and I found myself chuckling many times while reading this book.
The value in the book lies mostly in entertainment, but there were many lessons woven into his stories as well. I was especially struck by some of the creative ways he found to witness to others.
I also really appreciated how honest he was in writing about his thought life - those secret sins that aren't really put on display, such as pride, envy, critical thoughts, being judgemental, etc. I saw my own struggles in alot of the situations he described. He sums up the lessons he learned personally in the epilogue, and extends the truth vow deadline for another fifty years.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It was humorous and light-hearted, even while dealing with some heavy subjects. I came away from the book feeling cheerful, and that's always a bonus to me!
Note: I was given a copy of this book for free by Waterbrook Multonomah Publishing Group for this review. This is my honest opinion of the book.
By the way, you should all go over and rank my review on the Blogging For Books website - mostly so they can see I'm doing my job and give me more options for books to review. And if you blog and want to recieve free books, take a look around their site while you're there!
So for some reason I decided to google my blog name under Google Images.
Probably not a good idea, unless you want to totally freak yourself out.
A bunch of pictures from my blog showed up on Google Images. Now, I've never been overly concerned with this before, but it concerned me that pictures of my baby also showed up on Google.
So, being the obsessive rational person that I am, I decided to do what I can to protect my pictures.
Now, for me, this does not mean that I'm no longer going to post photos on here. I like posting photos - I think they make the blog more interesting, and part of the reason I blog is for my own documentation, which includes pictures.
There are a few things I've decided to do though. . .
1. Watermark my pictures.
I use Photoshop Elements to watermark my pictures, using a custom watermark brush that I created using this tutorial.
If you want to adjust the opacity of your watermark while editing in Photoshop, just click SHIFT-CNTRL-N (or SHIFT-CMMD-N on a Mac) to create a new layer, and then apply the brush to that layer. Then you can adjust the opacity using the slider, or select a different style from the dropdown menu (I like to use "Overlay").
If you don't have Photoshop, PicMonkey.com is a great (free) photo editing site, and you can add a watermark using the text tool.
I used to transfer the images to Photobucket and copy the html code to put them in my posts. I liked using Photobucket, because you can make the pictures whatever size you want in your posts, and you don't have the data storage limits that Blogger has.
Then I started using Windows Live Writer (and later MarsEdit when I switched to a Mac), and I love it - these programs make it very easy to adjust the size of your pictures and move them around in your post, and then you can upload them all in one batch. Though it uploads to Picasa, which may be a problem if I ever run out of photo storage, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
Sidenote: If you are not familiar with html, and you compose your posts with the "compose" tab in Blogger, I highly recommend that you start practicing using the html tab. You can do so much with html once you figure it out, and the only way to do that is to practice! If you have any questions, please e-mail me, and I'll do my best to help (though I'm not an expert)!
2. Set all my albums in Photobucket and Picasa to private.
I just feel safer this way, and it shouldn't affect the pictures from showing up in your posts (though use caution, because I had trouble switching the privacy settings on one album and had to re-add all my photos to my posts after I had set it to private in order for it to work- yuck). By the way, Photobucket allows others to copy your photos to their albums unless you adjust your privacy settings so they can't.
3. Disable right click on the blog.
I read a post on Kelly's Korner, and she gave a link to disable right-click. Can people still save my images to their computer if they want to? Yes, but I feel like it helps discourage that. Plus my pictures have the watermark, so people would still know they are mine.
Here is the link to the code for disabling right click - but don't go edit the html for your whole blog like the site says. Not only is it scary if you don't know html code that well (you could mess up your whole blog!), but it doesn't work that way - I tried it. Just add a gadget under "Design->Page Elements" in Blogger, select an html gadget, and add the code into that and save. It'll do the same thing.
4. Disable left-click on my pictures.
I never realized it before, but Blogger and Photobucket add a link to your pictures when you upload them so that people can click on them and open them in a different window or see your Photobucket album when they click. I hate that.
To remove the part of the image code that makes it a link, you have to delete a section of the code. It's not as complicated as it sounds. I found a great tutorial on how to disable left-click on pictures in Blogger - check it out. You can always preview your post to make sure you did it right.
I so wish I had known that you can do this when I first started blogging, because of all the time involved in de-linking every picture on the blog. So if you're just starting out, I'd suggest doing this now if you're concerned with protecting your pictures.
5. Finally, you can edit your robot.txt file to tell Google not to file your images.
This is easier than it sounds. Take the following bit of code . . .
User-agent: Googlebot-ImageDisallow: /
And then go to "Settings" on your Dashboard:
Then "Search Preferences":
Then click the "edit" button next to the words Custom robot.txt, select "Enable", and then paste the code into the box. Don't forget to save your changes!
And wolla! Your images won't show up in Google searches anymore (though a couple might sneak through here and there). I decided to go this route because while I love sharing pictures of my family on my blog, I don't love it when my family pictures show up in image searches. Now they won't! You can read more about how to block specific images from searches here.
And that's what I've got! Any other things you all do to protect your pictures?
This week has been exhausting for me.
Not so much physically, though we have been very busy. No, I'm emotionally exhausted. So much has happened this week.
Someone I know had a miscarriage.
Another announced their pregnancy.
Another friend got a negative pregnancy test again.
My dear childhood pen pal got engaged.
I read a blog post written by a lady who lost her baby in the third trimester.
A couple Derek and I are friends with welcomed their son into the world.
So much joy. So much pain. The contrast has never been so stark to me.
We are told in God's word to rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15). In my heart that's what I've been doing this week - but so many ups and downs. I honestly don't know whether to feel more happy or heartbroken.
It's times like these that my vision seems so clouded. The phrases "Thank you, Lord," and "Why?" are tangled up in my prayers.
Oh for the day when we shall "know fully", as 1 Corinthians 13 promises! When instead of peering through that dark glass we'll see everything plainly, as it is.
What a comfort it is to know that the same God who is pouring blessings this week on some of His children is also holding His struggling children by the hand! We are never alone, in the good times or the bad.
So this week, I'm crying with those who cry, and my heart is breaking for them. And I'm also laughing with those who laugh, praising the Lord for His faithfulness. And the two can be reconciled, because I can see God's hand working through it all.
"Weeping may endure for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning."
Psalm 30:5b
The bargain book section is irresistible to me. I love searching through the rows and rows of books at my local Christian bookstore and seeing if I can pick up anything good for under five bucks. Sometimes you end up getting what you pay for, but occasionally you find a gem hiding between the Christian chick-lit and the reference books.
The latest gem I've found is a book called "When Two Become Three: Nurturing Your Marriage After Baby Arrives" by Mark E. Crawford.
A new baby can sometimes be a challenge to a marriage, just because it's a change. It's completely normal for a baby to change your relationship - but you have to learn to work through the change together. I'm definitely up for improving our marriage relationship, so I snagged this book to see what it had to offer.
So far it's really good - I think it's completely relevant for any married couple, whether you have a new baby or not. And how much did I pay for it? All of three bucks.
Like I said, I love the bargain book section.
I read something in it yesterday that got me thinking:
" . . . A soulmate is created rather than discovered. In other words, if you and your spouse make a commitment to spend years together building a family, creating a mission statement, changing and evolving as people, celebrating life's best moments and sufering through life's worst moment's together, then after many years, you may find that the person you've traveled that journey with is, in fact, your soulmate. "
I had never thought about it that way before, but as I think about that quote now, it makes perfect sense. I think it's probably the best way to look at the marriage relationship.
If you expect that a soulmate is someone that you find, when you go through rough times in your relationship, you may start to think that you made a mistake, and that you didn't marry your "soulmate" after all.
But if you expect that as you travel through the hard times with your spouse, working through the issues in your relationship, going through all of life's changes, building your life together, that you will gradually grow to become soulmates . . . it makes every hard time and every conflict a challenge to overcome together, instead of a trial that can tear you apart.
All of a sudden, the status of being with your "soulmate" isn't something you may or may not find, but something you work toward together, something you achieve when you stick it out through every difficulty, something you can aspire to and reach someday with alot of prayer and effort and God's grace.
There is something precious and beautiful about that.
What do you think? Have you ever thought about the concept of "soulmates" in this way before?
The latest gem I've found is a book called "When Two Become Three: Nurturing Your Marriage After Baby Arrives" by Mark E. Crawford.
A new baby can sometimes be a challenge to a marriage, just because it's a change. It's completely normal for a baby to change your relationship - but you have to learn to work through the change together. I'm definitely up for improving our marriage relationship, so I snagged this book to see what it had to offer.
So far it's really good - I think it's completely relevant for any married couple, whether you have a new baby or not. And how much did I pay for it? All of three bucks.
Like I said, I love the bargain book section.
I read something in it yesterday that got me thinking:
" . . . A soulmate is created rather than discovered. In other words, if you and your spouse make a commitment to spend years together building a family, creating a mission statement, changing and evolving as people, celebrating life's best moments and sufering through life's worst moment's together, then after many years, you may find that the person you've traveled that journey with is, in fact, your soulmate. "
I had never thought about it that way before, but as I think about that quote now, it makes perfect sense. I think it's probably the best way to look at the marriage relationship.
If you expect that a soulmate is someone that you find, when you go through rough times in your relationship, you may start to think that you made a mistake, and that you didn't marry your "soulmate" after all.
But if you expect that as you travel through the hard times with your spouse, working through the issues in your relationship, going through all of life's changes, building your life together, that you will gradually grow to become soulmates . . . it makes every hard time and every conflict a challenge to overcome together, instead of a trial that can tear you apart.
All of a sudden, the status of being with your "soulmate" isn't something you may or may not find, but something you work toward together, something you achieve when you stick it out through every difficulty, something you can aspire to and reach someday with alot of prayer and effort and God's grace.
There is something precious and beautiful about that.
What do you think? Have you ever thought about the concept of "soulmates" in this way before?
My mom found a receipt in my kitchen cabinet the other day.
I was about to tell her to throw it away when she mentioned that it was from September 8, 2008. Two and a half years ago.
I was kind of curious to see if my buying habits have changed since then, so I grabbed it from my mom and took a look. Only four things were on the receipt.
A ball of yarn. Facial cleansing wipes. Knitting needles. And finally, a knitting "How To" book.
Those things may not seem particularly significant, but in an instant I remembered the day we bought those items.
Derek and I were newly married. It was an exciting time, but it was also a stressful time. We were both unemployed in September 2008.
Derek had resigned from his previous job because he was about to get a really good job as a financial analyst, but then the stock market did it's thing in 2008, and the company that was going to hire him started a hiring freeze and the job fell through.
I was fresh out of hygiene school and working for a temporary agency, when I had a needle-poke incident at one of my temp jobs. The lady who ran the agency became angry at me and acted like I did it on purpose, and didn't give me a single job after that.
Those four items were a huge treat for me, because we really couldn't afford them. But after several weeks of not working, I was getting bored and needed a project. I told Derek that I might like to start knitting again, and he took me to Wal-Mart to get some knitting needles, instructions, and yarn.
He was also very sweet and let me get the facial cleansing wipes. It's just nice to be able to remove all the makeup from your face, and something so simple was pretty exciting to me at the time, because we really didn't have money for things like that.
As I sat in my kitchen and looked at that old receipt, I realized again how far the Lord has brought us.
Two months later, Derek would get a job in a very difficult market that would pay the bills for almost two years. It was also a job that opened the door for the treasurer position he holds now.
I got a temporary job for the month of December that helped us through the holidays, and a few months after that the Lord led me to my current position, in an office that I love.
Those days of unemployment are a distant memory. I almost forget that they happened. But I shouldn't, because the Lord used that time of financial difficulty to bring us closer to Him, and to strengthen our newly formed marriage. And ultimately, He brought us through.
Sometimes it's hard to see the good in a situation, but hindsight really is twenty-twenty. As I look back on every major difficulty we have faced, though I may not have been able to see it at the time, I can truly say that the Lord really does work out everything for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)! What an amazing assurance!
How has the Lord taken a difficulty you've faced and worked it out for your good?
Oh, and as a sidenote, I never did finish that blanket that I started that September. It was a good distraction for a while, but then I got into a much more addicting hobby.
On September 18, I wrote my first blog post in over a year, followed by 585 more blog posts . . .
And the rest, as they say, is history.
I was about to tell her to throw it away when she mentioned that it was from September 8, 2008. Two and a half years ago.
I was kind of curious to see if my buying habits have changed since then, so I grabbed it from my mom and took a look. Only four things were on the receipt.
A ball of yarn. Facial cleansing wipes. Knitting needles. And finally, a knitting "How To" book.
Those things may not seem particularly significant, but in an instant I remembered the day we bought those items.
Derek and I were newly married. It was an exciting time, but it was also a stressful time. We were both unemployed in September 2008.
Derek had resigned from his previous job because he was about to get a really good job as a financial analyst, but then the stock market did it's thing in 2008, and the company that was going to hire him started a hiring freeze and the job fell through.
I was fresh out of hygiene school and working for a temporary agency, when I had a needle-poke incident at one of my temp jobs. The lady who ran the agency became angry at me and acted like I did it on purpose, and didn't give me a single job after that.
Those four items were a huge treat for me, because we really couldn't afford them. But after several weeks of not working, I was getting bored and needed a project. I told Derek that I might like to start knitting again, and he took me to Wal-Mart to get some knitting needles, instructions, and yarn.
He was also very sweet and let me get the facial cleansing wipes. It's just nice to be able to remove all the makeup from your face, and something so simple was pretty exciting to me at the time, because we really didn't have money for things like that.
As I sat in my kitchen and looked at that old receipt, I realized again how far the Lord has brought us.
Two months later, Derek would get a job in a very difficult market that would pay the bills for almost two years. It was also a job that opened the door for the treasurer position he holds now.
I got a temporary job for the month of December that helped us through the holidays, and a few months after that the Lord led me to my current position, in an office that I love.
Those days of unemployment are a distant memory. I almost forget that they happened. But I shouldn't, because the Lord used that time of financial difficulty to bring us closer to Him, and to strengthen our newly formed marriage. And ultimately, He brought us through.
Sometimes it's hard to see the good in a situation, but hindsight really is twenty-twenty. As I look back on every major difficulty we have faced, though I may not have been able to see it at the time, I can truly say that the Lord really does work out everything for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28)! What an amazing assurance!
How has the Lord taken a difficulty you've faced and worked it out for your good?
Oh, and as a sidenote, I never did finish that blanket that I started that September. It was a good distraction for a while, but then I got into a much more addicting hobby.
On September 18, I wrote my first blog post in over a year, followed by 585 more blog posts . . .
And the rest, as they say, is history.
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