Nov 14, 2012

The Thing That Carries Me



"I can't imagine what you've been through."

"I'm so sorry for all that you've had to endure."

"How are you dealing with all of this?"

These are some of the statements/questions I deal with on a daily basis.

Our community is large, but still small enough that lots of people know about the year I've had.

(Or maybe I just know A LOT of people...)

Sometimes, I think I don't know how to answer that question.

How do you deal with losing both parents, unexpectedly, within three months of each other?

But I know it's not a question of "how".

It's a "who".

Jesus.

Now before you think I'm getting all spiritual on you, and you click away, I want to encourage you to keep reading.

This post may look different than you think.

You see, I know a lot of people don't want to hear people talking about Jesus.

It makes them uncomfortable.

Because maybe they've had a bad experience with 'Christians' before.

Or maybe they assume we think we're perfect or better than everyone else.

(Which, let me clarify, isn't true!)

There could be lots of reasons.

But let me tell you about the Jesus I know.

The Jesus I know is solid as a rock.

When everything else was crazy, He was constant.

He was the One that never left.

His love never failed me.  Not even once.

It's like an ocean that never goes dry.  I could swim in it the rest of my life and I'll never run out of His love.




That's what True Love looks like.

Because at some time, everyone and everything will disappoint me.  My husband, my kids, my friends...life.

But not Him.

His love is the *only* thing that I can count on forever.

And that's what has carried me, (literally), through this past year.



Another thing about Jesus,

The Jesus I know loves you.

He loves you just the way you are.  Right now.  Without changing one thing about yourself.

He is wide open.

He is ready to catch anything you can throw at Him.

Doubt?  He's got it.

Insecurity?  No sweat!

Anything else?  Already covered.

You see, the things that keep us from Jesus is our stuff.  It has nothing to do with Him.  

He doesn't ask you for anything.

The only thing you need to do, is fall into Him.

He'll take care of the rest.

If there's something in you that needs to change, He'll do that.  

No need to wait until you're perfect or until you've got it together.  

Because you never will.

That's what He is for.

But I can promise you that once you do Fall into Him, you will fall in love with Him.

You will be so carried away that you can't imagine life without Him.

You will know a joy that you never imagined.

Even in the most horrific of times.

Because His love trumps all of that.

If you don't know His love in this way, then you don't know the real Jesus.

And if you don't know the real Jesus, then why not?

What are you waiting for?

Don't let another day go by without experiencing True Love.

Talk to Him.

Tell Him you want to know that kind of love.

His love.

He'll take care of the rest.


Nov 13, 2012

I'm Still Here

I know...it's been a while.

But seriously, life has been hectic.

I feel like cheer and football rule my world right now.

Well, that and sick kids, doctors appointments, and teacher conferences.

And by the way, my girls are ROCK STARS!

(In school anyway...)

They both had great reports and I couldn't be more proud.

But things at home are a little less....well...easy.

We are going through some discipline issues and it's hard.

For all of us.

I am glad my girls are so polite at school and respect their teachers etc.

But at home, it's another story.

Fighting, yelling, throwing things on the ground...it's like I live with 2 teenage girls.

But they're only 8 and 6.

I'm not ready for this.

And sometimes I feel like I'm doing a horrible job at raising them to be self sufficient, respectful, appreciative adults.

I think if there were report cards for moms, I'd be getting a D... (okay, maybe a C.  But definitely not above a C).

Anyone else have this issue?

I'm at a loss.

Grounding them is what gets to them most.  But even that is wearing off.

And I feel like I'm the one who is punished, too, because I have to miss all of my fun.

Any advice?