i was talking to my sister today..more like crying to/with her about life and stress, when her son, Fran, came running up to her and said "guess what mommy?! Peter Pan won! he won! and hook lost. they called hook a codfish!! and the alligator LIKES codfish!!!"
and at that point i cried harder than before. it was like he was saying "guess what lisa?! Jesus won!! He won! and your rough situation lost. Jesus called it powerless and stupid. and Jesus threw your situation into hell where it belongs."
and then Rick Pino's song popped into my head.
"there's a FOURTH man standing there in the fire..you're not alone." and then Amy started talking about shadrach meshach and abednego. and how they came out without even smelling like smoke. not a hair was even singed. BUT, they still had to stand in the furnace. they still had to stand in the fire. [daniel 3-ish area]
this proves to me that........
yeah. life can look deadly. haha. it can look like it's over, nothing can be fixed, it's done for. nothing good can ever come out of this. well, Jesus says otherwise.
He hung there on the cross for THIS. He was whipped and beaten, He DIED for this situation i'm in right now. that is one thing i can trust with my whole heart. He died so that i can come to Him in this mess, and He can show me mercy and give me peace about ALL of it, and wipe out ALL fear with His perfect love.
wanna hear something ironic? There's billions of other people on the earth right now with their own problems. some much worse than mine. there's zillions of animals in the world, each one being cared for by Him. He's gotta hold the universe together and make sure all the stars are in place and He watches the tide at the beach and He tells the ocean to stop on the shore....
all of this going on, and He still not only listens to me when i come to Him, at any time, but ALSO cares to listen to me. AND to top it all off, He chases off every little devil trying to get a hold of me.
it's hard to think these things through in the middle of it all. but it's all true.
at the end of the conversation i had with Amy, she told me to find something today that is good. a small pleasure in life that we take for granted, and to be thankful, truly, for it. "you have an eye for finding these little things."
y'know what i am thankful for? it's 83 degrees outside. it's warm. it's a gorgeous day. the sun's out. and there's waves at the beach. and i may not be able to go out today and surf them, but im still thankful for them. and im thankful for EPIC, even though i won't be there tonight. im really thankful for Mickey and Josh and James and Chuck. and im thankful for Kenny, somehow just knowing him, knowing that he really really loves and wants Jesus like me is encouraging, even if im not talking or hanging out with him. and for Lauren, because she's just the best. and for coach Angela, who is almost always encouraging. im thankful that my truck has 63,000 miles on it, meaning that i can drive it for a whiile.
so really, my life's pretty stinkin' good. there's a lot of things going for me right now. im determined to NOT forget these things that are goin' for me.
anyway, im emotionally drained. i think ill take a nap now before swim practice.
and at that point i cried harder than before. it was like he was saying "guess what lisa?! Jesus won!! He won! and your rough situation lost. Jesus called it powerless and stupid. and Jesus threw your situation into hell where it belongs."
and then Rick Pino's song popped into my head.
"there's a FOURTH man standing there in the fire..you're not alone." and then Amy started talking about shadrach meshach and abednego. and how they came out without even smelling like smoke. not a hair was even singed. BUT, they still had to stand in the furnace. they still had to stand in the fire. [daniel 3-ish area]
this proves to me that........
yeah. life can look deadly. haha. it can look like it's over, nothing can be fixed, it's done for. nothing good can ever come out of this. well, Jesus says otherwise.
He hung there on the cross for THIS. He was whipped and beaten, He DIED for this situation i'm in right now. that is one thing i can trust with my whole heart. He died so that i can come to Him in this mess, and He can show me mercy and give me peace about ALL of it, and wipe out ALL fear with His perfect love.
wanna hear something ironic? There's billions of other people on the earth right now with their own problems. some much worse than mine. there's zillions of animals in the world, each one being cared for by Him. He's gotta hold the universe together and make sure all the stars are in place and He watches the tide at the beach and He tells the ocean to stop on the shore....
all of this going on, and He still not only listens to me when i come to Him, at any time, but ALSO cares to listen to me. AND to top it all off, He chases off every little devil trying to get a hold of me.
it's hard to think these things through in the middle of it all. but it's all true.
at the end of the conversation i had with Amy, she told me to find something today that is good. a small pleasure in life that we take for granted, and to be thankful, truly, for it. "you have an eye for finding these little things."
y'know what i am thankful for? it's 83 degrees outside. it's warm. it's a gorgeous day. the sun's out. and there's waves at the beach. and i may not be able to go out today and surf them, but im still thankful for them. and im thankful for EPIC, even though i won't be there tonight. im really thankful for Mickey and Josh and James and Chuck. and im thankful for Kenny, somehow just knowing him, knowing that he really really loves and wants Jesus like me is encouraging, even if im not talking or hanging out with him. and for Lauren, because she's just the best. and for coach Angela, who is almost always encouraging. im thankful that my truck has 63,000 miles on it, meaning that i can drive it for a whiile.
so really, my life's pretty stinkin' good. there's a lot of things going for me right now. im determined to NOT forget these things that are goin' for me.
anyway, im emotionally drained. i think ill take a nap now before swim practice.
Encouraging Words! Thanks
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