At His Feet

Whew! Summertime sure puts life into a tailspin. We have been non-stop since school let out. We've already been to the beach 3 times, the pool more times than I would even like to recall, playdates, park, treasure hunts, library, and done so many Pinterest crafts that my file cabinet is running out of room (but THANK YOU LORD, and I mean that sincerely, for Pinterest!). Aubrey is on her last day of VBS for this week and now that MollyKate walks, I never, ever get to sit for a moment. Only at nap time, which is strangely becoming shorter and shorter each day. I try so hard to get up every day to do my quiet times because Lord knows, I need it. As Beth Moore says, "I am a soul that is destined to wander".

Lately all of my quiet times have been focused on remaining faithful through the trials. In the front of my Bible there is a list that has slowly been compiling under the heading "Trusting God Through The Hard Times". You see, if you know us and our family dynamic, it is not an easy one. It could be, but it is not. I will save that post for a rainy day though.

I recently was venting to a friend. My husband and I were not invited to his sister's wedding. Since we weren't, we thought we would still send a nice gesture to her to congratulate her on her big day. We asked Aubrey what she thought we should do: send a gift from her wedding registry, or send a bouquet of flowers. Aubrey picked the later, and we sent her a nice arrangement. Who doesn't love to get flowers? Even the ad said "Sure to put a smile on the face of the person who receives these!" Well, let's just say it was not received the way we had hoped. It actually was not even received with a thank you. I will always know in my heart though that it was send with the right intentions, and the Lord knows that too. As a result of this and another gesture that was twisted and used against me, I called my sweet friend Cari. As we talked she told me that yes, Daniel and I are suffering, but that we needed to think about the bigger picture here. Maybe this trial is not about us. Maybe we are going through it, and yes we can learn from it, but perhaps it is God working on and in someone else here. Maybe we are being used in this situation but that this is a trial that will bring someone else closer to Him.

When I hung up the phone, I went to bed dwelling on her words. She was right. How often do we stomp our feet and cry out to the Lord asking Him to take us out of this or that when it is not about us anyways! How many people in the Bible suffered so that we now, years later, can look at their life and learn from it. We can look at the life of Job and see what incredible faith he had. We can see where the disciples suffered but stood firm. We learn from these amazing characters. It was not about them! It was about God using THEM to be able to teach US. What a change in perspective that has given me. Sometimes we go through trials so that yes, we can grow, but more importantly so that others can look upon us and see how amazing God is when He works for us!