WHAT A WEEKEND!!!!!!

WOW!!! What a weekend we have had!!!

Talk about a "mixed bag", we've had it!

A dinner with high school classmates, some of whom we had not seen in 40 years, 2 fun birthday celebrations with our oldest granddaughter who turned 4 yesterday and one glorious wedding interspersed among thunderstorms, tornado warnings and tremendous flooding during the worst weather weekend the Mid South has probaby ever seen!!

We had prayed all week for NO rain this weekend, knowing that we had 3 days of events, all of which were slated to be OUTSIDE! I mean we did some serious, no-holds-barred praying for this weather to be re-routed, stalled before it got here or just plain GONE. So when it came, we knew without a doubt that it was in God's plan. So as my sweet mother-in-law would always say "You can't complain about the weather...that's the Lord's work."

So how do we reconcile all the damage and loss sustained by so many this weekend with a loving God? I think that is probably one of the most difficult things we wrestle with as believers. Yet the Bible is full of proof that God allows the sunshine and the rain, the mountain-tops and the valleys. But the one constant is that He is always with us through the storms.

Isaiah 43: 1-5 (KJV) says,

"Fear not for I have redeemed thee, I have called you BY NAME, you are MINE!! When [not if] you pass through [there is a beginning and an end] the waters, I will be with you and through the rivers, they will not overflow you, when you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you, for I am the Lord YOUR God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior....since you are precious in my sight....and I have loved you.....Fear not for I am with you!!"

I pray that none of you sustained any major damage in the storm from this weekend, but if you did, just remember that God IS with you and He will see you through one day at a time. He also reminds us in Isaiah 45 that "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight...and I will give you treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places that [the object of the exercise] you may KNOW that I am the Lord."

Yes, even in the very midst of a storm, God will give you "treasures of darkness"...riches and blessings you would have never received had you not walked through the storm. One of the sweetest is that you will KNOW God in a way that you have never known Him before.

MY CUP RUNNETH OVER

Well, this has been quite a week for me! My "BLESSING CUP" i s running over!

I had a birthday this week, and as the numbers continue to climb up there, it can be pretty depressing. Despite all the hype about "you're as young as you feel" or "you get better with age" or all that other advertising lingo, AGING ISN'T FUN AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't like it one bit! The only good thing I can say is that having another birthday means you are still alive! HA!

But, having said that, I must say that this birthday week has been fun. I've been treated to lunch 3 times this week and some of the most luscious chocolate desserts ever! I've gotten to spend time with some special friends and had a lot of great laughs. I also got to go to dinner with my husband to a well known restaurant in our area that we have NEVER been to, even though we've lived here our whole lives! Great ribs! Then we had the fun of going to a music event on the town square where we live (another first) and had a blast just doing the HOMETOWN USA thing! Tomorrow night we will wind up the week long celebration with a cookout with our precious kids! Life is good!

But celebrating my birthday has not been the ONLY blessing of this week! I also have been given the opportunity for ministry through my writing in a totally new and exciting way!! All the details are not in place yet, but suffice it to say, I feel as if God has been preparing me my entire life for such a time as this!

I've been writing since I was a little girl. I didn't realize how much I had written over the years until we went through the Purpose Driven Life. In that book, a chapter was on discovering your passion. I knew what my passion was...writing and speaking/teaching. It went on to discuss how you needed to get involved in that and develop it to use it for the Lord. I began to think back over my life and construct a sort of "time line" of all the things I had done in regard to speaking and writing. I was really amazed. I had forgotten many things, but God began to bring them to mind and as I wrote them down in time line fashion, I began to see His hand at work. Each one had been a stepping stone to the next. God was preparing me for something. I was not sure what, but I knew I was not there yet. I have continued to seek His direction and He has continued to open doors and to direct my path. Starting this blog last year was another stepping stone. And each has led me to where I am today....at the precipice of a new and exciting adventure with Him. Not sure exactly where the road will lead, but I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!!!!!!!!!!!!

And finally.....the icing on the cake for this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WE ARE HAVING ANOTHER GRANDDAUGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our son and his wife found out just today that they are having a little girl!! So we are just tickled PINK!!! GOD IS SO GOOD!!!!

Now you see why my cup runneth over!!! "Praise be to God who daily loads us with benefits!"