Quiet in His Love

Miracles!  They are amazing, powerful, and sometimes completely unexpected.  God is gracious and loving when He sends His miracles.  Here is my first miracle entry: In May, 2010, when I was about 15 weeks pregnant with my firstborn son (now 3.5 years old), my husband and I had gone to a big book sale in Chambersburg, PA, and walked around for over an hour (maybe two).  We had parked a block or so from the building.  We had a lovely time enjoying looking at books.  Shortly after we arrived home, I started bleeding a good amount.  I was freaked out!  After suffering two miscarriages and the blessing one birth, I did NOT want to lose this baby.  God, in His great mercy, protected our little boy and allowed him to join us in October, 2010.  I have to say that when my husband and I were in the midst of this storm, we weren't sure if there would be a miracle.  We cried out and prayed and stormed heaven and. . .we cried. . .some more.  Now, though, I have an amazing little boy who is fu

Have you ever felt like you were on the fringes of an upcoming breakthrough?  Have you wondered how to wait patiently for it to happen and not try to "make it happen" in your time your way?  I am in that position right now.  And sometimes I feel as though I'm missing crucial information.  Perhaps someone found that missing puzzle piece before I did and jumped on the fast train to my breakthrough, my purpose, my plan.  I doubt that there's any sound belief in that possibility because I truly believe God's got my plan covered, always has and always will.  He sees the completed puzzle from his vast and all-encompassing view.  He knows where the other pieces are going to come from that have not even come close to my periphery yet.  Amazing?  Fantastic!  Why do I continue to become "stress-paralyzed" (see Moms' Night Out) and just shut down?  Fear?  Lack of trust?  Doubt?  Worry?  You name it - it's very likely a contributing factor in this whole brea

If someone asked you what the number one thing (person, object, activity, etc.) in your life is after God, what would your answer be?  Is God number one?  These are good, thought-provoking questions.  Things to ponder.  The answers (the real answers) may shock even yourself.  Why?  Because sometimes we just coast through life.  We are on automatic and don't stop to think about what is really important to us, what captures our attention and thoughts, what we spend time and money on, what consumes our thoughts when we are away from it.  When we take time to consider these questions, reality might be a painful wake-up call.  Have you ever been asked what you like to do in your free time and found yourself stumped?  What do I like to do?  Free time: what's that?  Do you know yourself well enough to tell someone your favorite color?  Your favorite food?  Your favorite passage of Scripture?  Or would those questions stump you too?  What does it take to truly know yourself and what y

Have you ever struggled with something that just seemed impossible?  Vague, I know, but I think you'll understand what I'm asking.  I have a war waging within me - a war against something that I never thought I'd have to deal with.  The truth is, though, that I've probably been dealing with this "something" off and on for years.  Was it caused in junior high when I was picked on by numerous people who felt it necessary to call me ugly, spit on me, push me, take things from me?  Or was it caused by the "popular" girls in elementary school that would pick a girl to be their "friend?"  Or maybe it happened later when I started really looking at myself and seeing someone who wasn't quite as pretty, smart, or popular as the other girls.  The truth is it doesn't really matter when it started - how long the war has been waging within.  The war needs to be won once and for all.  I need to realize that it doesn't really matter what peopl

Last Thursday, I decided to get up about an hour earlier than I normally do.  This wasn't a planned thing.  I was kind of awake in bed, and I thought that if I got up before my kiddos woke up I could accomplish so much.  The plan formulated in my mind and seemed awesome but did not quite go according to the plan in my head.  :(  I did get up and start my "devotional" time.  I wrote out Psalm 103 in my notebook; there's so much good stuff in there.  Somewhere in the midst of my writing, two of my kiddos came in and sat quietly on my bed while I continued my time.  I asked them to be quiet while I finished up my Bible time, and they did an awesome job of it.  Something shifted in me in that moment.  I was having my digging deeper time with God, and my sweet kids were being sweet.  There was power, precious power, in that moment.  I wrote my prayer out that morning, words just kept flowing onto the paper.  Good words, powerful words!  I thought that the words that poured