Sunday, March 22, 2015

A Story for Sunday

I’ve always had a deep love for the written word. When I was little, I could spell complicated words easily. Words and reading came effortlessly. And books, oh how I adore books. As a teacher, I have literally thousands of books :) I’m usually always in the middle of reading two or three books at one time. The smell of a book is heavenly to me. I even wrote a children’s book many years ago…no, it didn’t get published. I really love to write, not that I’m great at it... I just really love to write. It’s therapy for me. So, I thought I may start sharing some of my “life stories” with you here. Would you mind?

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My oldest child will walk across the stage in a few short months…she’ll graduate from High School. How is that reality? I remember being pregnant with her, as if it were days ago. Memories so vividly etched in my mind, because my first pregnancy didn’t start off as expected. I’d imagined celebrating with family, shopping for baby clothes, even looking forward to a little morning sickness- as evidence of a little life growing inside of me :) Instead, I was sick every day. ALL DAY LONG. Morning noon and night sickness. It was a vicious cycle that lasted well into the second trimester…I’d be sick for days, get dehydrated, admitted into the hospital for fluids, go back home, repeat.

Right in the middle of my second year as a new teacher…and had to stay home due to “chronic morning sickness”. Our community of friends and family covered my husband & me in prayers. Mom would hold my hair back and my dad would bring home new suggestions from friends at work…even to swallow a spoon full of jelly first thing in the morning. Yes, we tried crackers, lemon, ginger, we tried everything. And still, I kept throwing up and up and up :( The sicker I got, the more out-of-control I felt emotionally. I thought something was wrong with me…that I couldn’t handle pregnancy.

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My doctor kept promising the baby was healthy. A specialist ran tests just to be sure. On the inside, our baby was a tiny little miracle making her way…even though on the outside I was a mess. Some days I couldn’t pick up my head. Other days I ate three whole crackers. I would lie in bed for days on end in a dark, still room because movement made me worse. To look at me, you’d question how the baby was thriving. And yet inside my belly, the baby was getting all she needed from me to grow and develop and mature.

After several long, depressing months, I stopped getting sick. I stood and looked in the mirror at this bump on my belly that would soon be my own little one. And suddenly I was thankful for the trial. All those months that I was made to be still. That time was sacred, where I cried whole-heartedly out to God to heal and help and restore. And He showed up. I turned over the control to Him. I put my eyes on the ONE who actually carried my baby.

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Isn’t this how life goes? One after another, trials come like waves… they crash over us, knocking us to our knees. On the outside it looks as though nothing is right, and life is spiraling out-of-control. On the outside, you can’t hold up your head some days. Our fast-paced world makes us feel as though we fall short, we fail. As moms, as wives, sisters, daughters, friends…we feel like we aren’t good enough. Like we haven’t done enough.

And yet inside, a miracle is happening. God reminds us when we stop to listen…He is all we need. We learn to just let God love us. Just because He does. On the inside, he mends what once was broken. He is all we need. He loves us anyway, everyday. No matter what. He heals and helps and restores. He makes us new. He is enough.

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In a few short months our firstborn will head off to college. She will not be at our table for dinner everyday. She might eat lots of fast food and be late for class. Is she ready? I’m not sure. One thing is for sure… we’ve not taught her everything she needs to know. But that’s okay. He is still carrying her.

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And He is enough.

Thanks so much for joining me here today!

Remember, you can join our Spring Giveaway HERE.

Blessings

17 comments:

  1. How lovely for you to share. Mine are all out of the house now. I depend on Him to carry us all through.

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  2. I love you my sister and love your heart.

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  3. Thank you for the reminder 😊

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  4. Lovely and inspiring story. A great way to start a rainy Monday morning. You've brightened my day.

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  5. Such a sweet message to us all, Just like the song that was sung at church yesterday, "I Can't Even Walk Without Him Holding My Hand". God is with us in our daily lives. I am sure your daughter will be fine and will have God with her in her daily journey my friend,. Have a blessed week.
    Angela

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  6. There are a whole lot of reasons why this was so on point for me this morning. I know that God wanted me to read it and just let Him love me. "But You, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, and the One who lifts up my head." Psalm 3:3

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  7. This was for me too! Thanks for sharing your heart. Soon my granddaughter will be graduating from high school too...time passes so quickly. Blessings to you!

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  8. This was for me too! Thanks for sharing your heart. Soon my granddaughter will be graduating from high school too...time passes so quickly. Blessings to you!

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  9. Thank you for sharing your faith....
    Dominique from France

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  10. My eyes are swelled with tears! God is great! So grateful for all our blessings! I too feel the same way you do! God will carry our loved ones at all the crossroads! Let go and trust in The Lord our God! In Jesus name! Amen

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  11. I so love this Becky! Thanks for the reminder. He is ALL we need.
    Blessings~

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  12. Sweet post! Time flies by, and our little ones grow up and go out on their own. All we can do is pray for God to keep His hand on them, and He will!

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  13. This post says it all…we have to continue to have faith in the One who is the same today as yesterday & will be tomorrow. It's a blessing once we truly understand & trust that He is all we need. We can take comfort in the fact that we are blessed beyond measure because He is always with us & our loved ones.

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  14. WOW as a Mother, a woman, someone who gets 'off track' easily at the many things life throws at me, I Thank you for this! Great read! Glad I read it at 5:19am, I know I will have a good day!

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  16. Thank you for sharing your story! It was not coincidence that I ran across your blog tonight. I've recently experienced a difficult season in my life where I wasn't sure how the Lord would bring me out, but as I continued to draw near to Him, He kept His promise to draw near to me. I'm so thankful to report that God has healed me and is showing me each day what it means when He says He makes ALL things new. He took what the enemy meant for evil and has made my life (in Him) so beautiful! I'm so in love with Jesus... I can't keep quiet!

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