To make a brief list of life...
*Downhill battle for paychecks at work
*Need to sell house/move to better job market/make enough money to pay bills (well... find a job with will pay us the money we make in order to pay the bills)
*House on market, strangers sorting through personal items in closets, barn & garage - wondering if the off button in the freezer works (we loose close to $200 in frozen food for the month) - have to keep house spotless at all times.
*Pregnant! (yay!! we're having another boy!) abnormality shows up on ultrasound, supposedly nothing, level 2 genetic ultrasound ordered to confirm it's nothing. 2nd abnormality shows up - could mean nothing, could mean down syndrome or the fatal trisomy 18... not so great! Increased risk of preterm labor confirmed - increase that risk again for 2 abnormalities found in ultrasounds that could mean preterm induction...
*Planning a move/road trip across 10 states while pregnant and 10 weeks from due date... So glad grandparents are going with us!
*Husband get's fired for trying to negotiate as the last of his compensation package was being stripped... unemployment takes close to 3 weeks to start payments - if nothing is contested... we leave in four!
Looking at the list, we are seriously laughing! Dare we ask, "Can it get any harder?" Honestly, so much has been taken out of our hands at this point all we can do is sit back and watch God work.
We laugh as Bryce wanders from room to room not quite sure of why...
We laugh when we have repeated the same conversation twice and didn't realize it until half way through...
We laugh when the kids ask the same question for the 3rd time because we couldn't think of the words to the answer they needed...
We laugh when Bryce hits his head on the sun visor in the car, and then forgets why he wanted it moved...
We laugh when I start a sentence but forget why...
We're laughing at the reason Bryce's boss gave for firing him (it's seriously out there!)...
We're laughing that we're unemployed...
We're laughing because there is so little else we'd rather be doing right now.
We're together, the kids are relatively healthy, we just finished paying this months bills & have food in the fridge, we are being upheld in prayer and encouraged on all sides, through emails, phone calls, and random visits from friend who drop by to give us strawberries and meat and other wonderful gifts... seriously - the walls are crumbling, but the sunlight is coming in!
For anyone who finds themselves in a similar place, whether actually similar in circumstance, or just similar in another way - can we encourage you?
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21
"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
"With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
"It it God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." Psalm 18:32
"You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light" Psalm 18:28
"The Lord is my strength and my song: He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father's God, and I will exalt Him." Exodus 15:2
"We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield." Psalm 33:20
"For Great is your love, reaching to the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Psalm 57:10
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5
We've had plenty of evenings full of tears, frustration, impatience, anger, fear and doubt - TONS of struggling with "why?" and where the heck is God right NOW?
One thing we know, and hope to pass on, is that God's big enough for all of that from us - and whether or not we can see clearly or feel fully, He is at work for us right now. If you're here in some similar capacity - know you're not alone!
Our prayer for you is that you'll find that sometimes, laughter is all you've got. It feels pretty darn good too... especially when things just keep getting harder. Whatever you face today - may you be able to laugh!!!
Monday, June 22, 2009
Laughter
Posted by Psalm 139:1-18 at 6/22/2009
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4 comments:
There is a story about a little boy who complained bitterly because his schoolteacher always gave the class a surprise test every Friday. Now, if this surprise came every Friday, how was it a surprise? We likewise should not be surprised that our Heavenly Father gives us tests throughout our lifetime. It not only happens regularly, but we are told that it will happen: "The Lord corrects the ones he loves and disciplines those he calls his own." We have the comfort of knowing that He does it for our ultimate benefit.
Words like "trials", "temptations", "refining", and "testing" occur hundreds of times in the Bible. We read that God tested Abraham by asking him to offer up his son, Isaac. God tested Jacob when he had to work an additional seven years for Rachel. God tested Joseph very severely with Potiphar’s wife and the resulting prison sentence, and he came through with flying colors.
Not everyone in the Scriptures passes every test. The Bible is full of examples of what people did, written for our admonition. Adam and Eve failed their test in the Garden of Eden; Cain also failed; David failed some of his tests; and Jonah failed, learned, and then succeeded. We have examples of many faithful passing their tests brilliantly, such as Ruth, Esther, and Daniel and other prophets.
Character is both developed and revealed by tests, and all of life is actually a test. We are always being tested. God watches our response to people, problems, success, conflict, illness, disappointment, and even the weather. Do not be surprised by the testing that God gives us because He does it for our good, to develop our righteousness. Thankfully, He has promised never to test us beyond our ability to bear it. If we are having a tough time, we can be confident that not only does God know about it, but that He knows that we are capable of handling the challenge with His help, because otherwise it would not be happening. We learn to trust our God, to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us.
God often helps us to get started on the right way with support from spiritual guides. King Saul had Samuel, King Joram had Jehoida the priest, and many people have godly parents or teachers. But then, God may want to know what kind of decisions we will make independently. Both kings failed without the guidance of their advisers. Even a godly king like Hezekiah, who had enjoyed a close fellowship with God, was left alone at a crucial point in his life to test his character, which revealed a weakness. We are told, "When envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous sign that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart." Unfortunately, Hezekiah proudly showed off all his treasures.
When we understand that life is a test, then we come to realize that nothing in our life is insignificant. Every happening should be viewed with the understand-ing that God is testing us. The aggressive driver, the rude teenager, the ordinary distractions of life all give us opportunities to choose to react in a godly or ungodly manner.
Making right choices does not guarantee a problem-free life. God wanted Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and Nehemiah was willing to dedicate himself to the task. Yet God allowed Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem to oppose the good that God wanted done. The unrelenting opposition tested the resolve of Nehemiah and all the others who had to struggle to do the work in a time of trouble.
God allows adversaries to challenge us to see how we react to the test. We must overcome, as Jesus tells us, and every test we face is an opportunity to overcome and jump over a hurdle in the way of life that we are taking to the Kingdom.
Imagine a high hurdler getting ready to run a race in the Olympics and discovering that the organizers had forgotten to put up the hurdles in his lane. The athlete would ask for the race to be delayed until the hurdles could be set up, because without the hurdles he could not win. We need to take a positive attitude towards the hurdles that God has placed on our path on the race for the Kingdom. They are there for us to overcome, and we cannot overcome without something there to overcome. God wants us to learn to depend on Him, to seek Him for help in overcoming, and we learn this lesson from trials, the hurdles in our life. Fortunately God will never try us beyond that which we are able to bear. We can jump over whatever hurdles we find in our path because otherwise the Father would not have allowed them to be there.
When we are tried, we should not be surprised but rejoice that God loves us and gives us these tests to fulfill His promise: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."
*We are praying for you, we have been going through a lot of the same hurdles over the last several years of our lives and it never seems to end and we know exactly how you feel. Keep your heads up there, we will pray for peace. God still loves you even though it feels like all the crap in the world has fallen in your lap.
Love you guys,
((hugs))
The Meek Family
A new prayer is on the way! Love you guys and I am grateful for the window into your lives through the newly found blog. We still miss you out here in Oregon, especially since we live in your old stomping grounds now in Newberg. Thank you for sharing your honesty and faith and the joy that comes from the uniting of the two.
Love Tim, Melissa, and Sophie
Wow, you truely inspire and amaze me with your strength and willingness to laugh about the things of this life. Our pastor talked about just this very thing on Sunday, I would encourage you to listen to the message, go here: http://www.atheycreek.com/ and click on "Bible Teachings" on the left, then select the one for last Sunday on Father's Day (it's not quite up yet) Hang in there guys!
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