Grace Flows Down

From Ashes to Beauty

Do you know that suffering refines our faith?  Do you believe that joy does come in the morning?   If you are not sure about this let me share how joy and happiness can happen for you, if you choose to let the Lord grab ahold of your hand and guide you while being obedient to Him in every way.  If we do not choose His way we can become bitter.  Are you bitter?

Bitter or Better ~ These are the choices we have when we are suffering and going through trials.  Bitter is letting Satan have a hold of you and letting the suffering, grief or trial get the best of you and bring you both physically and emotionally down. Or you can choose better and have hope in the Lord that he will strengthen you and give your more joy and happiness then you could have ever dreamed of. I promise!

I do know both sides, but girlfriend I want to share with you what it is like when we let go of the bitterness and grab of ahold of the better (Jesus’ way). True pure beauty!  God has walked along side me and given me so much joy and happiness.  Let me share that after going through the trials and suffering, I would not want to change back my sufferings.  Yes, I did say I would not change them.  My heart is in a better place today then long ago when I was faced with some great hardship.

My first trial out of the three that I will mention in this story happened right after my second son was born. We found out that he would never hear his mommy talked to him, never hear the birds chirp in the morning. Yes, in my selfish way I would love him to be able to hear.  Honestly though, I know he is happy in his deaf world(deaf friends and culture) and has done a great job of seeking his independence to go to college and graduate with a bachelors degree.  He has traveled all over Europe with a deaf friend, and he has traveled many times on his own too.  He has learned to not let his disability stop him and get in his way of conquering the many desires he has in this life to accomplish.  His determination and successes have taught me so much about my own life and not letting fear get the best of me.

My second and the saddest for me is the loss of my baby son, Tyler Matthew.  Tyler was a gift from God even if I only had him for 8 months.  He was a part of our families future and I now look forward to seeing him soon someday in heaven.  I live with the pain but know he is in such a better place with Jesus and does not have to suffer the sin of this world.  Yes, in my selfishness I would take him back, but that was not God’s plan and I live knowing that I have become a better Mother and closer to the Lord through this journey.

My third trial to mention in this story would be my divorce.  Going through this was tough, for myself but also to see the pain in my boys hearts.

What the future held for me and coming out of this pain and suffering is that the Lord has given me so much more than I could ever have imagined.  He has loved me tenderly through it all and help me see that I needed him more than ever.  So, I grabbed ahold of his hand and took the journey to the other side.  To the majestic side filled with beauty and trust. I am grateful that I died to myself and gave Him my all.  Surrendering fully to Him.  For his plans are greater than mine!

JEREMIAH 29:11 (NIV)

Yes, I know there will probably be more sufferings coming my way,  I fully trust my God and know that with him in my heart, daily dying to myself and fully surrendering to Him, I know he will love and guide me through it all. I trust Him! He has brought so much beauty from the ashes!

Please understand I do not want to sound like this was a fast and quick process for me.  I was broken and a mess.  These trials happen over several years  and God’s work in me has been years in the making and I know I have lots of work to be done yet in the years to come.   He is constantly refining me, but he has taken my mess and brokenness and shined it up!

While at the conference in Spain we broke down into small groups to talk about suffering and to come up with some Biblical Principles on Suffering. I want to share some of these Biblical Principles on Suffering with you.

God allows trials for our good and His glory

God is always sovereign in our suffering

Suffering refines us and perfects us to give us victory and present us faultless before his throne

We can have a positive growth process with tribulation that produces perseverance leading us to hope

The end is maturity and completeness that allows us to comfort and walk with others going through suffering

I am praying you can find the beauty from the ashes!

Do you ever worry about the things in life we are facing?  If you are like me,  I catch myself worrying even though God calls us to not worry and to give our worries to Him.   

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.” Matthew 6:34 (MSG)

Hypocrisy and anxiety are sins the bible tells us.  We need to train ourselves to the true righteousness of the kingdom, then we will avoid these sins and live for God’s glory. 

God tells us that we need to have victory over worry: (1) we need faith for God to meet our need “And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you.  Why do you have so little faith?” Matt. 6:30: (2) we need to know our Father cares for His children and (3) we need to put God first so we know His will for our lives and that He might be glorified. 

If we have faith in our Father and put Him first, He will meet our needs.  

Maybe he won’t meet them the way we were hoping or praying for, but in His will He will meet them.   Do not be surprised if it is by teaching us a different way, to bring us closer to him while changing our thinking. I admit I have some thinking that could use some changing.

So let us live out today and this weekend together taking our worries to the Lord.  Asking Him to show us how to live in faith for Him and putting Him first!

I am putting this into practice as I get ready to fly across the big pond to join some lovely ladies on a mission trip next week.  Prayers appreciated!  I will be praying for you too as you live out faith, Him, first!

She accomplished a huge amount in a single day as a busy farmers wife would do.  She would get up each morning at 4:00 AM most of her life to help milk the cows, then go inside to make a cooked breakfast every morning.  She tended to the chickens in her huge chicken house there on the farm.  We are talking like a large quantity of chickens and so this brings on a huge amount of eggs. During the week she would sell cartons of eggs to friends and neighbors.  She had a garden, a very big garden by most people standards and she would do her canning and freezing of every lush green vegetable she grew.  On the farm we would butcher our own meat so we would wrap and freeze a whole beef. Oh yes and I watched her over the years removing the hair from many of a dead chicken for us to later consume.  She had her set days for laundry and cleaning.  You always knew on a Monday this was the day to do the laundry and it was going to be hanging outside even on the coldest days.  This brings back the memories of the beautiful smell of wash when she would hang it outside or walking into her kitchen while she was ironing it all, even the sheets.  (Shh! Don’t tell my hubby this or he might want me ironing our sheets.)

A picture of her and my grandfather with the milker hooked up to milk the cows.

Okay, so by now are you getting how hard of a worker she was?  Since a hard worker is not the most note worthy thing to mention about her, I need to share with you her love for family. She was very devoted to her family.  She was surrounded by her family every day. Living next door was my Aunt and Uncle with their five boys (my cousins) and my family lived on the adjoining farm, my father and mother and my two brothers. All I had to do to see her was go through the corn field, up and over a fence (when I was little I went through it or under it), walked through the pasture watching for the cow patties and climbed over the next fence. Sometimes I would ride my bike through the connecting lane that was at the end of some long fields and ride to see her.  She was my bright spot in my day!  She was always and I say always so happy to see all of us.  She loved to have us all visit her! I remember her always baking to make sure she had something special to serve anyone who stopped in for a visit.

She had a love for children and loved her babies.  She served in the nursery for over sixty years faithfully nearly every Sunday morning.  She served babies who in later years became the mother or fathers of babies she was taking care of.  When the parents brought in their babies to be cared for by her she would tell them in her sweet voice “I used to change your diaper too.” I heard her say this to many and I mean many parents through the years.  To no surprise the parents responded only with their face a bright shade of red.

This picture is her with my oldest  She loved my boys so dearly.

This love for children she had reminds me of the love Jesus has for His children.

But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” Matthew 19:14 NLT

My grandmother loved us unconditionally and even as we made mistakes, she still loved us.  Yes, she was a wonderful grandma to me and my brothers and cousins but she loved on her great grandchildren too. I witness this when my oldest son was born.  She adored him and always took advantage of the time she could sit and read to him or get down on the floor (in her eighties I must add) with him as she would with any of her offspring.  She taught my boys compassion, love, grace, kindness, laughter as she did with any of us grandchildren or great grandchildren.

Here she is holding my oldest son

and here she is down on the floor with my younger son.

Friday is my grandmothers birthday!  Happy Birthday Grandma!  Love you!  You are still having an impact on my life in wonderful ways! I am blessed to have had such a wonderful Grandma!