Weathering the storm

I have been struggling the last week thinking about possibly writing this post. I think about how social media can make such personal matters public, whether you're ready to address the matters or not. I have been thinking about Grace and her cousins and how their whole lives are documented by social media and how one bad decision doesn't just go away like it might have when we were young. My heart breaks for our youth (and adults alike) and the publicity their bad decision receive. These thoughts remind me to model where I find my value. Grace will learn more from my actions than words and I have been reminded to be conscious of getting my value from being a child of God.

Through pain and "pull back" this week, I had friends reach out just to let me know I was in their prayers. I feel like God prompted these friends one way or another and many were spiritual mentors to me... I just cannot chalk that up as a coincidence. I think it's God knowing our needs before we ask for them and delivering when we do. Alex is the best leader of our home. He encouraged me that though I am hurt, I'm not helpless in prayer. I humbled myself and found peace in prayer and asking others to pray. And God delivered.

I came across some things in my reading that I found timely. In my study last week, Beth Moore talked about weathering a storm due to another person's poor judgement (in reference to the shipwreck Paul experienced on his way to Rome). I loved her tips for surviving these storms. 

• Don't pull up the anchor (stay anchored in Christ, the one who holds us steady until the storms begin to rage). 
• Don't give way to the storm (we feel helpless but don't give way to the storm, give way to the Master of the seas). 
• Throw some cargo overboard (storms complicate life enough, ask God to simplify and clarify and throw old cargo overboard).
• Throw tackle overboard (storms serve an important purpose, they help us to see what man-made solutions we are substituting for depending and getting to know God).

Flipping through The Screwtape Letters this week gave insight into the heart of evil. This is coming from the perspective of the devil, "Hatred, we can manage. The tension of human nerves during noise, danger, and fatigue, makes them prone to any violent emotion and it is only during question of guiding this susceptibility into the right channels. If conscience resists, muddle him... Hatred is best combined with fear. Cowardice, alone of all the vices, is purely painful- horrible to anticipate, horrible to feel, horrible to remember." Basically, rereading chapter 29 of the book enabled me to conclude that it's best to try not to understand evil. We are all capable of it and we see evidence of it every day in the news. I think it's best to just realize we are all flawed and the best we can do is pray for each other.

I am thankful for my faith in God and those in my life that will pray for me and my family. In times of helplessness, that's all you can do. Psalm 62:5 "Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him."