Thursday, June 25, 2009

Doing better...

I sometimes don't realize how much weight I'm carrying until it drives me to the ground. Once on the ground, as terrible as it feels, the burden is off long enough to at least shift around the load so it can be better handled... and hopefully discard some of it in the process.

Back in 1999, God granted me a gift of a wonderful little perpetual flip-calendar: The Grace of Encouragement by Charles R. Swindoll. Each day has a quote from one of his books and a scripture to enhance it. I was incredibly encouraged by the page for June 23rd... just when I needed it most:

The book quote (from "Come Before Winter, p.181): Are you facing some difficult battle today? Don't run! Stand still and refuse to retreat. Look at it as God looks at it and draw upon His power to hold up under the blast.

The scripture (from 2 Chronicles 20:15 NRSV): Thus says the Lord to you "Do not fear or be dismayed at the great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's."

I'm so glad that God does not forsake His children. In the hard times, He knows our struggles and He knows how to send encouragements to us to simply "hold fast" and not let go. He sent to me kind words from friends, a simply adorable bunny watching from the side of the field, and a little flip calendar.
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Godspeed & God Bless

4 comments:

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Glad today looks brighter :0)

These things do come in waves. Makes me thankful that God is unchanging - always faithful.

Julie

Mrs. Squirrel said...

AMEN!

I can't find the scripture, but I believe in there somewhere it says that troubles never come in singles... They come in battalions.

Even if it's not in the scriptures, I believe that it's true.

Thanks so much for your prayers and encouragement. You are a treasure!
:)

Herding Grasshoppers said...

This is kind of random, but a question...

Do "natural" fragrances bother you? Or just artificial/chemical?

I don't mean fragrances that claim to be natural, but real things... like flowers, evergreen trees, garlic, etc.

Just curious.

Julie

Mrs. Squirrel said...

No worries in asking ;)

There are some natural smells that I associate with the 'environmental allergies' that I've had most of my life: Cedar & juniper & sage. It's mostly the pollens that trigger the runny nose on that kind of thing, but sometimes the strong smell of a cedar chest will "almost" trigger a runny nose. [I don't know if it's psychological or if I'm actually allergic to the wood, too.]

All in all, I do pretty well with the stuff that God makes ;)