Today I had the opportunity to speak at a mom's group that I'm part of. I thought it might be nice to go ahead and write about what I shared. It's nothing groundbreaking or anything but hopefully could be an encouragement to someone.
If you've read my blog lately you know that I've not been the happiest person. I feel like all I've done for the last couple of months is complain! It has been a rough winter with pregnancy and sickness. We had a round of flu a few weeks ago and then just last week my husband had strep and my son got a stomach bug that won't seem to go away! We've been stuck at home a lot. It seems like someone doesn't feel well all the time! I have been longing to get back to normal. For everyone, including myself, to feel good! I want to cook healthy meals and sit down at the table as a family. I want to be able to keep up on housework so that it's not so overwhelming when all of the chores don't get finished! I want to get out and do something fun as a family! On top of not feeling well, we are still dealing with furnace issues. It's not been working properly for a while. We've had a repair company out to look at it a couple of times but they can't figure out the problem and keep telling us that if we want them to look further it's going to cost more money just to look. We aren't sure whether to have it checked out or just buy a new one. If we have to buy a new one that is going to hurt our budget and we are trying to save for a new car since we will need something larger when the baby comes! Sometimes it feels like one thing after another. Life's circumstances can really kick you when you're down! Sometimes it's just nice to let it all out!
When it seems like everything is piling up that is when I stop and remember this quote, "it is not well with my circumstances but it is well with my soul." I first heard this a couple of years ago at the Hearts at Home conference. Jennifer Rothschild was the speaker and she had a powerful testimony of how she went blind when she was 15. She talked about how she had to learn to live in these new circumstances.
Sometimes we have life changing circumstances. One thing that really altered my life was the death of my mom 5 years ago. It was sudden and unexpected. I felt more helpless than ever before. I had a brand new baby and was learning to be a mom while at the same time grieving the loss of my own mother. I used to talk to her 3 or 4 times a week and sometimes about nothing at all. After she died our family really felt that void. We all grieved in different ways and her death altered my relationship with my family. We've had to learn how to be a family without my mom. My dad is remarried so we've also had to learn how to be part of a new family. I think we have come a long way but even after 5 years we are still figuring things out!
These are not the circumstances I wanted for my life. I never found anything good or meaningful from my mom's death but I think that's ok. I know that I still have many blessings to be thankful for. I also know that I have promises from God that I can hold on to. Like the promise of His love and faithfulness. Isaiah 54:10 says "For the mountains may move and the hills may disappear but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you."
There is a promise that even in my circumstances I can flourish in Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 "So all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image."
And an even better promise that this is not the conclusion to the story. Something better is still coming. Revelation 21:3-4
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
It is not well with my circumstances but it is well with my soul.
If you've read my blog lately you know that I've not been the happiest person. I feel like all I've done for the last couple of months is complain! It has been a rough winter with pregnancy and sickness. We had a round of flu a few weeks ago and then just last week my husband had strep and my son got a stomach bug that won't seem to go away! We've been stuck at home a lot. It seems like someone doesn't feel well all the time! I have been longing to get back to normal. For everyone, including myself, to feel good! I want to cook healthy meals and sit down at the table as a family. I want to be able to keep up on housework so that it's not so overwhelming when all of the chores don't get finished! I want to get out and do something fun as a family! On top of not feeling well, we are still dealing with furnace issues. It's not been working properly for a while. We've had a repair company out to look at it a couple of times but they can't figure out the problem and keep telling us that if we want them to look further it's going to cost more money just to look. We aren't sure whether to have it checked out or just buy a new one. If we have to buy a new one that is going to hurt our budget and we are trying to save for a new car since we will need something larger when the baby comes! Sometimes it feels like one thing after another. Life's circumstances can really kick you when you're down! Sometimes it's just nice to let it all out!
When it seems like everything is piling up that is when I stop and remember this quote, "it is not well with my circumstances but it is well with my soul." I first heard this a couple of years ago at the Hearts at Home conference. Jennifer Rothschild was the speaker and she had a powerful testimony of how she went blind when she was 15. She talked about how she had to learn to live in these new circumstances.
Sometimes we have life changing circumstances. One thing that really altered my life was the death of my mom 5 years ago. It was sudden and unexpected. I felt more helpless than ever before. I had a brand new baby and was learning to be a mom while at the same time grieving the loss of my own mother. I used to talk to her 3 or 4 times a week and sometimes about nothing at all. After she died our family really felt that void. We all grieved in different ways and her death altered my relationship with my family. We've had to learn how to be a family without my mom. My dad is remarried so we've also had to learn how to be part of a new family. I think we have come a long way but even after 5 years we are still figuring things out!
These are not the circumstances I wanted for my life. I never found anything good or meaningful from my mom's death but I think that's ok. I know that I still have many blessings to be thankful for. I also know that I have promises from God that I can hold on to. Like the promise of His love and faithfulness. Isaiah 54:10 says "For the mountains may move and the hills may disappear but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you."
There is a promise that even in my circumstances I can flourish in Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18 "So all of us who have had the veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord-who is the Spirit-makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image."
And an even better promise that this is not the conclusion to the story. Something better is still coming. Revelation 21:3-4
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
It is not well with my circumstances but it is well with my soul.
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