He lifts me up…

Path to the Swanbourne footbridge by Nick Bridge

Good morning, beloved!

An interesting question was posed to me today. What is the Lord’s message to you in this? The “this” has been a challenging couple of weeks. We have been essentially without heat. We have space heaters. The heat in the bedrooms upstairs has worked but that’s the only area, oh, and the laundry room. Last night, the sewer line began backing up into the house. I finally hit my limit. I threw some clothes, the kids and we began to pull out of the garage. (Joshua and the dog are staying to let men into the house today..) As I pulled out, the car hit something. And I had a mini-collapse. As many of you know, our last dog was hit by a train. My fear that I had somehow hit our dog…

The garage door didn’t open entirely. It was okay. As we drove on, the kids began singing to me. You Lift Me Up by The Afters, songs by Matt Maher, and then we began singing Veggie Tales Silly Songs. We began to lift our eyes. The kids coached me to sing. I needed it. I needed to remember.

The Lord‘s message to me, first a reminder,

Heavy black clouds of dust rising over the Texas Panhandle, Texas Photo by Arthur Rothstein (1915–1985)

¹²[For] Our ·fight [conflict; struggle] is not against ·people on earth [^Lflesh and blood] but against the rulers and authorities and the ·powers [or cosmic powers/rulers] of this ·world’s darkness [^Ldarkness], against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly ·world [realm; places]. ¹³·That is why you need to [^LFor this reason,] put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil [^Cpersecution generally or end-time tribulation] you will be able to ·stand strong [keep your ground; resist the enemy]. And ·when you have finished the whole fight [^Lafter you have done/accomplished everything], you will still be standing. Ephesians 6 EXB

I look at this picture, I see a car racing to stay ahead of the impending doom. Here’s the interesting thing to me, on this side of the camera, it is clear. The enemy will always be at my heels. He will always taunt me. Schemes will come and go, yet I stand in the power of the blood of Christ, which has NEVER lost it’s power. Ever. With God, He is my blue skies. He is my clarity and reason. He brings the gifts, like children singing, like parents welcoming us in, like my Joshua staying behind to welcome the workers in…God wants me to thank Him for this day. To find the gifts, to find the treasures He has provided…

The armor of God will keep me standing. How about you? Will you remember His word when the sewer backs up, when the heat stops working, when personal conflicts threaten to overwhelm? I am no superhero. I lost it last night for a time. Yet, He reminded me.

I waited patiently for the Lord.
He ·turned [bent down; inclined; stooped] to me and heard my cry.
²He ·lifted [drew] me out of the pit of ·destruction [or desolation],
out of the ·sticky mud [miry/muddy pit/bog/swamp].
He ·stood me [^Lplaced my feet] on a rock
and made my ·feet [^Lstep] steady. Psalm 40 EXB

Three gifts in the kitchen (Ann Voskamp, Joy Dare)

My thankfuls:

142. My Mom in the kitchen this morning..making breakfast while I type.

143. My boys in the kitchen eating breakfast and not arguing.

144. Food. Thank You Lord for all of your provisions…

Pray on. Pray on.