Back from the blog hiatus...

Aren't you thankful the Lord goes before us, always? I am. A week ago I heard a sermon about being tired and weary. I wasn't worn down just then, though I sure could relate to the feeling! As the week went on, I realized that the context of that sermon was SO for me. It's was just another example of how the Lord goes before us and prepares our hearts, priming us for what's to come.

In the time between that sermon and now - two of the kids and I had a week-long stomach bug. The neighborhood yard sale I'd been organizing started off on the hottest day of the year (close to 100 degrees) during which, the stomach bug continued and my ankles swelled to an unrecognizable state; I wish I were joking. We sweated through it and had a successful sale, but we were quite relieved to be finished. As soon as the sale was over, I got my terribly off-schedule children down for a rest. I thought to myself, "a break...finally." Um, wrong again.

About an hour-and-a-half into our "break" we heard the wind kick up a little. I didn't think much of it until the house started getting dark and the the power suddenly went out. No flicker, no warning, no idea a storm was coming - just sudden and total darkness. The kids and I scurried downstairs to find dark green, fast-moving clouds rolling through and big trees swaying from side as if they were feathers in the wind. The storm came and went and forty-some hours later after two nights of indoor "camping," enduring very hot temperatures with not so much as a breeze in the atmosphere, and a fridge and freezer full of spoiled food, our power came back on.

Though I was physically tired, and miserable, and weary, I knew my only relief would be to make a conscious effort to focus on Christ. I was thankful to be spiritually sound knowing He'd pull us through in His time.

How many times do we face storms like this amidst just when we're feeling great? Much like the storm that rolled through our community, sometimes in life's storms, there's no flicker, no warning, just sudden and prolonged darkness around us. We may feel like the trees at times, being tossed in every direction at the mercy of something much larger. If we're faithful, though, we focus on Christ. We look to Him in our struggles and realize that it's for His glory no matter how tired we grow. We can find rest in His plan no matter what's happening around us. For that, I am so thankful.

This post is linked up to Grace Laced Mondays, and Better Mom Mondays Hop on over to to those awesome sites to see who else is sharing.