Praise you In this Storm

• My heart aches right now for so many people. I can't begin to understand the depths of their pain. It breaks my heart that our little church family is hurting so much right now. Today, JoEllen went to be with her Lord and Savior, and while we rejoice that she is in Glory, we know her family will miss her so much and will grieve for her endlessly. Another woman in our church, her daughter is preparing to meet her Savior, only He knows the time, but all things point to it being soon. A nephew of another family suffers in the hospital, such a young boy, so scared. And too many are fighting cancer right now, including my aunt - if you are checking in on me today, you are in my prayers- I love you- and my brother-in-laws struggles with the disease that is still ravaging his body. Our church is small. Just over 100 families. This is a lot of hurt for us.

• And while it breaks my heart to see so many people that I care for hurting, I know and take comfort in the fact that God is the same God that He was last week, He is the same God He was 2000 years ago, and He will continue to be the same great and mighty God that He has always been. I know that He is walking through these storms with all of us. And His Grace is sufficient-- He tells us so: "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2Cor. 12:9 This is the same story which I recalled earlier when Paul begged God to take away his thorn. God's answer was no, but His grace, got Paul through it.

• Sometimes the storm bears down full force and seems to destroy anything in its path. Sometimes we feel destroyed by the storm. The beauty of faith is that our Heavenly Father is there to build us up again-- even better than before. In the midst of all this heart break in our small church family.... 2 babies born, healthy and well, and so sweet in all of their sweet cuddly babyness. ( I don't know if its a word and I don't care!) God brings new life into this world. While it doesn't take away the pain of loss of a loved one, it does offer hope. Hope in Him. He is with us. His grace will uphold us, and there is eternal life.
• Still praying for all of these storms to go well, and knowing that we will praise God in the storm!