Maybe This Year....

"Will the young woman find a mate? Will the couple have a child? Maybe this year will be the year of desire fulfilled. Perhaps, on the other hand, it will be the year of desire radically transformed, the year of finding, as we have perhaps not yet truly found, Christ to be the All-Sufficient One, Christ the 'deep, sweet well of Love.'" -Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart

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Praying for this sort of year for each of you friends, and for my own family as well. We all have certain unmet desires, yes? May we be able to say {truly} along with the Psalmist this year, "Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you."

Happy New Year!

Suffering in Light of God's Sovereignty

 *In light of Friday's sad event, I thought it wise to save this week's Monday's Resolution for another Monday. Praying for the families who've lost loved ones....*

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 “The evil and suffering in this world are greater than any of us can comprehend. But evil and suffering are not ultimate. God is. Satan, the great lover of evil and suffering, is not sovereign. God is.”
― John Piper, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

“I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.”
― Charles Spurgeon

“That which should distinguish the suffering of believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all-powerful and all-loving God. Our suffering has meaning and purpose in God's eternal plan, and He brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and our good.”
― Jerry Bridges, Trusting God: Even When Life Hurts

 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though its mountains tremble at its swelling...'Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!'" Psalm 46:1-3, 10

"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" Gen. 50:20a

Talking to Kids About Ridiculously Scary Things: How to Give Your Kids A Biblical Perspective on the Tragedy in Connecticut @ When You Rise.

Keep a Quiet Heart

"I think I find most help in trying to look on all the interruptions and hindrances to work that one has planned out for oneself as discipline, trials sent by God to help one against getting selfish over one's work. Then one can feel that perhaps one's true work- one's work for God- consists in doing some trifling haphazard thing that has been thrown into one's day. It is not a waste of time, as one is tempted to think, it is the most important part of the work of the day- the part one can best offer to God. After such a hindrance, do not rush after the planned work; trust that the time to finish it will be given sometime, and keep a quiet heart about it." -Annie Keary, 1825-1879, Quoted in Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot

<3 How's your heart today? Are you quietly trusting Him through life's many interruptions?  <3

Busy Housewives and Bible Study

"If a busy housewife has to clear off a spot for Bible study during a crowded day, she is likely to put it off. But if she has a place where her Bible is always open and handy, whenever there is a lull in the storm she can grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a few minutes or more of pure refreshment and companionship." Ruth Bell Graham, It's My Turn 

Gems from the Lovely Ruth Bell Graham

Recently I've been dabbling in Ruth Bell Graham's autobiographical sketches, entitled It's My Turn. My Pastor's wife found it in a thrift store, and after enjoying it herself passed it along to me.

Published in 1982, its tattered cover and scrolling title look every bit a product of its age.

But inside are tucked the most wonderful gems. Bits of wisdom for Christians, wives, and mothers- timeless truths, wonderful words of encouragement, all doused in a good sprinkling of wit and humor.

Here are a few I just had to share:

A Delicious Doctrine

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"From childhood up, my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God’s sovereignty …. It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me. But I remember the time very well, when I seemed to be convinced, and fully satisfied, as to this sovereignty of God. . . But [I] never could give an account, how, or by what means, I was, thus convinced, not in the least imagining at the time, nor a long time after, that there was any extraordinary influence of God’s Spirit in it but only that now I saw further, and my reason apprehended the justice and reasonableness of it. However, my mind rested in it; and it put an end to all those cavils and objections. And there has been a wonderful alteration in my mind, in respect to the doctrine of God's sovereignty, from that day to this; so that I scarce ever have found so much as the rising of an objection against it. . . The doctrine has very often appeared exceeding pleasant, bright, and sweet. Absolute sovereignty is what I love to ascribe to God." -Jonathan Edwards

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