Use it...

I was blessed by this devotion and wanted to share it.


My Struggles are About Him
by: Max Lucado

What about your struggles? Is there any chance, any possibility, that you have been selected to struggle for God's glory? Have you "been granted for Christ's sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake" (Philippians 1:29)?

Here is a clue. Do your prayers seem to be unanswered? What you request and what you receive aren't matching up? Don't think God is not listening. Indeed he is. He may have higher plans.

Here is another. Are people strengthened by your struggles? A friend of mine can answer yes. His cancer was consuming more than his body; it was eating away at his faith. Unanswered petitions perplexed him.Well-meaning Christians confused him. "If you have faith," they said, "you will be healed."

No healing came. Just more chemo, nausea, and questions. He assumed the fault was a small faith. I suggested another answer. "It's not about you," I told him. "Your hospital room is a showcase for your Maker. Your faith in the face of suffering cranks up the volume of God's song."
Oh, that you could have seen the relief on his face. To know that he hadn't failed God and God hadn't failed him--this made all the difference. Seeing his sickness in the scope of God's sovereign plan gave his condition a sense of dignity. He accepted his cancer as an assignment from heaven: a missionary to the cancer ward.

A week later I saw him again. "I reflected God," he said, smiling through a thin face, "to the nurse, the doctors, my friends. Who knows who needed to see God, but I did my best to make him seen."

Bingo. His cancer paraded the power of Jesus down the Main Street of his world.
God will use whatever he wants to display his glory. Heavens and stars. History and nations. People and problems.

Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God.

Through your problems and mine, may God be seen.

Recent happenings!

Since my last post, quite a lot has been going on! We went camping with Greg's family over the 4th of July out at Gun Lake. (Funny name, but the lake is actually shaped like a gun...weird huh?) It was so fun spending time with all Greg's cousins, aunts and uncles, siblings, parents and grandparents. This year the cousins thought it would be fun to create a mini triathlon, which turned out to be quite a riot! I joked that I would compete in the bike, float, and walk preggo triathlon. But, I did end up doing the 4 mile bike and 1/2 mile walk portions with the others. We had opening ceremonies with a special speech from Uncle Chuck out by the lake, followed by award ceremonies at the finish line where the aunts draped a yogurt lid attached by a paperclip to a candy necklace around the first place winner (stellar performance Elliot!) Mom M. and I were awarded the oldest and youngest competitor award with candy pacifiers (very appropriate don't you think?). Next year I am bringing my A game to this new tradition!

Some beach time...

The start of the race...

Elliot's crowning moment :)

Glowing with enthusiasm over our coveted ring pops...

Next we went up north to visit my lovely Lauren and her husband Dave for the following weekend. It happened to fall on only the biggest day of the year for small-town Weidman... Weidman Daze!! OK, this is pretty much your stereotypical po dunk small town festival. They have a small parade with mostly firetrucks and tractors, a small firework show, and the classic festival activities including tractor pulls, craft shows, and a dunk tank. The highlight was watching Greg and Dave compete in a fireman water hose contest where they had to push this tank across a wire using the power from the hose. It pretty much turned into a water fight....boys. Geesh.

In front of Lauren's recent house update....love that fireplace!

What a talented husband she has :)

32 weeks...

Thirty

Well, I feel like I'm finally in the homestretch...officially 30 weeks today! It feels so good knowing there's only 10 weeks left (or less hopefully)! Here's a few pics I forgot to post along the way...

27.5 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks!

My legs have definitely started swelling more...even at the beginning of the day sometimes. And the veins continue to worsen. But, I have learned how to camouflage and wear lots of long dresses and skirts to avoid the stares. I have a normal check up appointment Thursday, and after that I will go every 2 weeks. I still feel pretty relaxed. No nightmares of birthing yet. No dreams of ugly babies. Not too much anxieties really. But, I am anticipating the 2 month push where you feel like you have so much to do in so little time. We still need to paint the baby room and move all the furniture in. But, for now I'm doing pretty good. However, ask me in 2 weeks, and I may suddenly feel overwhelmed. We'll see...

Flood of '09

So here's the latest for those that did not hear about the torrential rain we had in our area last Friday night...

It started raining Friday evening. Lightning. Thunder. The whole works. It got progressively worse in a short amount of time. Before we knew it, there was a river running between our house and the neighbors. Greg was next door at the time helping a friend install some flooring. He called and frantically said to check the basement. I had just been down there 30 seconds before he called. When I returned, there was water pouring down the basement windows. My neighbor Jen was over at the time, and we quick grabbed some towels to stuff the windows with. Like that was going to help. Come on. It was like the ship was sinking. There's nothing you can do to stop it, so you start collecting as much stuff as you can to get it to a dry spot. Thankfully, our basement is unfinished. We have some old couches and carpet that we put down there for a temporary hang out spot.

Greg and Mark (neighbor) came back to lift the couches on rubber totes. That worked. For a while. Until the water was so high, the totes started to float. When we checked on them again, all 3 couches had fallen off and were halfway under water. In the meantime, Greg and Mark went around outside trying to "save the neighborhood". People with finished basements, and tons of keepsakes were helplessly under water. Kids down the street were rowing in canoes in the middle of the street while cars were barely able to drive to their homes for fear of floating away.

Our house has NEVER flooded since it was built. Our neighborhood has been flooded before, but never water in OUR basement. We moved in less than a year ago, and it floods. Go figure.

Anyway, it was a wild experience....here's some pics for the record.

front doorstep (8 inches away from the water coming through the front door..yikes!)

We propped up the baby furniture on anything we could find. The garage only had about 3 in.
The sunroom with 2-3 inches, but everything got cleared out before the water crept in...

The basement with 18 inches! This is after those darn couches fell off the totes. At least we tried to save them....oh well.

Our backyard completely underwater...

And proof that we did indeed survive...

That's right...22 inches!

We are drying out with fans and dehumidifiers that have been running nonstop since Friday. The water table under our house must still be high though because our basement still has water seeping through the walls. With yesterday and today being 90 deg and HOT and HUMID, it has not really help get the mucky mildew smell out either! But, I'm thankful we saved what we could, when so many others had to strip their basements down to the studs following this "100 year flood".

Sweet Seventeen

A day late, but Happy Birthday Gretch! You're so fun, so energetic, so friendly, and now SOOO mature....well kinda :) Enjoy being seventeen. It only happens once!

Worth your time

This is a video worth watching as soon as possible. It is an encouragement and a blessing.

http://deathisnotdying.com/

I have not stopped thinking about it ALL day!

Feeling encouraged

I have really appreciated all your kind words and have really felt encouraged since my last post. Sometimes you just need to vent you know?? But seriously, God has shown me kindness and comfort over the past few days. He has reminded me of his faithfulness during hard times while I sat and read old blog and journal entries. He reminded me of a verse in Hebrews that talks about making sacrifices and how you will reap the benefits in the end. He has reminded me of his creation. In the same way that our little girl is being knit in my womb, God has also knit me. I am beautiful. Pregnant OR not. I am beautiful. And, He has reminded me of the true and deep love my husband has for me. All the memories of how Greg has shown me grace and strength in the past came flooding back, and reminded me just how much he cares about me.





The Lord has brought me through so much over the last few years...why would He fail me now?? And as a mentor of mine said recently, at least there is an end in sight with this one...only 3 more months!





Not to say that these feelings won't re-enter in the future, but for now....I am resting in peace. :)

(26 weeks)