Where Life Begins

I’ve been walking since this morning, same socks, same shoes and it wasn’t until tonight when I went to prayer walk a different path that I felt a sticker poking me in my sock. On my second lap, I stopped a short second, felt inside my sock, hoping to find the thorn poking me and nothing... even though I knew it was there. In my mind I had two thoughts: 1.) Stop, cut my walk short, and sit on the park bench to find the stinking thorn. Or 2.) Press in, finish my walk with God, and then find the thorn. As I’m debating in my mind what to do, that’s when God showed me how this past year, when my season changed drastically, causing discomfort...I pressed in. Just as Paul was given a thorn, I believe to keep him centered, God gave me a thorn...and maybe you are thinking of your thorn right now. I pleaded like Paul, but God did not remove the thorn...and there’s purpose in that. There’s purpose in the thorn. The thorn was not meant to stop me but advance me in my God given purpose. I didn’t s...

We’ve all heard it said...when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Jeremy has mentioned that he wants to turn our old mower into a farm cart to use around the homestead. Yesterday while hauling the chickens’ 5 gallon water to the coop...I thought I sure could use that cart right about now. Then when I began to carry the pavers from the barn to the coop, my arms aching, I was daydreaming of that cart. In that moment I could hear God say...it’s the weight we are willing to carry that determines the strength we gain. Really think about that. And it’s not just our strength He wants to build, but our character too. So often we want easy, a short cut, cheap, right now...but that’s just not how God works. There’s a process to everything. When we don’t walk out the process, counting the cost, we often miss the purpose behind the trial before us. Rather it’s feeling disconnected with our spouse, a wayward child, a conflict in our business...life is hard and the devil is right there tempt...