Keeping that Chin Up

One more snowstorm.  This has to be it, right?  At least the last big one.  I have no problem with winter.  In fact, as a native Northeast Ohioan, I find myself thoroughly annoyed when others complain about our weather.  For the last 30 years of my life it's snowed buckets for 3-4 months every single winter.  How is it possible that people are somehow surprised by it?  So, a good December, January or February snowstorm is just part-and-parcel as far as I'm concerned. 

Technically this qualifies as a February snowstorm, but there's something about how March is totally on the horizon... 5 days away... and that darn tease of a warm-up we had a couple weeks ago (my poor crocuses popped up and are now buried under those mounds of snow) that makes this one seem especially challenging.  Maybe it's also the fact that I haven't left the house in 5 days.  Yep, 5.  Housebound.  That could drive any sane girl nuts. 

So, let's try to see something positive here.  For the sake of my sanity! 
Points to focus on as I'm stuck here at home for yet another day:

• I've gone the whole week without putting gas in my tank.  Saved us about $50 there!
• I've lived a quiet and unstressful week-- filled only with the demands of housework and children with no outside stressors. 
• This snow gives the boys one more (and this is it-- fingers crossed!) big snow to go sledding or play in.
• We've been kept safe from icy, dangerous roads.
• I've had all kinds of time to work on my huge basement project-- cleaning, organizing, purging.
• I have an excuse for yet another "movie day" with no guilt.

 I just need to keep repeating this mantra in my mind today-- the sun will shine again, the sun will shine again.

Potted Hyacinth

My birthday was last week.  My sweet husband did a wonderful job of making me feel special.  He's a good man.  Sometimes I doubt whether he'll come through in the way I think I want him to, but he always does.  Come through, that is.  It's most often not in the way I think I want him to.  That's really the joy of marriage though.  Having someone who knows you even better than you know yourself.

Among other birthday gifts, he brought home a potted hyacinth plant.  I've always wanted to grow hyacinths in our garden-- he knew that.  I could use something beautiful to cheer up the cold winter days-- he knew that too.  I wanted to feel feminine-- he brought me the quintessential feminine gift, flowers.   And he knows I hate throwing money away, so he brought something that I can enjoy today as it brightens my kitchen, and in years to come as it brightens our front garden.

That man knows his wife.  Because, in the end all I really want is to feel special.  And I did, and I do.  Thanks to that wonderful man who chose me.

30 Today!!

I received the following email from my dad this morning, on my birthday.  My eyes are still pouring tears over this one.

 Titled "The Day, 30 years ago..."
…and there was a rainbow.  A colorful full rainbow sitting above the hospital embellishing the birth of a beautiful baby girl (with my nose).  Imagine a rainbow in the middle of February--in Ohio.  What a special day and what a special girl!  God announced the birth by providing color to an otherwise grey day—a day that wasn’t special until the girl was born.  He decorated the sky for this special moment.  Thank you for bringing color to my life.  I hope your day is a special one.  I love you and happy birthday.

Never forget, Dads, the power you have in the lives of your children.  Even when they're 30 years old you have the power to make them feel like the most special person on earth.  I relish that I have a Dad who gets it and loves me this much!

My Strength

I have always had a mistaken understanding of the idea that God will give me strength.  He does provide strength in moments of need, but I somehow have believed that Scripture teaches He will give me the strength I need.  In a more careful study of His word, I have become aware that what He actually promises is so much more.  Not just that He will "give" us strength, but that, in fact, He will become our strength.  Countless Old Testament verses state explicitly that "The Lord IS my strength."  (Ex 15:2; Neh 8:10; Ps 18:1; Ps 28:7; Ps 59:17; etc.)

For me it is infinitely more reassuring to know that in moments of weakness I need not sit and wait to feel the strength imparted to me, but that I can proceed forward bodly and confidently knowing He goes before, literally as my strength.  I do not need to rely on anything in myself-- what I feel does not matter at all.  His word assures me that He is in fact available.  Strength to face each and every battle.  Perfect strength that will always win. 

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength."  (Habakkuk 3:19)... and today I claim Him as I face my day.

My God

Writing has eluded me for the last week or so.  Do you ever get bogged down by the stresses of life and just lack energy for anything but the physical essentials?  Sleep, eat, care for home/kids/husband... repeat.  These are very important, but so is taking moments to think about that which is bigger than the immediate demands of life.

In this stolen moment, I am reflecting on how the Lord has carried me in the past, and how I trust He will carry me in the future.  In an effort to never forget what He has done and what I have learned (Philippians 3:16), I am pausing on Psalm 40:5

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done.  The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare."

I would love to hear an account of all the Lord has done in your life-- when I sit and think on a list from my life, I am overwhelmed.  He surely has moved mountains in the name of rescuing His children.  My hearts yearns to remember each of these miracles-- tiny or monumental.   Even more importantly, I strive to reflect on the way He carries me even when there is no miracle.  Even in the moments of disappointment and desperation, He acts.  He is here, present, loving me. 

My Savior did not just die to bring me eternal life as a one-time, isolated act.  He is saving me each and every day.  Carrying me, sustaining me, providing for me.  That's the God I am passionate to know better.  That's the God I seek to grow closer to, to serve more.  That's the God I want my kids to know.  That's the God I love.