Sweet Faces

 Yesterday we enjoyed spending time with friends and their cute little ones!

Don't Miss the Hard Answers

It's always encouraging for me to see how the Lord answers prayer.  Sometimes the answer is not quite the way I thought it would happen, but I am thankful for it just the same.  

But what if the answer is hidden in a hard thing that brings to light feelings and attitudes in my heart that are not too pretty?  Then it's easy to just get frustrated and completely miss the fact that this hard situation could be THE ANSWER to my prayers.  

This is the kind of answer I had recently.

Lately I've been praying for humility.  A good idea, don't you think? :-)

Well, along came a situation where over the course of a few days several things happened that made me feel really left out, unimportant etc. 

It was unusual.  

Of course I assumed these things were done unintentionally, but I still struggled at times to respond graciously.  I was confused.....and getting frustrated. Then one day as I was thinking through it all and praying about it, a new thought hit me: Could this be God answering my prayer?? 


These 'happenings' showed me my selfishness and pride and gave me great opportunities to practice humility and forbearance.  They made me turn to the Lord for help.  So, yes, it does seem like an answer!  

I hasten to add that by no means is my pride and selfishness conquered, I still struggle with it. But I was really comforted and encouraged to see the Lord working in my life!!  He loves me so much that He would send hard things to show me something that was not pleasing to Him. 

For whom the Lord loves He corrects,

Just as a father the son in whom he delights.

~ Proverbs 3:12

The answers to our prayers are always good, even when they come to us in a way that is not "fun".  

And sometimes we can miss the answer. 
I almost did.

Mission Accomplished - World Record Freefall

Felix Baumgartner reached an estimated speed of 1,342.8 km/h or 834.4 mph (Mach 1.24) jumping from the stratosphere, which when certified will make him the first man to break the speed of sound in freefall and set several other records while delivering valuable data for future space exploration.

I believe in God, and I truly think there is a plan that He has for everybody. And I also think He has a plan for me; it looks like I’m becoming an Astronaut. Locking myself in a pressure capsule and going up to 130,000 feet . . . and I’m going to slide the door open, bail out, and I’m going to be the first human person, in free-fall, breaking the speed of sound. That’s His plan, and that’s probably my last goal to accomplish. —Felix Baumgartner

This week, the world stopped to watch a man fall from the sky. Exactly sixty-five years to the day after Chuck Yeager’s inspirational, record-setting flight breaking the sound barrier, Felix Baumgartner would break multiple records with his jump out of his helium-filled balloon at 128,100 feet. After his literal “leap of faith” into the unknown, the Austrian reached a speed of 833 mph through the near vacuum of the stratosphere before being slowed by the atmosphere later during his 4 minute and 20 second-long free-fall. At the age of forty-three, Baumgartner also broke the records for highest free-fall and highest manned balloon flight in history. This privately-funded experiment tested the boundaries of technology and skill, and inspired millions that there are great adventures yet to be had....

Read the rest of the article HERE  :-)

Joyful

Repentance, the Joyful Heartbeat of the Christian Life  -  An excellent sermon by Mark Suchta on repentance.  Dad, Ana, and I heard this live last Sunday, and I found it really encouraging!  It's only 35 minutes long...click on the title to go listen!

"Because we didn't earn our way into God's family, we can't sin our way out."

"How Great is the Love"