Life's ups and downs

I’ll be honest. Things have been crazy the past few weeks. I mean really crazy and not always in a good crazy way.

We said good-bye to Janelle along with another family who left South Africa, dealt with unresolved car problems, had a cyst on my arm burst, learned of the unexpected death of two friends, sorted through boarder problems, mourned with my mom over the loss of her dog, found out about a tax audit (can you believe the timing?) endured internet issues (meaning no internet for days), grieved with a friend who’s marriage has fallen apart…

I’ll stop there, but then there’s also the not quite as important things like the Wii went out, the DVD player went out, the TV’s going out…

It’s been a constant barrage of stuff that has to be dealt with beyond the normal ministry issues. You know what I mean, the urgent vs. the important.

God’s good, though, at always helping to put things into perspective. I just finished reading a non-fiction book about a woman who was the only survivor in her family during the holocaust. I’ve also been closely following our friends in Japan who are making a huge impact for the kingdom of God as they minister to hundreds of people who have lost everything.

Somehow, not having a Wii suddenly seems very unimportant. And even the more serious things are still things we’ll get through.

This weekend we’re headed off to the beach thanks to a free weekend given to us by the owners. We need it. Of course, we’ll spend Sunday in the villages and Scott will still be working on taxes while I help him get everything together, but it will be a blessing for our family to spend some real quality time together for the first time in several months.

Along with all of this, I’ve started reading Stormie Omartian’s Power of a Praying Parent. Through it, I’ve been reminded of the power of prayer and how essential it is to make prayer a priority, “…for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but …the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

What about you?

Whether the things you are facing today are simply small and irritating or if your world has just crumbled apart, look to Him remember that our “momentary struggles are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us!” (Romans 8:18)

To end on a positive note, I just received some pretty cool news. Blood Ransom is a finalist in the Christy Award category for Contemporary Romance. This was completely unexpected, though very exciting news for this book. If you don’t know about the Christy Awards, you can check it out here.

Be blessed today!

Lisa