Praying For Guidance

I'm active on Facebook, and every once in awhile someone will make a very cryptic status update, like "things are difficult right now," or "that's it, I'm done," or, on the cheerier side, "well, that was fun," or "I can't believe I got away with that."

I don't know if it's intended as a bid for attention, but it can come off that way--almost soliciting FB friends to respond and ask "what's wrong?"

There's even a term for it: "Vaguebooking."  The typical sarcastic response is "do you think you could vague that up for me a little?"

Well, this is going to be a vague blog post.  I'm not seeking attention, and I don't want anyone to try to pry my secrets out of me.  My mood is upbeat and positive, and I'm seeing ample evidence that God is in control over even the challenges of our lives.  It's all good.

But there are some changing circumstances in our lives, affecting all our family members, and we're trying to figure out the God-pleasing way forward, and I can't really blog about this stuff..  Some of it's confidential, some of it's awkward, some of it I don't have the approval of family members to share, some of it's just not for public consumption yet.

But I know some of the people reading this are prayer warriors.

And we appreciate your prayers for God's guidance.  We know that He's going to guide us, we know that He has a plan, and we know that what He has in mind is far better than anything we could come up with on our own.

So, thanks for praying for us.  As and when I can talk about some of this, I most assuredly will.

Hope all's well out there, friends, and God bless.

God's Still Watching Over Us

Have I mentioned before that Graphics Magician is adopted?  Long story short, around fourteen years ago Adored Wife and I felt God's overwhelming message that we were going to have more children, and then a scant few weeks later we learned that GM's birth mother was expecting a child out of wedlock and wanted to know if we would adopt.  He's thirteen now.

He's grown up knowing he was adopted and it's never been a big deal to him.  But it was only in conversation with him this past week that all the miraculous "God's leading" stuff came up.  I don't use the word "miraculous" lightly, and I'd just never had the occasion to tell him the particulars.

But, yes, it was a miracle time.  I've rarely experienced a sense of God's direction as clearly as I did fourteen years ago, but it's happened a few times in my life.

And I needed the conversation this week.  I have a few stressful situations in my life right now, and I'm earnestly praying for God's guidance to see me through it.  And the conversation with my son was a reminder that God has always watched over me and seen me through times of testing.  And the timing of that conversation, relating to my son the Providential circumstances surrounding his birth and adoption, came in the midst of me seeking reassurance from God.

Yeah, He's still watching over us.

Hope all's well out there, friends, and God bless.

God Has a Reason for This.....

I'm a big believer in God's sovereignty, right?  He's in control, so everything that happens He either directly causes or allows for His own good reasons.

I know that this gives a lot of people pause, with all the evil and sorrow and suffering in the world, but the alternative is to either believe that evil is somehow stronger than God or to believe that God doesn't truly care, and neither one of those ideas holds water.

So EVERYTHING in my life (and in yours) must be there because somehow, some way, God's going to bring good out of it.

People who deal with chronic health issues and disability face this on a regular basis.  I know a lady with multiple sclerosis, and every single morning before she gets out of bed she has to check to make sure her legs are going to support her when she does.  (And sometimes they won't, which is why she's cautious.)  I have a good friend with spinal bifida, and there's no point in him even checking--he already knows his legs are pretty much useless.

And they know people who enjoy pretty good health and they have to wonder, along with Adored Wife who's in near-constant pain and my friend Jim who's going blind and a lady I know who suffers with Lou Gehrig's disease, what the point is to all this?

Because we know there's a point.  I don't necessarily go so far as to say God causes pain (although even a surgeon must inflict injury to bring healing) but if it happens at all it happens because He permits it to.  The only reason I can think of for Him to tolerate suffering is that He intends to transform it into something beautiful and wonderful.

So friends, if there's suffering in your life, from the tiniest inconvenience to the most heartbreaking tragedy, may you be comforted.  Take consolation and strength in knowing that God wants to use even this in your life to bring about something glorious.

Hope all's well out there, friends, and God bless.

Holy Week

Today millions of people worldwide are observing Maundy Thursday, when we remember the events of the last supper Jesus spent with His disciples.  I haven't talked a lot in this blog about my Christian faith but it informs pretty much everything I do and am.  I thought on the occasion of Holy Week I'd say a few words about my and my family's beliefs.

"The Neighbors Think We're Normal" is all about the challenges my particular household faces, but it must be said that we're greatly blessed and I suppose part of our strength is that we try to count our blessings.  For me personally, I eat regularly, have access to plenty of clean water, and have a roof over my head.  I have no great fears of being the victim of violence or persecution.  My life isn't idyllic but I enjoy better health than most and more leisure and luxury than many in the world could claim.

But the greatest blessing I can tell of is that my sins are forgiven in Jesus' name and that I can and do enjoy a living relationship with God through Jesus.  The stresses I do go through, small though they are compared to others, would be intolerable without the strength and peace available through my trust in Him.

I'm far from perfect but God watches over me and lovingly corrects me when I stray.  I try to live my life in a way that pleases Him.  I'm not going to turn this blog into a preaching forum but I'd be remiss if I didn't tell you something about about the best thing in my life.

Hope everything's well out there, friends, and God bless.  I'll try to have some funny stories next time around.  Happy Easter--Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!

Be Encouraged

Happy Monday, friends.  Unlike a lot of my blog posts (which I schedule ahead) this one is written in real time.  I had a very full week, albeit a good one, and my slightly less abundant discretionary time was spent with family and a few other personal projects rather than this.

But I'd wanted to say a word.  I'm up and about early, getting ready to take a day trip to see my parents.  (I was going to go one day last week, but had a bit of a situation at work.)  I haven't seen them in almost two months, what with car troubles and oral surgery and illness, so I'm rather looking forward to today.

Things are going pretty well.  Basement Artist still has her boyfriend in, although he's leaving tomorrow evening, and that's been good--I got to spend a little time with him here and there and he's a good guy.  Graphics Magician and I spent some quality time yesterday afternoon, and I've had a couple of dates with Social Hurricane.  I haven't seen much of Adored Wife with the play she's directing, but we'll get caught up, and of course BA has been busy with the fiancé.

But I've been thinking about God's sovereignty and how He uses the circumstances of this life to direct our hearts back to Him.  I've had a few idolatrous practices in my own life rear their ugly heads of late (gluttony and wasting time, mainly) and God's gently allowed a few stressful situations to draw my attention to the fact that I'm looking toward the wrong things to give me strength and peace and wisdom and guidance, when I ought to be looking toward Him.

But I know God loves me, and I know that when I keep my heart set on Him that He'll be with me through whatever storms may come in this life.  May that peace stay with me and, friends, may You know that peace as well.

God bless.  I'm off on a road trip!