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God can bring comfort.

I learned that lesson during a season of health challenges but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t experienced other seasons where I was totally freaked out at how my life was going.

I mean, can I tell the truth?  Knowing God was with me intellectually often times doesn’t stop me from having  major freakout.

But Jesus knows…

The longer I walk with Him, the more I trust He has me in the palm of His hands even when the road isn’t easy. You may have found your way to my blog after reading my devotional post from Proverbs 31 ministries and you read about the scare my husband gave me. Maybe you subscribe to my email newsletter and like hearing from me regularly because you consider yourself to be a friend.

In either case, I’d love to share some beautiful artwork with you to remind you that Jesus knows about where you are and what you are going through.  And because I want to personally encourage you, I will also give away a copy of my new book, She’s Still There to someone who leaves a comment in the post below.

When hard times come…

If you are like me, when hard times come, I am tempted to think that God doesn’t see me or that he’s forgotten about me.  I think that I don’t matter much to Him at all. Sometimes I even think He’s playing favorites with His kids. But because I’ve had more than my share of hard in this life, I’ve learned that He does see me. He does care. And He is always with me.

I’ve learned that life isn’t always easy but I owe it to myself and to the God who created me to steward my life well.

Appreciating my life is one way I have learned to do that — appreciating the life I have even while I work for the life I want.  Praying and asking God for direction and next steps is another.

And I’ve come to appreciate the parts of life that make me smile and the parts of life that make me cry.  Through every mountain and valley, I get to know more about the God I serve and how He works in me.

 

What happens when you need comfort in your life?

How do you handle the hard times when they come?  Have you learned to trust God embracing the highs and the lows or are the lows in your life completely unnerving you and causing you to struggle in your faith? I’d love to hear from you.  Be sure to leave a comment sharing how God has been a comfort to you or why it is hard to believe He is with you.  There is no right or wrong answer here. I love honesty and I’d love to hear more from you about your story.

The beautiful artwork above is my gift to you. Download it.  Print it out. And put it where you will always be reminded of the truth. Jesus knows.

Simply enter your first name and email in the signup form below.  You will receive the download (without the watermark) after confirming your email!

 

Listen I know about hard and unexpected life challenges — some self-inflicted and others not-so-much.

I’d fought for my life and won — or so I thought.  Teenaged-turned-twenty-something parent, I’d made it through school. On the day I graduated from college, I remember thinking that I’d accomplished something great but simultaneously feeling unsure that I was headed in the right direction. I’d done my best, but realized shortly after receiving my degree that doing your best doesn’t always mean that you end up in the best place.

I was overwhelmed with the idea that I’d worked so hard and had maybe still missed the mark.

I needed God’s comfort and His help. So I learned to ask questions.

I asked God to help me take a look a my life and discover who He had created me to be.  I asked Him how I could best honor my design in my career as well as in my personal hobbies and interests outside of work. I started making note of what I knew about me and took inventory of the gifts that God had given me to work with.  I wanted to use them well.

I took comfort in a belief that God could still use me and could rework a good plan out of the mess I found myself in.

But I also learned a thing or two about embracing joy during rough seasons and, after awhile, I learned about the importance of embracing pain too.  I learned that the opposite of feeling no pain is feeling nothing at all. I learned to wonder to feel and to look at my life embracing every nook and cranny of my existence as mine.

Today, on the podcast, I pick up where I left off last week,  sharing a bit of my own story and how I learned to appreciate the “gift of me”. It is important for everyone to stay awake at the wheel of their life and be alert to the precious unique gift placed inside — even during tough seasons.

Yes you should fight for your life, but every now and again, stop fighting long enough to look at your life and embrace what you find and receive God’s comfort.

Today I invite you to wake up and steward your unique life well — even in the midst of hard times.

 

 

I hope the devotional you read over at Proverbs 31 Ministries was a blessing to you. Even better?  I hope you join me for the “Worthy” an Proverbs 31 Online Bible Study starting September 5th based on my book. The study will be ripe with opportunities for you to dig in to God’s Word and to be encouraged in your spiritual growth. It’s my hope that the free printable that I had designed for you encourages you too.

I’m glad you decided to visit my blog. Be sure and comment to enter the win the autographed copy She’s Still There and then enter your name and email to download your artwork.

 

Praying that you find Him to be the God of all comfort 🙂

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