Since I've been gone...

Well, I have updated you on what has changed in my life during my long blog hiatus. However, I feel I should explain a few life lessons that I have learned along the way as well. First, as the Brandon Heath song states, I am certainly not who I was, and I am so very grateful for that! Thankfully, God indeed does love us just as we are, yet too much to let us stay that way. We are always in need of growth, and if we are not constantly growing up in Jesus, then we have to ask ourselves, "Why?" It's like a baby. Of course I am going to pull out a baby analogy! :) Lillie is only 4.5 months old but already she goes through "growing pains." Babies are constantly growing....even my little munchkin! Lillie will go several days where she will sleep about 14 hours a night and only be awake about 6 hours a day, eating about every 3 hours. Then she will cycle out of that and barely take naps and eat like every 2 hours. Her body is either needing sleep or fuel as she grows. Same with us in Jesus. We need times of "sleeping in Him," as did Adam, while He prepares us. Then we go through seasons where He seems silent, although He is always there. Like He was when David penned the Psalms. We can also experience times of great distress, for His Name's sake, as did Job and Paul. Or we can go through a season of great feeding and life, as with the early disciples.I could go on and on. It's just like the Seasons. How appropriate of God. While I was away from here for awhile and my life encountered many different life changes, God fed me with great life. He is Life! It was stretching but grand! And then He came and reigned as Prince of Peace and allowed His ruling power to bring me through some tough challenges. There were times when I was on the brink of despair. However, He taught me a very important life lesson on worship. How we can't control the circumstances around us, but we can control just how we react to them. Therefore, we must stick close to Him through thanksgiving, walking in the Spirit and being slaves to righteousness. I learned to worship God like I never have before. And I am not talking about the raise your hand in praise kind. Although that too is so important. I am talking about offering all of you to Him (esp. your pain), as a sacrifice of praise. I am talking about the sacrificial kind. The hurtful kind. The nailing of your agendas to His cross and being real and vulnerable so you can be a sweet aroma to Him. The kind that hurts deep but heals even deeper. I learned how to choose to rejoice. And in that, I discovered that we can experience His life in every season that we are in. Even in the painful ones. It breeds hope and joy. For there truly is so much to be thankful for! So I encourage you (if anyone even reads this anymore or I am at least encouraging myself), to be thankful. It changes things. You can make a heaven out of hell. Your outward circumstances may be out of your control. But you don't have to let the enemy win with your inner self anymore. That is a sacred place for you and Jesus where worship opens up the gates on your heart for the King of Glory to come in! "Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty. The Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in." Psalm 24:8 & 9.