Need a Little Help Here

I haven't written in a while. I guess maybe because I have not had a lot to say. Usually I write when I read something in my quiet time that stirs my heart, or I feel God impressing something on me to share. Today I had one of those moments. 

I had dropped the last of the kids off at school for the day and I was on my way to work. This drive is not long, only about 5 minutes. I am a creature of habit (so I've been told) and I usually go the same route. Today was no different. On my drive I pass though mostly residential neighborhoods but don't usually come across many people - I guess because of the time of the morning, but today God wanted my attention.

On my way to work there is a section of road that has a hill, not a huge one in a car but for the little girl riding her bike to school, it was obvious it was a bit of a struggle. She was, in my estimation, probably about 7 or 8 and she was laden with a rather large back pack full of her school supplies which I am sure added to her struggle. Her father was riding his bicycle along side her to ensure her safety on their short journey. When he sensed her struggling, he came along side her on his bike and put his strong hand on the center of her backpack and just gave an extra bit of "umph" so that she could make it up the hill.

God had started the wheels turning. But if that one picture was not enough, I continued on a few more blocks and came across another little girl even smaller than the first one, also sporting a rather large backpack relative to her size. This one was trying desperately to get into her families SUV with little success. Once again, along came her father making ready her seat, and helped her achieve her goal.

Not one but two examples of the same thing within 2 minutes of each other. OK God, I get it.

What a beautiful reminder that when I struggle appears to be a steep hill in my life or come across what seems to be an impossible task, my Father in heaven is there right long side me to give me that extra push needed or to lift me up when I don't have the strength on my own.

Why do you say, Israel, 

“The Lord is not aware of what is happening to me,
My God is not concerned with my vindication”?

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is an eternal God,
the creator of the whole earth.
He does not get tired or weary;
there is no limit to his wisdom.

He gives strength to those who are tired;
to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy.

Even youths get tired and weary;
even strong young men clumsily stumble. 

But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength;
they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings,
they run without growing weary,
they walk without getting tired.

Isaiah 40:27-31

So are you like the little girls I saw today, needing a bit of extra help fro your Father to make it through? I know I am! The great thing is that He is faithful to give us the help if we will only ask. He is there right beside us, just waiting... 

An Ocean of Tears

I LOVE this picture, which is really funny because I have a fear of water, but looking at this picture I feel a sense of calm and peace. There are many other pictures of the ocean that are anything but calm and peaceful. (Deadliest Catch anyone?) I think it is the rough sea and what is IN the sea that I fear. I don't know what it holds and it makes me afraid. 

A few years ago, my husband and I were taken on a trip with his work to Mexico. It was a great trip! First one in our marriage that we didn't go with any kids YAY! They had all of our days planned out for us and one of the excursions they planned was on a large catamaran out into the ocean to go snorkeling.  GULP!!! I seriously almost didn't go. I was to afraid. But after taking some dramamine I boarded the boat, knowing that God had my days numbered and if I was supposed to die in this ocean and I didn't go, then He would have me miraculously dropped in the middle of said ocean to fulfill His will for my life. Melodramatic - maybe! But I was scared and it helped me to rationalize it that way. 

Anyway - I got on the boat and ended up having a really good day. The ocean was realatively calm and I even kind of fell in love with snorkeling (with the exception of scraping my legs up on a bunch of rocks and bleeding in to the water as I swam the 100 yards back to the boat fearing a shark attack! (No really - that part is true!) As much fear as I had of the unknown ocean, I conquered it and it felt really good. I would probably do it again.

Some ocean experiences don't end like that. I mean Titanic, Posiden Adventure, The Deep, JAWS. Ha! But seriously. I have heard stories of friend who have been on cruises that have hit rough sea and it was NOT fun. Not sure I ever want to go there. I am sure they didn't want to either, nor did they think that would be their experience when they set out on their adventure, but sometimes God has other things in store for us than what we have planned. 

I thought of the ocean today as I was reading in Psalm 56. Verse 8 says this:  

You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

In my head, I tried to imagine a book that God keeps that has written down every time I (you, the whole world) tosses because we can't sleep due to life circumstances or are tossed to and fro by the "waves" we encounter.  I also pictured a bottle big enough to hold every tear drop that has ever fallen from the eyes of the human beings He created and loves so much. That bottle must be bigger than any ocean I have ever seen. Some of those tears were cried in the middle of the tempest and some were cried in a calm respite, but He knows every one of them. That thought kind of blew my mind!

In life, there are no guarantees of what is to come. Right now my life feels somewhere in the middle of the two pictures posted here, but that could change in an instant. As I am writing this I think of many in all sorts of places - friends who have recently lost a baby, a daughter who is wading through the stress of college, a woman who for the first time in a long time is at peace in her life, a couple who is homeless and through all that stress is still seeing God's provision for their precious family, a couple awaiting the arrival of their new daughter, a husband and father who feels imprisoned by his job and yet fights through it every day for the ones he cares about, the young mother who is overwhelmed, a precious 6 yr. old and her family fighting her cancer, and one who is grateful for a year cancer free. The list could go on...

No matter what the sea of your life looks like today, or tomorrow, or the next day, or the next take these words of David to heart in Psalm 56:9b -10:

This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. 

This was written during a horrible time for David as he and his men were being hunted by King Saul. Yet he knew that God saw him, held every tear that he cried, counted every tossing and David trusted. God is in control of your life if you have given it to Him. He sees you. He knows you. He loves you!

And next time you see the ocean (stormy or calm), remember God has it all in the palm of His hand.