Faith...Do I Have Enough...

I don't know about you, but I really struggle with faith. Not "my faith", but wondering if I really have enough faith and trust in God when things gets tough.

I really do have faith in God and faith in His promises, but when you are in the middle of a major struggle or crisis in your life, sometimes faith is hard. I have complete faith that God will answer prayers, but then I wonder, "Am I praying enough, am I praying the right things, when I wonder why things aren't happening does it mean my faith is not strong enough, when I think about the worst case scenario and what could happen, does that erase all the prayers I've prayed because I'm doubting the outcome, does it make me have to start over with my prayers, does it hinder the prayers I've already prayed?"

For me those are all really hard questions I struggle with in crisis. I know God is there and I know He has a plan, but is my faith or sometimes lack thereof a hindrance to what He is trying to accomplish or change? What if the outcome is different than what I am praying for, does that mean my faith wasn't strong enough?

Matthew 17 says, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed...nothing will be impossible for you." When you think of a mustard seed you think of something so small. I think surely my faith is at least as large as mustard seed. But how do we measure faith, is my faith as large as a mustard seed?

I know I have to trust that the God I serve is bigger than any crisis. I have to believe that my faith is strong enough. I know I have to have faith in God's promises. I do have complete faith in God. I do know that God is bigger than any crisis in my life. I do know that my God can accomplish anything. So why is it that those little shreds of doubt are always creeping in?

I will continue to pray the prayer of the boy's father in Luke 9, "I do believe; help me overcome my disbelief".

Blessings!

Christmas Funk (sort of) & 4 weeks of Randy Harris

I love Christmas time!! I love the hustle and bustle, hearing Christmas music, the excitement of it all. I love that this is the one time of year when it generally seems to be "ok" to talk about Jesus. I'm going to try and be more aware of what's going on around me and of opportunities I might not otherwise have because of this season.

But this year is going to be different for us. For the last 15+ years (ever since both the kids could walk) every Christmas morning has been a wake up of Ashley in Jeremy climbing in bed with us all excited to get started with Christmas presents. This happened all the way up to last Christmas when they were 21 and 17!! I love it!! It's the one time of the year that I can get wrapped up with my kids and remember all the years of them growing up in that one moment.

This year will be a little different. Ashley is married so she won't be here when we all wake up Christmas morning. She will be spending Christmas morning with Warren, her new family, as it should be. Jeremy is now in college and although he will still be here, it won't be the same for him either without having Ashley here. We will still all be together on Christmas Day it will just be different.

Our family has always been big on traditions especially at Christmas, but last year was the end of one of those traditions. While it has sort of put me in a funk this year knowing Christmas is going to be different, I am really looking forward to starting some new traditions. I think one of them is going to be having Mexican food for our family Christmas meal on Christmas Day. Homemade enchiladas and homemade hot sauce... my mouth is watering already. One tradition we will continue is going to see one of the movies that comes out on Christmas Day. That's always fun! I look forward to having Warren become a part of our traditions and I look forward to seeing where God will lead us as we begin new chapters in our families lives.

On a different note, I am looking very forward to having Randy Harris as our guest preacher at Highland Oaks for the next four weeks. I love listening to Randy. He always challenges me. Our topic is going to be "Hope for the World". I know I will come out of the next 4 weeks challenged and in a different frame of mind. If you are in the area, I invite you to come and hear Randy the next 4 weeks. I know you will be blessed.

Blessings to you for a great holiday season!

Just for Fun!!!

When you have an extra 5 minutes, check out this video on "The Evolution of Wedding Dance". It's a little long but worth watching til' the end! It's great!!




Blessings!!