Posted on by Peg

Still

It’s been a bit, but I’m still here. Life has gotten really odd ( for most of us I guess that’s true!) And so it seems that my life is going to be a bit different over the next few weeks as I help my children learn from home, keep the home running smoothly, acquire our family needs, and provide needs for others in our community. This is a unbelievable time, but I pray that the Lord might work deeply in me, my family, my church, and throughout the world.

I’ve been spending my mornings seeking God before the day starts. These wors came to me today as I finished praying. I hope they encourage you:

Still

Still the thoughts that crowd your mind,

The craving to figure everything out.

Still the feelings of despair,

When chaos makes you want to shout.

Still your restless frame,

That thinks “busy” is the way to win.

Still the words that sting and hurt,

Trying to box another in.

Stand still amid this space in time.

Don’t move. Don’t speak. Don’t act.

In this moment when you think you’ve failed, look up.

The LORD is still working in fact.

3-26-20

P.J.M.

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted among the earth.”

Posted on by Peg · 4 Comments

Beautifully Broken

A couple days ago I visited with one of my favorite people in the world. She is a wonderful soul and will be ( Lord willing) turning 90 in a few weeks. I met this sweet lady when I began attending church with my husband before we married, about 20 years ago. Almost immediately this woman and I had a friendship. She is a character! Full of stories and laughs. She adores her family and is so proud of her grandchildren. The woman can cook food that makes a heart sing. I could go on. Safe to say, she is just a special blessing to me.

The last few years haven’t been easy for her. Age is taking its toll, as it seems to always do. And while she accepts some limitations, others are hard to swallow. Along with her own limits, she has been watching her husband decline as well. She does her best to encourage him, and admits that she gets frustrated. I have sensed a softening to this firecracker woman that didn’t exist before.

She is in the process of being broken. Beautifully broken.

It happens to us all, this breaking. Whether we want to admit it or not, at one point or another a limit is imposed, a situation descends, a mountain can’t be moved.

When I look back at my 42 ( almost 43 years ) I can see brokenness all along the way. I grew up in a chaotic home. Lots of fighting. Lots of fear. Lots of mistrust. It wasn’t always like that. We had good times, too. But they were always shadowed by the knowledge that just around the corner hid the next explosion between my parents. I would wonder: Would my mom, sister and I leave in the night again? Would dad leave this time? How many days would we be gone this time? The chaos inside my home was normal to me. It was only when in school in later years I realized that not everyone grew up this way. My dad left when I was 17. They divorced when I was 19. I don’t really have a relationship with my father since he left.

I think about the losses I have had along the way: A dear uncle who was like a father to me, died when I was 13. My brother in law committed suicide when I was 21. At 30, my sweet grandmother lost her battle with colon cancer. Those were all rough and had a deep impact on me.

Most recently, our family went through a period of loss that has completely impacted the people we are. In 2012, my mother in law passed away. In 2013, my father in law passed away. Most significant to me, was the death of my mother in 2014 after she battled Leukemia. Essentially, my husband and I are orphans. It is tough to be without our parents. So tough.

We have been broken.

I am in the process of seeing how beautiful being broken can be. Oh, how I fight it though! The stubborn streak runs deep in this heart. I want to be strong. I want to handle it all. I want to appear okay. The truth always comes out, however. Always. The truth is, I am not strong. I can’t handle it all. I am not okay. And when I admit this, then the healing begins.

What I am coming to understand more and more is that the stuff of my past is part of me, but it doesn’t define me. I don’t have to deny the hurt. I don’t have to pretend I’ve gotten over it. It’s part of me. Those are the pieces that have been picked up and put back together in ways in could never have imagined. It was that hurt that put my heart into a position to see my need for Christ. It is that hurt that keeps me going back to God over and over for healing.

Many times now, I recognize that the Lord is continuing to break me of, well, ME. The perfectionism, the pride, the self reliance, the lack of faith, the lack of humility. This is all part of His plan to make me into what He knows I need to be. And, though sometimes painful, it is beautiful to be broken.

From my other post you know that I love to read. There are some wonderful books I have read over the years that have encouraged me to accept this breaking more and more. Nancy Leigh DeMoss Wolgemuth has a wonderful trilogy called Brokenness, Surrender and Holiness. Dear me, it is so good. Also, Phillip Yancy’s Where is God When it Hurts? My current book, Humility, by Andrew Murray can be added to this stack as well.

My desire is to continue to let God work all things for my good ( Romans 8:28). I will rely on His love and grace and be broken, for His glory.

Posted on by Peg · 5 Comments

My book stack…

Anyone who knows me outside of the screen knows that I love to read. I read a lot! I love words. I love words a lot!

I learned how to read a quite a young age thanks to my older sister ( by 3 years) who went to school and came home and taught me. By the time I went to Kindergarten, I was reading well. So well that I couldn’t stay with my peers, I was bumped to the next grade for reading instruction. That love of reading has continued throughout my who life; I was always reading something. One of my favorite books as a kid was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

I enjoyed a fair amount of fiction when I was growing up, of course. But it all took a back seat in college as I focused on teaching practices and child development. Then as I worked and started a family I just didn’t have as much time for reading. I was tired! And also, around age 22 is when I accepted Jesus as my Savior and I began to really not like some of the authors I was reading. So fiction lost its appeal.

Thankfully, there are so many Christian writers out there that produce such inspiring works. And I feel like since my life slowed down a little bit in the last few years, I am finally getting a chance to read these wonderful thoughts that others have compiled. It’s is so good to have godly content in my hands to help me to grow closer to God! I still enjoy fiction sometimes. But mostly I like Christian living and true stories ( autobiographies and biographies.)

So, my wonderful Sunday School ladies every year give me a sweet gift of a gift card or money and, you know, it sends me straight to my book list… I am so blessed to be part of the group of ladies that gather each week in our church to study and pray. They spoil me too much!

During the year I write down quotes and search them out to find out which author said what and then I add that book to my list of “would like to read.” Sometimes I can check the book out at our local Christian radio station that also has an extensive library. But sometimes I want to get the book and keep it…(So hard to give books back!) So…I got my gift this year…and began to decide on my reading list. It’s a good stack I think! And I’m so thankful for Ebay and the fact that I can often find good condition used books for a fraction of the cost and often benefit charity. Practicality is important! Well here it is:

Some are more recent writings and some are not. I have read The Love of God, by Oswald Chambers. That is a gem and I highly encourage anyone to read it who just needs a heart check or a faith boost. I have started Humility. This one makes me think and in a good way. So much so that I have to stop and put it down so I can really ponder what is being said. I also have started The Heavenly Man. I’m only a few pages in there, but I know I’m going to hate finishing it. I always enjoy true stories, especially of missionaries. And to be totally truthful, Unshakable Hope is our current Sunday School book. I’m not teaching this one, another wonderful woman in our group is and she is doing amazing!

I am counting on this stack to get me through the winter and most of spring (until I can get to the previously mentioned Christian radio station’s used book sale in May!)

I have also added a devotional to my morning Bible reading/Prayer time. Praying the Names of Jesus, by Ann Spangler is a 26 week study. I had previously worked through Praying the Names of God by her and it was so good! Each week focuses on a name. I write the name’s meaning in a journal and what I learned from the scripture associated with it. This particular book started out with Immanuel (Emmanuel) which is one of my favorite names of Jesus. It rocks my world when I think that the Creator God took the form of man to be with and save a sin wrecked people who didn’t seek Him. I think on that and I’m undone.

Okay, so those are the books filled with delicious words that I am going to devour over the next few months… So what are you reading? Do you have any suggestions for my list?? I’d love to know!

Posted on by Peg · 3 Comments

Look back, then move ahead

Oh, it is a new year. A new year!

In my opinion the nice part about a new year is looking back at what I learned in the previous year and thinking about what God has taught me. Then, I take all that and move forward into the unknown of this year.

There’s lots of media out there about ” words for the year” and claiming one. There are even quizzes to take to lead a person to the right word. I’ve never been into the “word” thing, but lately, as I have pondered the last year or so of my life, I have heard God speaking this word to me: Rely.

re·ly/rəˈlī/verb

Definition 1. To depend on with full trust or confidence.

“I know I can rely on your discretion”

Similar: depend, count, ban,k place, reliance, bargain, plan, reckon, anticipate, expect, pin one’s hopes on, hope for, take for granted ,take on trust, trust, be confident of, have (every) confidence in, be sure of, believe in, have faith in, pin one’s faith on, trust in, cling to, swear by, figure on

Opposite: distrust

Definition 2: To be dependent on.

“The charity has to rely entirely on public donations”

Similar: be dependent, depend, lean, hinge, turn, hang, rest, pivot

This word rings in my head over and over as I look back on 2019. There were hard things in that year. And a good hard look at it all really caused me to see that in so many ways I was not relying on the One who I claim to love and follow. I relied on myself, mostly, with poor results. Let me share some:

Parenting:

In the latter part of 2018 into 2019 a shadow fell over our household due to a parenting fail on our part, especially my part. I underestimated Satan and overestimated our “good” parenting. We set boundaries and we trust our kids. We are involved in our church family and we seek to serve others. God’s Word is present in our home. And yet, vigilance is still needed at all times. I had let a boundary slip. It cost us greatly. It will have lasting consequences. The immediate reaction I had was to “up my game” so to speak. Control and control more. Make sure I had every base covered. Never let my guard down.

Relationships:

There had been some pretty significant changes to some of my relationships that were just hard. Friends that I used to gather with were busy. Friends that I used to confide in were distant. Family members that I pursued closeness with didn’t respond. It was overwhelming. Lonely. My reaction was to separate and be on my own even more. Get busy with my own thing. Not seek people. No getting my heart hurt anymore. Very aloof. Very stand off-ish.

Circumstances:

We faced a pretty big financial mess in 2019. IRS. ‘Nuff said. Dealing with the government is just not fun. Especially when the reason has nothing to do with anything on your part. So, filing paperwork over and over gets old really fast. The effects of this situation spilled over into life as we tightened up on money and made budget adjustments. My husband works hard and doesn’t want to cause me any worry. But, I worry. And I worried a lot in 2019. It affected our home life as I feared that each dollar we spent was digging us further into a mess. As a worried woman, I was a grumpy wife and mom.

That’s my legacy for 2019. Not pretty.

There was a whole lot of ” trust myself” and “fix it myself” in the year and not a whole lot “trust God” and “let God work.”

And as I have thought about the year behind me I can see that I was relying on myself and what I thought I needed to do to make everything just right. It was not a year of victory. Not at all. And before Thanksgiving, into Christmas, and now into this new year God has been whispering to me, “Rely on Me.”

Before 2020 rang in, I sensed a shift happening in me. A calmness was growing. I had taken some serious time in November and December to dig into my Bible more. Pray more. Praise more. Be with my God more. And I took time to look past the failures of 2019 to see the small victories that were present: deeper talks with our children about faith and following God and how to live in this world, church family who picked up where the missing pieces were, simpler living.

God is faithful.

I know that 2020 will come with its own challenges. I know there are situations that are not resolved from the previous year.

But I also know that I don’t step into a new year alone. I have a mighty God, a faithful Father, a forever Friend who loves me and is there to rely on. I am not on my own.

In John 15:1-8, Jesus says:

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

To remain is to stay put, to abide, to rely. That’s what I want to do this year. I want to rely, for God’s glory.

Have you claimed a “word” for your year? Feel free to share! I pray that you will be yielded to God’s work in your life as 2020 rolls on!

Posted on by Peg

Life in the “waiting”

I stood out behind our house the other day, next to the little creek God so graciously allows our family to live beside. The sun warmed my face and I smiled because of its warmth that seemed oblivious to the fact that we were waiting for a snow storm predicted to descend on us in just a couple days.

Our family loves when the snow comes.

I looked around me at all the barrenness that would soon have a new look for a while. Brown, bare branches on tall trees reaching up and up, like arms trying to grab back the sweet summer days. Leaf piles everywhere, crunchy and dead, the proof that beautiful autumn was here for a time with brilliant color and cozy coolness. Now everything seemed lifeless and, well, blah.

Just the brown of transition.

The color of waiting.

As I took all this in around me I began to look a little further past the dryness. I remembered that for these works of creation waiting wasn’t death. Waiting still held life. The trees without leaves would still be vessels that produced buckets of sap for maple syrup in February. Those crunchy leaves would shelter underground creatures like moles, and worms, and bugs until the cold days passed and then would break down to become part of the life giving soil in the spring. The creek that now babbled over the rocks would soon become encased in thick ice, too thick to even see what hides below. Yet, crayfish, minnows, and frogs would accept this covering while waiting for the winter to thaw.

Waiting isn’t death. Waiting is a refuge until life is renewed. Waiting is hopeful.

Many times God uses his creation to speak to my heart. Often I am reminded of his control and creativity. This day I was reminded that God is faithful during the waiting.

There are plenty of barren, blah times in life. I’ve had my share. One day feels like the previous. No change. No growth. Just existence. And yet, Faithful Creator God is not resting. God works in the waiting. Even when I can’t see it. He is asking me to trust him, and wait.

I am learning much about God in my times of waiting. At one point in time in my life I would get upset, angry even, when I was waiting for something to work out (I’ll be honest. Sometimes I still do.) Sometimes I would think that God didn’t care or was just denying me an answer because he could, after all he is God. I even had attributed being made to wait as punishment for something I had done wrong.

I know much better now.

God is so faithful and God loves to give. In his time. In his way. And that means sometimes, often times, I have to wait. But I wait in hope. My prayers that are long term are prayed in the shelter of God’s goodness and God’s will. Because I am his child I can know that God has heard me and I can expect him to work. I can also be okay with the way he works.

Does this peace come easy? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. In my human-ness I often have to approach God again and again as I wait. He reassures me through his Spirit and his Word that he can do what he says he can do. I listen and then peace in the waiting returns.

Mostly, in my times of waiting and listening, I find my perspective gets changed. Just like seeing past the dullness of the late fall, I see past my idea of what should be happening and I begin to see a bit more of what the Creator is doing. I can trust more that God’s ways are better and perfect and do so much more than I can comprehend ( Isaiah 55: 8-13 ) So, I can wait.

Waiting is hopeful. Waiting means I trust God in his role. Waiting also means that I obey God in fulfilling my role.

Waiting is good because God is good.

The snow came.

We woke to find our landscape fresh and white and new. The trees that reached for more sun just days before now held a new work of God for a time as they continue to wait to be filled with green growth in June. The branches were accepting the task that God called them to that day. Strong, steady, waiting.

May I ( and you, reader) be one that opens my reaching arms to the blessings that God bestows while I wait. May I ( and you) be faithful to wait.

Are you waiting? What are you focusing on while you wait?

Posted on by Peg · 3 Comments

Silent times, Patient times

Our church does a “hymn of the month.” Sometimes a certain song picked will resonate with me and I will keep it pinned up so I can see it and think about the words and what God is working on in me through them. This song, by Keith and Kristyn Getty, is one of those.

It has been an especially significant song of late just because of some of the circumstances that have been present in our (my) life over the last few months. Several situations beyond my control sent me reeling. Money troubles, disappointments, strained friendships, etc. all at once. It just seems like there is trouble all over the place and it’s lasting a while. Very uncomfortable.

Sometimes when life around me gets a little hard to handle, I get silent. In typical introvert fashion I talk a lot less, read a lot more, and sort of want to disappear until I can put some sense into what is going on.

My silence freaks people out. And sometimes they get angry and confused. People who really know and care about me, though, just wait until I resurface. (I’m not the easiest friend to have.) I have learned that I have to wait, too. If I rush the process, nothing good comes of it.

I’m not good at waiting, but I’m getting better. On a scale of 1-10, I think I can claim the #6 position at this point. There is much work to be done though. And so, the trials come. With them, more patience.

Scripture has a lot to say about patience. Not only can we learn what a gracious and patient being God is, but we also can learn God’s desire for His children to become more and more patient. And, quite frankly, it is really only something we can develop through being tested. ( Sorry, no shortcuts!) I try to remember this when the ugly situations of life come my way. God is building patience in me.

In James 1:2-4 we read: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

And in Romans 5:3-4: “Not only so but we rejoice also in our sufferings , because we know suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Perseverance is not patience. But patience is a by product. So as I faithfully commit to staying the course patience naturally develops in me. And as can be read above, I am on my way to being complete. I want that!

Scripture also says it is okay to be silent. In Lamentations 3:28-29 we can read: “Let him sit alone in the silence, for the LORD has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust- there may yet be hope.”

So in my silent and patient times that I find myself in, I take comfort in knowing that it’s okay. I may not be what everyone expects me to be right now, but God’s okay with it and He’s working on it. “So, in its shadow I shall run, ….’Til He completes the work begun.”

Do you get “silent” times? Does music help you like it does me?

Posted on by Peg · 2 Comments

Our family “thing”

( This post was originally written in early fall. Then life happened. But I figured I would publish it anyway.)

In my introduction about myself, I shared that our family loves the outdoors. We do! It feeds our souls! While there are certain seasons we enjoy more than others ( Ahem…Summer. I ordered below 80 and no humidity what happened?), there is always something we can enjoy out in the wilds of NEPA. Fall is starting to arrive in our neck of the woods right now. It’s such a great time of year. One of our favorites. The colors get vibrant and the hotness and humidity have been replaced by crisp, cool mornings and comfortable afternoons (thank God!) It’s the season of archery festivals, hayrides, and campfires. But truly we can find some thing to enjoy about every season: winter sledding and deer hunting season, spring hiking and trout season, summer hiking, biking, camping and bass season. And no matter what, my husband and boys can always find something to go hunting for!

It is safe to say that this is our family “thing.” Anyone who knows us well, knows that we are most happy when we are out of the confines of four walls!

On the other side of this coin is the fact that that there are many activities that just don’t get us fired up. Favorite TV shows? We don’t have any; we don’t watch TV. We stream when we’re in the mood. Favorite football team? Uhhhh….. we’re on the east side of PA, so Penn State! ( But please don’t ask us to name players, stats, etc… We watch maybe one game a year!) What sports are our kids in? None. What gaming system do we own? Don’t have one. Our kids have never played a video game ever. I guess this could also be called our family “thing.”

So you might say we sorta don’t fit in sometimes. We’re cool with it. We learned to accept the strange looks and comments and be happy with who we were created to be.

We realize that the way we do things is somewhat strange to a lot of people. We’ve especially gotten questioned about our limit of sports and technology. It’s not that we don’t like these things. Our decisions really come down to one thing: family. We are a family and individual choices for one person affect us all. So, if a certain activity is going to mean that we don’t get to eat together as a family 2-3 nights a week, that’s a deal breaker. If a certain activity for one child is going to take a great amount of money out of the budget which will limit what we do as a family later, that also is a deal breaker. If an activity is going to cause one of our children to spend large amounts of time isolated in front of a screen and not interacting with a family member, sorry, no deal. Sunday worship/rest time is non-negotiable. No activities away from family on Sundays. The bottom line: family.

Is there a point when any of this might change? Sure. We evaluate things as they come up and decide whether an activity or interest is healthy to add in. But we don’t make those decisions quickly. For instance, last year our younger son wanted to join elementary band. Initially, he didn’t share that with us because he knew our rule about after school activities and perhaps the cost was too much. (We generally like to keep the weekdays evenings uninterrupted and we had no room for an instrument purchase). When he finally shared with us about it we thought that maybe we needed more information to make a good decision. And after getting all the info we thought that band would be a great thing! All lessons are in school and there are only a couple performances throughout the school year and there was an instrument he could borrow for free. We only had to pay $10 for a lesson book. It fit perfectly with our family style so it was a Yes! We have really enjoyed seeing our son learn his instrument and participate in a couple performances.

From observing families that I know and some that I am less familiar with, I have come to be really thankful that we’ve taken the time to decide to be who we are. I think for any family, that is really important. I have seen some families who have been made to feel guilty if their child isn’t in a sport. I have seen some people who wrestle with themselves over their child’s use of technology. I also know families who have children in all sorts of sports and are constantly on the go and are thriving. It just really depends on the family. Everyone is different. Some do well with less activities and technology. Some would be missing a big piece of their family enjoyment if they weren’t able to enjoy sports and games together.

So, can I just be an encouragement today and say, find your family’s “thing” and embrace it. There is room for everyone!

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Posted on by Peg

So, let’s begin…

Let me start off with a friendly WELCOME to my blog! I am happy you stopped by.

I suppose we’ll start off with the facts and move on from there. I’ll tell you a bit about me and then why this whole blog thing came about.

Okay: Me

I’m 42 and living a pretty content life in the woods of NEPA. My husband and I have been married 14 years (as of this writing) and we are raising our three children ages 13, 11, and 9, two boys and one girl.

In my former life (Ha) I was an elementary and early childhood trained teacher and I worked for a local childcare agency for 15 years, in various positions. My work outside the home ended in 2014 as we made the decision that I would become a stay-at-home mom. A hard decision, but absolutely the best one we have made!

Every part of our life is centered around our love for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In our everyday lives we seek to live for Him. And, as those words come together on the screen, I am deeply reminded how much we rely on God’s unending and unfailing grace toward us, as we fail often!

Our family loves the outdoors and we take advantage of many opportunities to hike, camp, hunt, bike, fish, and explore. We so enjoy our time as a family and make being together a priority.

And now, while taking care of my family and home, I am also able to spend time doing some things I love such as: reading great books, serving at my church, knitting and crocheting, figuring out how to live simply and frugally, cooking, gardening, and…as of right now…blogging!

Okay: The Blog

Obviously every blog gets started because someone has a desire. My desire is for this space to be somewhat of a creative outlet for the words that swirl around in my head.

I ponder. A lot.

I question. A lot.

I figure things out. A little.

For about a year I’ve felt this nudge to share some of the thoughts that I have. And, after a lot of praying and waiting, I have decided to stick my toes into the big waters of this word-filled world.

So, my plan is mainly to write just to write. Sort of record my journey along life’s twisty ups and downs. But, I am also wanting this space to be encouraging for anyone else who decides to read and/or share.

You will probably find me writing a lot about what I’m learning from God’s Word as well as from the books I read. So many great authors, so little time…

I’ll also share some of life’s snippets along the way.

A Slow and Steady Pace – It seems that this is me. If you’re looking for a super outgoing, go-getter, trend setter, on the edge of all things great… Sorry! BUT, if you are interested in the thoughts of someone who is committed to finishing the race well, someone who enjoys the little things in life, someone who believes that the ordinary is extraordinary… then we can probably be friends. I surely don’t have everything in life all figured out, but each day I am learning more and more to walk with the Lord at the pace he has set for me.

Thanks for being here!

Your kind comments will always be welcome! I love hearing others ideas and thoughts! However, I do reserve the right to keep this a safe, positive place for all who share. So, any cutting down of myself and others will be removed.

Posted on by Peg

Saying “yes”

Have you ever come across that picture or heard that phrase? I don’t know about you, but my first thought when I read that is, ” No way!” I do not do things scared. I’d like the whole plan clearly laid out, thank you very much. And be sure to include the guarantee that says everything will go great and no harm, disappointments, etc. will come to me or to those I love. ( I’m not asking for much, right?!)

People who know me IRL know that I am not the first to volunteer. I do not like attention and prefer to be behind the scenes. (I’m thinking of purchasing all the introvert t-shirts I see online…) I do well at cheering on the brave ones, the ones that jump in without hesitation. Oh yeah, I’m all for that!!

I have no problem saying no to people’s requests and usually do not feel guilty in the least.

BUT

When it’s God making the request, well now that is when it seems that my way of doing things comes to a screeeeeeching halt. Saying “no” does not work with the Lord.

In recent years there have been several situations that I knew there was no saying no to. One of those times was when I was asked to be a Sunday school substitute. (Public speaking in front of adults. Yikes!) You know, just fill in when the regulars weren’t there. No big deal, I’m a trained teacher, right? Yeah…

After thoughtful prayer and a talk with my husband, it seemed that my answer was going to have to be a “yes.” Just couldn’t come up with a good enough reason for no. I tried. I really tried. So there it was. And then. it. happened. I had to fill in! Fear set in. “Why, why, why did I say yes??? Huge mistake!!” was all I could think. So I prayed, prepped and panicked. And then I did it. Scared. And I didn’t die! Ha!

Funny thing is, Scripture is filled with people like me. Maybe they weren’t flat out saying “no” ( some were ), but there were definitely people who were saying “yes” and doing it scared. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Mary, the diciples, and so many more. How do I know? Because I can go to each of the accounts of these people and see the Lord or His messenger saying: Do not fear. Pretty sure those words were being said for a reason! But, God always promises to be with them. He doesn’t leave people to do His requests on their own.

So, since agreeing to teach, I have filled in many times and even led a couple studies that lasted 6 months each. And all praise goes to God Almighty. He took my scared “yes” and my step of obedience and has blessed it beyond what I could imagine. It humbles me that God would use me to speak about His word and encourage His people.

In all honesty, my first reaction to unfamiliar territory is still “No!” However, it usually doesn’t last long. I keep learning that saying “yes”, when I’m sure it is God asking (that’s a subject for another day) leads to amazing blessings and joy. This blog is a step I’m taking in obedience to a nudge of the Lord, I believe, and it has taken a lot of courage for me to begin to put my words out there for people to read. (Oh, Nellie!)

So, is there something you know you should be saying yes to? My encouragement is this: Pray. Pray. Pray some more. And then you might need to say “yes” and see what blessings come (Even if you’re scared!)