My Grace is sufficient for Thee

Today, I wanted to share an entry from "Streams in the Desert" by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman.  For those of you that don't have it or have never heard of it, I highly recommend it!  It's a wonderful devotional and it has an uncanny way of knowing exactly what you're going through that day to feed your soul :)

The other evening I was riding home after a heavy day's work.  I felt very wearied, and sore depressed, when swiftly, and suddenly as a lightening flash, that text came to me, "My grace is sufficient for thee."  I reached home and looked it up in the original, and at last it came to me in this way, "MY grace is sufficient for thee"; and I said, "I should think it is, Lord," and burst out laughing.  I never fully understood what the holy laughter of Abraham was until then.  It seemed to make unbelief so absurd.  It was as though some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and Father Thames said, "Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for thee."  Or, it seemed after seven years of plenty, a mouse feared it might die of famine; and Joseph might say, "Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for thee."  Again, I imagined a man away up yonder, in a lofty mountain, saying to himself, "I breathe so many cubic feet of air every year, I fear I shall exhaust the oxygen in the atmosphere," but the earth might say, "Breathe away, O man, and fill the lungs ever, my atmosphere is sufficient for thee."  Oh, brethren, be great believers!  Little faith will bring your souls to heaven, but great faith will bring heaven to your souls.  C. H. Spurgen

 "His grace is great enough to meet the great things---The crashing waves that overwhelm the soul,The roaring winds that leave us stunned and breathless,The sudden storms beyond our life's control.
His grace is great enough to meet the small things---The little pin-prick troubles that annoy,The insect worries, buzzing and persistent,The squeaking wheels that grate upon our joy."Annie Johnson Flint

I continue to pray that God sustain me as I am here in Texas.  It has been very tough spiritually as I have not been surrounded by a body of believers like I am used to.  As a result, the Lord has drawn me closer to Him and has brought me to my knees (literally) more often than ever before.  He has reminded me that He is my source of strength and has taught me the blessing of Fellowship and friendship with those that share the same faith.  I have taken those for granted and I know I will appreciate being surrounded by fellow believers once I return to Georgia.

In the meantime and always, "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my powers are made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."  2 Corinthians 12: 9

Holding On

It's days like to today that I have to take it one day at a time.
I have to keep reminding myself that it's one day closer.
It's days like today where I want to scream and cry.
It's days like today that I have to remember the source of my strength, it does not come from me, because if it did, I would have given up already.
I have to remember that the Lord will sustain me even now and when times get even harder.
Right now, all I want to do is throw in the towel.

Growing Up

Wow, it has been quite a while hasn't it!  I haven't done a very good job about filling everyone in...

I have had a very interesting, complicated, frustrating, fun, difficult, sad and educational time since I have gone active duty in the United States Air Force.  To sum it up, God has revealed to me that HE is the only one who has it all figured out.  Which has provided me great comfort when my stubborn heart realizes the truth and comfort in that promise.  Since leaving for active duty/Georgia in November (I went to the Biltmore House for Thanksgiving Vacation with my family after they moved me in, that will be another post later),

The Beautiful Biltmore House

I have grown an incredible amount.  This, however, has definitely not been an easy trip.  I knew it wasn't going to be an easy process, but it's completely different when you're actually going through it than when you're just thinking about it and seeing it loom in the future.

I lived on the bare minimum in terms of furniture for quite a while (still am, but thankfully once I get back I will have a few additions!).  I had an air mattress that my parents were very gracious to purchase for me, a camping chair and a little one person folding table and a desk, book shelf and desk chair.  I learned that I take a lot of things for granted and that I can get by without much! :)

my "office"

my bed, which is actually very comfortable! :)

living room and dinning room- otherwise known as the "great room"

le kitchen- my favorite room in the house

Settling in on my own was very difficult.  I'm sure many of you have experienced loneliness at times, but it was very poignant there.  I was blessed with a great church and wonderful fellowship, but I still felt like an outsider. The Lord blessed me with courage to step out of my comfort zone and to start attending events at the church.  I was extremely blessed the few short weeks I was there by the fellowship and worship.  God blessed me with a wonderful small group to attend and the people are so encouraging and supportive.

Leaving for Texas was difficult.  I was just starting to "fit in" and enjoy hanging out with new friends and getting acclimated to a work schedule.  Having to uproot myself to head start it all over again was almost too much to handle at the time.  Needless to say, it was a very emotional and trying time.  I knew that I had so much to look forward to and I could see God's hand working in marvelous ways.  One being that Micah and his Mom and two of his brothers got to stop by and visit with me for a while, as well as being extremely blessed with the opportunity to drive with Micah out to Texas.  A dear friend was willing to pay for half of his plane ticket back to GA from the Dallas airport.  I was humbled by her giving heart and was so incredibly thankful for the opportunity to:

1) not drive the 18 hours by myself in one day 

2) get to spend more time with Micah.

The drive out was uneventful (which was a very good thing).  We were able to stay at Papa and Granny Ann's house in Albany for a night and then head out to Clinton, Mississippi to stay at a family friends house the next night.  It was a very special time for the both of us because I was able to learn more about Micah's childhood and visit with a dear friend Mrs. Burgess and stopped by the church that Dr. King used to preach at when Micah and his siblings were wee little ones.

We visited the battle site after we left the Millers house

Where Micah grew up when he was 2-8 yrs old

Wasn't that excited...

There was a lot of time to reflect on all of the blessings I have been bestowed with.  The drive also made me realize how much I have taken for granted.  After seeing Micah off at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport for his flight back to Savannah, I got back to my car and cried like a baby.  I was basically a blubbering mess all the way to Wichita Falls.  Missing Micah was a large part of it, but the other half was the fact that life changes.  Life goes on.  Life will never be the same again.

Yes, this is true, life will never be the same again.  However, that is not always a bad thing.  As I got settled into a new routine for my training, I felt God whisper into my heart how HE has ordained this time in my life.  He has me here for a reason.  I am here to fulfill His purpose.  And you know what?  Being in a time of change in my life doesn't mean that I'm going to be comfortable.  I am way out of my comfort zone right now.  And that's a good thing.  I can't grow into who God wants me to be by just sitting around letting life pass me by.  

It's been about a month and a half since I've been here now and it has been a roller coaster time.  I can feel God molding me and refining me.  I have so much to look forward to in the future, but I have to remember to enjoy the present.

My friend Stephanie and I at the Wichita Falls "falls"

Thanks for taking the time to read all of that (for those of you who made it).  I hope to continue to update more faithfully.