Why oh why?

Let me ask you a question - Have you ever faced struggles? I should be hearing a resounding "YES!". Remember the book of James...he didn't say IF, but WHEN you face trouble. Oftentimes our struggles are a result of choices we have made in our lives and sometimes they are simply a result of the fact that we live in a fallen world. FACT: Bad things happen to good people.

Here's another one - How do you respond to your troubles? Do you ask God, "Why me?" or do you say, "Use me!"?

We are questioners by nature. It is our tendency to want to know the 'whys' behind the events of our lives. Have you noticed in your own life that oftentimes God doesn't show us the why? Could it be possible that He wants us to simply trust Him regardless of the why? Could knowing the why cause us to place our trust elsewhere?

Instead of searching in vain for the why, we should instead search for God himself. Knowing GOD is better than understanding WHY. Regardless of the struggle, He promises to make all things work together for good for those who love Him. He promises that His plans for us are for good and not for disaster. Do you believe that?

Believing these promises allows us to say with conviction - Lord, I don't understand all this and quite frankly it stinks (!), but I trust that in your time, you will use it for something good!

God has made everything beautiful in its time.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:11 ~

Devotion originally written for Gateway Girlfriends.

Jesus bring the rain!

We are certainly praying for precipitation here in Texas, but this prayer has much further reaching consequences. Lord, let it rain...hard!

School time!

School starts tomorrow...sort of. We're easing back into some semblance of a routine, be it ever so slowly. We are excited to get back into the swing of things. OK, I'm excited...the verdict is still out with some of my children. Hey, maybe we can work the Wii into our curriculum somehow.

Normally, the start of school would signal an imminent change in the weather is soon to follow. Not so in Texas. Gone are the days of fall football games in my favorite Boise State sweatshirt. I think I'd better find me a tank top instead. Now we'll be doing school in the morning and spend our afternoons hunkered down in front of an air conditioning vent. Such is life in the South I guess.

I spent some time yesterday buying new school supplies. Not that we really needed much. It's more the yearly tradition of it all. I love using newly sharpened pencils and the smell of crayons fresh out of the box...and no, I don't sniff the markers...well, maybe once.

That's one awesome thing about homeschooling - we don't have a long list of things to go out and buy that I will never get to see them use. We don't have the chore of shopping for new school clothes. My kids are perfectly content to wear the same shirt they wore yesterday...and the day before that...and the day before that. They have no idea what it means to keep up with the latest trends and feel no pressure to wear a certain brand.

Will they ever get to that point? I don't know...I hope not. In the meantime, I am enjoying the fact that WE get to decide when school begins and ends. WE decide when we need a day off. WE decide what we will study and for how long. WE get to decide what school supplies to purchase...if we want to buy #1 pencils instead of #2, by golly we can!

And no, I'm not a control freak (OK, maybe a little). I just like to be able to decide what is best for our family.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Texas or Hades...hard to tell!

I have come to the very certain conclusion that the state of Texas was not meant to be inhabited during the months of July and August. I believe God intended for us to all make our way to more tolerable climates until the temperature has dropped below the hell level.

We tried going to the park in the early morning hours, but to no avail. It's not that it was already hot...it was still hot from yesterday! There is no cooling off period here!

We can't go to the pool for fear of some crazy crypto virus that is spreading through the water making people horribly sick.

So we are staying inside, moving as little as possible and praying for cooler weather. Thank goodness for Shark Week!