It Is Well With My Soul

As I wait anxiously for Craig's interview to come next week Craig and I have both been contemplating what we have learned through this time of hardship and adversity.  We have truly come out (I have strong faith that Craig will get this job) of this refined by the fires of our trials.  We both have said in the last couple days we don't ever want to be the people we were when we went into this time of our life.  We went into it complaining as the Israelites did when the Lord brought them out of Egypt.  Having gone through God allowing everything taken away (our house is still in limbo as we speak) we have been stripped of our sinful pride and how easy it was for us to take for granted what we did have.  Before this I would find myself complaining and making excuses to people for my house and it not being as nice or as big as I wanted it to be...no more.  I am now praising God for having a home that is safe, in a safe neighborhood, close to hospitals, shopping, and having sweet neighbors.  Every night this past year as I worried that we may be out on the streets if our home foreclosed I chose to turn my worry into thankfulness.  I thank God for the warm rooms and beds my children have.  I thank God for the water we can bathe in and wash our clothes and dishes in.  I thank God for the beautiful yard that is now springing to life and full of singing, chirping birds all singing praises to God for the warm weather coming and their baby birds in their nests. 

During this time we paid off our van.  That is such a blessing to us.  Knowing we had a vehicle and didn't have to worry about that bill anymore was such a blessing.  We thank God for providing food through food stamps and WIC. It was difficult at times but I think we were able to show Christ to the workers who have been swamped.  It also showed us what a great need their is in food pantries that stock food for people like us who are in limbo between state aid and have children with no food to eat.  Our hearts have been humbled at the need and we will not wait until our bills and debts are caught up to help.  When Craig gets this job we will be doing whatever we can to help the food pantry become better at assisting the hungry.  We thank God for the Medicaid that provided free healthcare for all our children and myself while I was pregnant.  I was even able to stay with my Christian doctor who delivered my sweet Annaliese. 

Most of all I thank God for strengthening Craig and I in our marriage and relationship.  When we went for godly counsel a pastor told us I would leave him if he didn't have a job because I would see all the other men providing for their wives and I would not want my husband anymore.  But I will never leave him and we have grown stronger and more in love than ever in our marriage of 12 years.  We are looking forward to enjoying each other and now that we finally understand one another better than ever we are communicating better and taking every opportunity to have "moments" where we love one another instead f complaining we never get time alone.

Their is so much more on my heart but one of my devotionals today spoke to my heart so well:
Resting and Trusting
March 9th, 2010
by Brigitte Straub
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I once heard it said that the greatest weapon of our warfare is rest. It is living from a place of complete trust in God. When we are struggling and are going through times of trial and tribulation, we must enter into God’s rest because nothing will get us through those times better than resting in God. In truth, we are commanded to rest in God and the finished work of Jesus Christ.
It’s a spiritual rest that comes by faith. It’s a faith that believes and knows that Jesus has already won the battle, made a spectacle of the enemy and destroyed all his works (1 John 3:8). Resting in God means to have absolute trust and confidence in His care for you, knowing that He will supply all your needs, and that He is more than enough for you.
When we truly understand the finished work of Jesus at the cross, we will be able to enter more deeply into rest and gain a perspective greater than our eyes can see and louder than our ears have heard.
There is a level of intimacy with God that we can come into that brings us into such a deep place within Him and into His fullness that kindles a response from us which says, “Lord, I enter into You, and in this season of my life, in my hurt and in my pain, I will enter into rest; knowing, that YOU know…and recognizing that You hold all things in your hand; my life, my circumstances, my family, and in this darkness, You are here with me.”
The truth is, that the battle belongs to the Lord. So, in giving our battles to Him, and laying them at the foot of the cross, we are entering into rest. Taking upon His yolk, which is easy, and His burden, which is light, we are choosing to enter into rest. We must yield even our emotions, our thoughts and the wrestle within ourselves to hold onto hurts and struggles and give them over to the One Who has redeemed us. He has bought our souls with a price, bringing us from affliction into wholeness and trading our ashes for beauty. He has given us the garment of praise for oppression. As we yield, we enter into His rest.
It is then that we can then truly say as Horatio Spafford did when he lost his four daughters at sea, “It is Well with my Soul”. What a beautiful hymn to come out of such suffering. He had an understanding of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ at the cross that we must all embrace and the choosing of entering into rest.
Enter into His rest.
Take some time now, remove all distractions, and pour yourself out, giving all those things that are at the present time disturbing you, to God. Enter into Him, and as you do, you will with greater confidence and assurance, know, that God is holding you, knows and sees all things, and has already worked it out for your good and for your benefit.
Heavenly Father, I come and enter deep into You. I choose to enter into the rest You have given me through the blood of Your Son Jesus. I give you my hurts and my sorrow, my grief and all those things that have been holding me down. I lay them at your feet and at the foot of the cross, and I choose to enter into Your rest. Let me feel Your presence here in this place and may I know You more deeply and trust You greater than before. Amen.


Craig and I have chosen to rest in Jesus and not be anxious.  The biggest thing I've learned is not to worry.  I trust in God and if I didn't then I could worry.  I choose not to because I know God has us in his hands and that's just where we want to be.