There is hope - God blesses

Written July 5, 2004 (copied from my journal):

Whenever I'm out here at the riverside, I just want to cry because I've been given so much of what I've dreamed of having. That the neighbor's blue broken-down car across the street from the edge of our house is my major annoyance shows how blessed I am by this location. I hear wild turkeys or pheasants or whatever they are in the woods now. I feel a cool breeze off the river, even though it is 3:30pm and the rest of the Deep South is sweltering.

I want to let others know to not give up hope for their dreams.

God blesses.

Sometimes He seems slow. He seemed slow when we prayed for a van for two-and-a-half years. He seemed slow when I prayed to live in the country for 8-1/2 years before it happened. I want to tell others, but when I try I feel as though I am only giving them despair.
"Why can't I get a break like they?" they might say.

No! It's not that we got a break, but that God finally said, "Yes!"

God does bless, but in His timing.

The following is written September 4, 2004:

It is good for me to read the above this evening. My husband lost his job 9 days ago, on August 26th, just 5 days after his 34th birthday. The past week has been a painful one for us, facing the unknown. We have bills, we have four babies to feed, and we have a house that we prayed 11-1/2 years for, but that we've only gotten to enjoy for 7 months. Will God allow it to be taken from us down the road? What would he have Tim do for a new occupation?

In the first few days following the termination, I tried to trust God but could not. I kept saying, "I trust you," but I'd catch myself worrying again within minutes. Finally, it dawned on me to say, "I choose to trust you." Now, when I start to worry, I just say that again: "I CHOOSE to trust you."

However it happens, I know God will bless us again.

"Naked I came into this world, and naked I shall return. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job said this in Job 1:21)