pajama day

Happy Thanksgiving week! I know I am for sure glad for a break from school and pajama day coming up! Since Brett had to work late one Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 2016, I decided to make a fun day of it. I had to cook and bake anyway, so Linley at three, Ella Kate at two, and Jenna at eleven months old, put on some (clean) jammies that morning, listened to Christmas music, watched Christmas movies, and cooked and baked ahead to prepare for Thanksgiving the next day. We have done it ever since and I look forward to it! We get to stay at home, cozied up in the warmth, and spend the day together. Yes, the Christmas-y pajamas are shades of red and pink!

Reflecting on this year, 2018, I find myself thankful for many blessings. We began the year in a new city in a new state with a new baby, new home, new career for my hubs, new church, and new friends. This year has been full of joy, tears, and uncertainty. In all the emotions, God is still faithful.

In January, my mama said goodbye after helping us move in our Tenn. home to go back to her own home in Ohio with our beloved Zuzu kitty in tow. We can only have two cats in our rental house, so she had to live with my sister. I was tearing up in the driveway, when a car pulled up in front of our house, surprising me because we did not know anyone here yet. The children’s minister from the church we had visited the past Sunday came to bring us a welcome card and warm chocolate chip banana bread. I quickly dried my tears and was so thankful for the few minutes of a kind visitor.

One afternoon in the spring, I took my girls to Chick-fil-A to visit my hubsy at work, and I saw other moms with kids eating together. Honestly, I was feeling kinda sorry for myself and feeling quite lonely. Content with knowing God is good, we had a fun lunch as just our family of girls, but a bit lonely still. While getting our table set up, I saw a girl I recognized. We realized we knew each other and had worked Centri-Kid camp together back in our college days! She invited us to her church and this is where we joined and are serving today!

It is nice to reflect and see how God has blessed us. It is a little more difficult to believe that God is good when we are in the thick of the weeds. God does not promise to keep us from the pain but He promises that He will always be with us when we walk through it. I am not oblivious to the fact that many of us face uncertainty even during this season of Thanksgiving and peace.

I have a difficult time when I push through the fire and I know that God is big enough to have kept me from it. Why does He allow such struggle for me when I know He is a loving Father and could stop it all in an instant? I am comforted knowing that He loves me so much, my tears are collected by Him (Psalm 56:8). I also know that, like an earthly parent, it must hurt His heart when we are hurt, but He knows it is for the best. Sometimes it takes time for my feelings to catch up, but I know that if He does not change my circumstances, He is still good. When the three brave men faced King Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace for refusing to bow to him, they knew they served the One True God Who could rescue them; but if not, their minds were resolved that He is still good (Daniel 3:1-30).

I pray confidence for you as you stumble through your own weedy struggles. May God show you His goodness and love in a special way right now. I pray for unwavering faith and steadfast determination. Help us to forge through this arduous world with bravery and see You work in our lives. Thank You that “when I wait, You strengthen my heart” (Psalm 27:4).

Hugs,

Charis