My Grace is Sufficient for Thee

 

“We all struggle with struggles. But did you ever think that perhaps God may be using your struggles to change you?
To shape you?
Even to heal you?”
Max Lucado

 

I think Max may be right. For over a decade I have been asking God to remove the pain in my head. I have chronic headaches. Even as I write these words, my thoughts pass through the fog of pain and try to come out coherent and uplifting. Doctors discovered at least part of the problem: deteriorated discs in my neck that shoot pain across my shoulders, up the back of my head, and to my temples. The lupus only muddies the issue, which makes my soldiering through the day sometimes, well, a battle.

Oh, put the tissues away, this isn’t a sob story. We all deal with struggles. This just happens to be mine.

So, what do I do with it?  I do my part. Stay active. Exercise. Stretch. Eat right. Think positively (after all, I don’t want to become anyone else’s headache). But mostly I pray.

Hinge Moments

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“It has long been an axiom of mine
that the little things
are infinitely the most important.”
Arthur Conan Doyle, Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes

“Let me tell you something big:
Give importance to little things.”
Mehmet Murat ildan

“Sometimes the little opportunities
that fly at us each day
can have the biggest impact.”
Danny Wallace,  Yes Man

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My son, Connor, loves cars.  One of his favorite shows is Great Britain’s Top Gear (and we thoroughly enjoy the show along with him). Whenever I point out a car on the road, “Oh, that’s a pretty car,” Connor will chime in with the make/model/year, gas mileage, perks and quarks, and if a competitor’s version is better or worse.  He’s no expert, but if you hang around Connor long enough, you gain an appreciation for fine cars.  Maybe that’s why this car caught my eye.

Peace, Be Still

Master, the Tempest is Raging  by Walter Rane

“Fearful heart – Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance…and save you.”
Isaiah 35:4

“He who commands the sea
has command of everything.”
-Cicero

Hello, my name is Julie.  I am a recovering worry-aholic.

I worry about health, finances, the future, and about my kids’ safety.  I worry about computer crashes, brain glitches, and what people think of me.  The older I get, seems each season brings fresh reasons for fear.  Ugh.

Now, the other half of me isn’t quite as unravelled.  On the flip-side I am confident, composed, enthusiastic, and faithful.  This is the side everyone sees. Yet, more often than I’d like to admit, clouds of worry billow in, getting the best of me.  And I am fearful.

Can a person be full of faith and full of fear at the same time?  In my humble opinion – Yes.

The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith.  Fear comes to everyone.  Even Jesus was scared (Mark 14:33-35).  And it feels horrible.  Fear puts gray in your day, sucks the life out of you, and robs you of contentment.

But what if you could change that?  What if faith – not fear – was your knee-jerk reaction to troubles?  How would that be?  Being stress-less.  Imagine – a day, a week, or a month with absolutely NO fear.

Let It Be in the Lord

“Love not what thou are,
but only what thou may become.”
– Don Quixote

Recently a visiting authority in the church called me up from the congregation to give an impromptu testimony. Since my dad is in the stake presidency, it would have been decent of him to have given me a heads up via text or creative hand gestures…but no.

So with heart beating, hands shaking, and a couple minutes to prepare, I made my way up to the front, and the following thoughts came to mind. So I shared.

I Believe in Signs

“Miracles surround us at every turn,
if we but sharpen our perceptions
to them.”
Willa Cather

“There are only two ways
to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything
is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein

Well, it happened again.  I was on my normal morning power walk and – BOOM – an answer was given to me…again.  I love it when that happens!

My walk started out very underwhelming – under a cloud.  Not a cloud of precipitation, it was a cloud of self doubt.  The challenges of life seemed to outweigh the resources, and I questioned my endurance.  I questioned my future.  And, quite frankly, I questioned God’s wisdom.  There is no way you can make this happen! was the theme of my prayer.

The Button with His answer

Apparently God did not want me wasting another minute in the muck of mistrust because He had a retort to my “There is no way you can make this happen,”