Please don't fight these hands that are holding you....

Its been a difficult day. The destruction that is all around us, and the difficulties of the last few months have caught up with me. I walked through Walmart on the verge of tears, which was a embarassing at times. :)  I watched families restocking their groceries. Some looked like they hardly had a penny to their names. I wondered how they would make it for the next few weeks. I listened, as the cashier told me about stories that her customers had told her about their experiences in the storms. I watched our neighbor on the corner wondering around his yard, looking so hopeless. My precious Dad stopped and talked to him about Jesus this morning. Then Dad came to our house and tried to chop the limbs off the trees in our back yard so we could at least get out on our deck.

I was thinking how the landscape has changed around here. And so have the lives of everyone in our community. Things will never look exactly the same. Families have changed. Homes have changed. We've been robbed of our peace of mind, in some ways. Yes, hearts and emotions have changed.

My mind keeps wondering back to last May. What a wonderful time it was! Our home was filled with joy! I long for those days again. I hope I can write, in detail someday about all that happened back then. But for now, I have to keep it between me and God. Some things are best left that way.

Thankfully there are many good times, now, too. Its the little things, you know? A good cup of coffee or a glass of my iced tea, the party Gordon throws every time I come home, the crystal clear blue sky, sunsets, laughter, kind words from a stranger, one of my babies at work giving me a kiss as they leave with their mom, watching deer graze as we go for a drive at Enterprise South, friends checking in to make sure we're ok,  Yeah, its the little things....

As I ponder the day, I am reminded of a line in a song by Tenth Avenue North. "Please don't fight these Hands that are holding you. My Hands are holding you." All the plans that I have had for the past year have pretty much gone out the window. And now life comes down to trust. Do I fully trust the Hands that are holding me? Or do I fight against them? I choose to trust Him. Everything in His Word, everything in my past, and all the answered prayers tells me that He is truly completely trustworthy. He actually does greater than I could ever ask or think. (Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us)

Though I don't understand all that has happened over the past year, I will not fight the Hands that are holding me. For in these Hands there is safety, shelter, peace, and a plan that is so much greater than I could ever ask or think.

Isaiah 41:10 Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.