Chronicles

This one blessed me. It came at a time, when I was working as a 1099
employee, like some of you do. I hope it blesses you as well. This is also
relevant to our trials today, with Megan.


Thin



No ladies and gentleman, I am not speaking of weight. That is a touchy
subject and is better left alone. What I am speaking of is when you
feel so worn down from worldly issues, or when your patience is at an
end. A lot of you have children and they can wear you down. Also,
worldly issues can wear you thin (money, job, traffic, MONEY). You
feel like nothing you do seems to help and that maybe the Lord has
forsaken you and you struggle to figure out why. Well, maybe you are
not meant to know why. Job didn't know why. And he had everything
taken away, yet he praised the Lord every day. I want to be like that.
What is bad is that I am no where near that in my Christian walk. My
quiet time is starting to pick up again. It's tough, but my heart
tells me that I need to do it. Through my personal experiences, the
Lord has taught me that I need to try harder to put Him first in my
life. Doing it is teaching me discipline and forming a good habit. I
am trying to take another step in my Christian life and am having some
growing pains. The last 8 weeks is starting to catch up with me, with
not producing an income. Don't get me wrong, I am working. I just have
to wait for our clients to pay. I am definitely being taught patience,
faith, hope and trust. Through you, my brothers and sisters, my family
is being blessed with encouragement, love, prayers, and an out-pouring
of grace. At this point in time, I will admit that I am being worn
thin, but just typing this e-mail has given me a peace knowing that
you all read it and pray. How do I know you pray? Just look at us, we
are still alive and in good health (for the most part). I still have
my loving wife and beautiful children, my parents who love us (both
immediate and in-laws), my church who encourage us, and my God who
will NEVER forsake us. I have a roof over my head and food in the
kitchen. I sometimes get so wrapped up in figuring out to get
something, I forget about what I already have. I know some of my
recent messages have been kind-of at a low morale, but God is speaking
through my experiences and these are some of the feelings I have been
having lately. There's no use is beating around the bush about it. If
our experiences (both bad and good) can, in any way, help someone else
cope with an issue(s), I want to be obedient and try an help. I
consider it a high honor that God has blessed me with these chronicles
and it would be awful for me to keep them to myself. I leave you with
this verse. It is short and simple, but very powerful:

Eph 6:10 "....be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. "

Dear Lord, I love you Jesus and please forgive me for doubting your
will and wisdom. I pray that Your will be done. Amen.



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JR