Finding God's Purpose In The Storms

Praise You in This Storm
words by Mark Hall/music by Mark Hall and Bernie Herms

I was sure by now, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.

Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You
and raised me up again
my strength is almost gone how can I carry on
if I can't find You
and as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away

Chorus

I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth
I lift my eyes unto the hills
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth

Chorus


This song has been a great ministry to me of late. Its hard when you find out someone close to you is gone. Its even harder facing it each and every day. Especially when you do not know if that person is a Christian. Ryan's best friend from high school committed suicide three years ago today. He basically lived with Ryan and his friend Chris. They were like brothers. He was Ryan's best man in our wedding. Just a few weeks after we were married, he was gone. Ryan knew something was bothering him at the wedding, but we guess he was too into making it "our" day to bother Ryan with his troubles. Today is a hard day for Ryan and for me as well...

Over the holidays, another one of my classmates passed away in a wreck. That makes four while we were in school and about five since we graduated in 2002. It is really hard. I shudder to think about why I did not stand up then for my faith as boldly as I do now. I never even asked some of them about God. I am not proud of it. Ryan knows he shared Christ with Chad. Chad even took one of Ryan's old Bibles and read through it. He asked Ryan some questions about what he had read. Atleast Ryan has that. I'm ashamed that I do not.

I hope and pray that each of you do not have those regrets. Be bold in your faith. Share God's wonderful story! Pray for those you have shared it with constantly!

A Year Ago

Its been a while since I last posted. There's not much to say right now. I still love teaching. I still love being down here at Hagood. However, I miss my family. I miss my best friend Daniela. And I miss my old church family.

A year ago I lost my papa. I think that is the method of this madness right now. It is a hard time, especially since Veteran's Day was HIS holiday. He always had special events planned at various schools that day. Man, I do miss my Papa!

Life after the Flood...

I am a teacher at JDA in South Carolina. I teach Pre-Calculus, Bible History, and 8th and 9th grade English. In my Bible History class, we have been studying Genesis from Creation to Joseph. One of my students brought up a question when we were talking about Adam's descendants and how long they lived.

Most of the people at the time lived to be between 800-900 years of age. The oldest, Methuselah, lived to be 969 years old. He might have been the oldest, yet he died before his father, Enoch, who walked with God and never died.

God became angry at the people for their immorality. He said in Genesis 6:3 that he would no longer let them live to be so old. They would have greater mortality and would live a normal life span no greater of 120 years of age.

That being said, one of my students likes to try and disprove the Bible. He tried to start a controversy about in the Guiness Book of World Records a person has lived to be 123 years old. First, the Bible says "NORMAL" life span. Second, the Guiness Book of World Records goes on to say that the average life span is 65 years of age and that only one person in 2.1 billion people will see the age of 115 years. If the oldest someone lives is 123 years on this earth since the Flood, then that is far enough away from 900 for me to completely believe there is no contradiction. The Bible also says 120 years and 123 is not that far off from that comparitively with the ages before the Flood.

Losing Souls for Christ...

One thing that happened to my six-year-old neice recently is that some of her first-grader friends told her that God doesn't exist. That we lied to them about other fictional creatures around Christmas and Easter and that we are lying to them about God too.

We lied to them that as long as they are good... and we have done the same with what God says to do...I have started to rethink my theology on raising children. One day soon, I hope to be a mother myself. Will I tell them these fictional characters are real and just hope they can tell the difference between lying to them and telling them about the one true God? I don't know...

If my not telling my children things are real when they aren't will make them one step closer to believing in God, then I am willing to give up that "joy" of a few seconds on Christmas morning for the greater JOY of having my son or daughter in the Kingdom of God!

The Bible in 90 Days

One of the guys that I went to college with (well he graduated three years before me) is a pastor at Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. I found him on Twitter the other day and his blog for his church.

Well today I checked twitter for the first time in a few days and he posted this link: http://bit.ly/a8cAS
It is an intense bible read through where you read the entire bible in 90 days. I am a day behind, but I have decided to commit myself to this study. It will be difficult to find the time to read some of the lengthy sections, I know.

First, it will be a great opportunity to help me prepare for teaching Bible History this coming school year. Second, it will be a good spiritual journey of growth and learning about my God and his revelation for mankind.

Today's Reading is Genesis 1:1 - 16:16.

Are We There Yet?

All of us have felt impatient about something or other during the course of life. For many of us it was that long cross-country road trip with the family. For others it was graduating from high school or college. Some of us are still in the midst of the wait.

How man of us, if we are honest, have had that attitude towards our walk with God? We get so frustrated at ourselves that our spiritual walk isn't where we want it to be.

You are not alone. Even Paul struggled with not being where he wanted to in his spiritual walk. In Romans 7:18-19 he says "And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. "

Look at your spiritual walk as a journey. A journey takes time. It is not like Star Trek where we can say "Beam me up Scotty" and be where we want to be when we want to be there. It is a journey and takes time.

Only Through His Presence

I know it has been a good while since I have updated, and I apologize for that. I am now a teacher at Jefferson Davis Academy. I have stayed true to God, and He has given me the desires of my heart.

I have always wanted to teach; however, after college I had to get the first job I came to and, since I was already working in the medical field, I accepted a job with an eye doctor. Then, off to Resurgent working in bankruptcy. None of these jobs were my "dream job" but they were each a blessing. I met many great people I still keep in contact with today, and I got some experience opening up to people and working with software that required training.

God then moved my husband and I to this small little town in which we now live. I love the small town pace after living in Greenville, SC for so long. The worst traffic is right after a football or softball game! We moved back in October 2008. I applied to be a substitute teacher. I was accepted to the list, but never called in because the teachers did not know me that well. Then, a man at my church offered me a job with his company as an office manager. I worked there from Nov 2008 until March 2008. Then his wife retired and started working for him. I helped fill-in every now and then when they went on vacation or had an appointment. His wife went back to work the first of July. I was offered my teaching position the end of June!

God has been so wonderful to me and my husband. On paper, we should not have been able to pay our bills. We SHOULD be ten or fifteen thousand dollars in debt! But God has provided every minute! This wonderful church family filled our pantry with tons of items! We have yet to have to buy paper towels or laundry detergent because of these wonderful people we have come to see as our family! Back in February, we had our marriage retreat for the church. Ryan and I were going to be forced to eat in our room every night. And the gasoline money was going to be put on a credit card. But the Sunday before Ryan and I received a card from a church member with enough money for gasoline and one meal (not expensive meal but not the dollar menu either) out to eat.

God has provided for us every step of the way. Even when I would sometimes get frantic over how things were going to get paid, etc.

I am doing a 40 day Bible study and the lesson on day one was short but so intense. It was talking about how so many people use Phil. 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" as their life verse. The reason Susan Sealy claims is because "we understand from the very beginning that it is by God's strength, his very presence in our lives, that we accomplish anything."

I would not be where I am today or who I am today without God's very presence in my life. He is the only reason I am where I am today. His call on my husband and I to serve at this church far away from family and old friends we came to rely on so well. It was not until this move away from all that we knew and held familiar that we truly had to rely on only Him for our every need.