Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Easy years are gone

Well, my blogging days have been very few and far between! I think between life being very busy, Facebook's easy of sharing the daily and Blogger loosing all my connections to friend's blogs - it just hasn't been the place to go.

I'm 35 now, 35.....  Nearly 20 years out of HS, married for almost 14 and my goodness I have wrinkles on my upper chest (Google says it is from side sleeping... or age and side sleeping...).  The days of being young are OVER!  I'm not necessarily feeling old, but I'm certainly not feeling young and probably won't ever in my life again.

I was just telling my husband last night, I feel like the easy years are behind us.  This is not to be a downer, just to be realistic.  Every year has its challenges, but I'm afraid the challenges ahead will be more difficult than the ones of the past.

Currently we are hosting a Bible study on Gary Thomas' "Sacred Marriage" and there are so many amazing points made.  One is that trials build maturity. A life of ease may be nice and all, but true maturity and growth occurs when life gets hard. When reliance on God is essential for survival and your inner being is shaped by His hands.

I'm not sure I'm just ready for these trials I know lay ahead, but I know my God is ready and for that I am grateful.  I am grateful to know that no matter what does lie ahead, God will use it for good and it will be for the benefit of His kingdom.

This last year has been full of challenges. Family kind, the ones you don't share on your public blog.  It has been hard, really hard some days.  Not without fruit though, hopefully bigger fruit is yet to birth from these hardships.

Like I pray with my girls each night - "Make us a blessing, help us to use what You have given us to bring your love to those around us."