i wouldn’t say that my kids LOVE to run. they LOVE to be done with the run.
i know how they feel. i think my face perpetually has that same grimace on it on some days. but it is the running that is the part that is good for us. that makes us feel good when it is done. it is the running that trains us. that strengthens us. that gets our blood pumping. our endorphins racing.
here are some GREAT things that fed my soul this week. things that made the run easier. things that ease that grimace of pain from my face and replace it with a hopeful peace and quiet trust in the God of the run. the author and perfecter of this race...
Learn much of the Lord Jesus.
For every look at yourself take ten looks at Christ.
He is altogether lovely. . . .
Live much in the smiles of God.
Bask in his beams.
Feel his all-seeing eye settled on you in love.
And repose in his almighty arms.
{robert murray mccheyne}
strange how that it is —
that sometimes something has to fall apart —
for something better to fall together.
{ann voskamp- from her blog post “when things are falling apart”}
“Weep not.
Pray to God with all your heart.
To pray often is almost to conquer.”
2 Corinthians 1:9-11
Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.
But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us.
On Him we have set our hope that He will deliver us again.
You also must help us by prayer,
so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
and this article about students who “graduate from God”. granted it doesn’t really sound like good news at first glance but the part about what helps students to be able to mature in their faith were very beneficial...
Intergenerational relationships were found to be enormously beneficial to students, according to Kara Powell, executive director of the Center for Youth and Family Ministry. The College Transition study will be measuring components such as intergenerational community, parents, and youth groups that impact the move into college life.
Powell pointed out a significant finding from the initial study. "One of the most interesting findings from that pilot project was the importance of doubt in a student's faith maturity. The more college students felt that they had the opportunity to express their doubt while they were in high school, the higher levels of faith maturity and spiritual maturity [they had]."
"Whether it was with the youth group overall or with a specific adult leader, students who had the opportunity to struggle with tough questions and pain during high school seemed to have a healthier transition into college life," stated the study by Powell and Krista Kubiak, youth worker and graduate of the Marriage and Family program at Fuller.
Deuteronomy 33:12
About Benjamin (and i think i can safely add my own name here) he said:
“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in Him,
for He shields him all day long,
and the one the LORD loves rests between His shoulders.”
these last quotes are from a GREAT book (that i listened to as an audio book. only $5.95 from itunes. if you have a 2-3 hours car trip coming up it would be a VERY worthwhile listen.) i drove up to carrolton for maxx’s cross country meet and it was a BEAUTIFUL story (and in God’s perfect timing for me to hear with my ears and my heart) about parenting, about grace, and about the character of God...
I hear religious-minded people say all the time with good intentions, "God will never place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot carry it."
Really?
My experience is that God will place a burden on you so heavy that you cannot possibly carry it alone. He will break your back and your will. He will buckle your legs until you fall flat beneath the crushing weight of your load. All the while He will walk beside you waiting for you to come to the point where you must depend on Him.
"My power is made perfect in your weakness," He says, as we strain under our burden.
Whatever the burden, it might indeed get worse, but I know this--God is faithful. And while we change and get old, He does not. When we get weaker, He remains strong. And in our weakness and humility, He offers us true, lasting, transforming and undeserved grace.
Greg Lucas in Wrestling with an Angel
beneath the death grip of every parent holding tightly to their special child is the strong, reliable and gentle hand of a Father who will never let go- the Deliverer, the Surgeon, the reliable object of our faith. Suffering reveals our need, and our need reveals the Savior. He will direct your life in whatever way is necessary to loosen your grip- not to take something away, but to make possible more than you ever hoped for or imagined. This is the grip of grace...
Greg Lucas in Wrestling with an Angel
But perhaps the sweetest discover of all was learning more and more about the character of my Heavenly Father through the struggles of my disabled son. It is one thing to read about His faithfulness, to talk about His mercy and to write about His grace. But to experience these things face to face requires a heavenly vision that can only be obtained by walking through the suffering of His Providence and coming to the realization that the darkness that I have experienced is actually the shadowing shelter of my ever present Father. It is in this shadow that I have wrestled with an angel until the breaking of today. And even though I now feel beaten and broken from battle, the limp that carries me away from this sacred place forever reminds me that I have been touched by the Hand of the Almighty. And by Grace I have prevailed...
Greg Lucas in Wrestling with an Angel