Be Still My Soul

Journal for Today...

God takes us through hard things sometimes. And sometimes the hard can be excrutiating. In the Esther study I've been a part of, Beth Moore talked about going through seasons where you feel like you are stabbing in the dark, wondering if you are really pursuing what God wants. I've been there. And then one day you realize, "He did it!" and look back and be able to take a glimpse at the beautiful picture God is painting with your life.

The next season is comfortable, but God doesn't usually keep us at comfortable. There isn't room for growth in comfortable. But once we see the glimpse of the picture, is there any other option but to wait in anticipation and excitement for what God is going to do when we approach the next unknown?

I'm claiming this as my life song. God is faithful. And He, "doth undertake to guide the future as He has the past." My hope, my confidence, let nothing shake.

"Be Still My Soul"
1. Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In every change He faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend
Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

2. Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

3. Be still, my soul, though dearest friends depart
And all is darkened in the vale of tears;
Then shalt thou better know His love, His heart,
Who comes to soothe thy sorrows and thy fears.
Be still, my soul; thy Jesus can repay
From His own fulness all He takes away.

4. Be still, my soul; the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul; when change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.

Dear JoAnn's...

Dear JoAnn's Superstore,

It was me. I came in to get the last minute craft supplies for my two eldest birthday party coming up, along with the blackout lining fabric that was on an insane sale. Because the good Lord knows that I will need my sweet children to sleep when we get to Alaska, where the summer is marked by very LONG days.

The shopping expedition started out so well. One of your nice employees even handed me a $10 gift card, "just because," and all three of the kids were sitting nicely in the cart. Then my son who is about to turn three decided to turn into a monkey, although I'm not sure it's a decision he made or if his little system just became overloaded because of fatigue (see reason I came into the store above) and all of the fancy fabrics that your new store provides. But he became a monkey nonetheless.

And climbed out of the cart and ran through the store, dodging my attempts at catching him in a graceful manner. The un-graceful way in which I procured said monkey was eventually grabbing his sweatshirt and lifting him up by it, picture the Incredible Hulk, or some creature like that. But I wasn't green, just very red from embarrassment. I pressed on to the cutting counter and your gracious employee did her best to work a new machine they now use for cutting Home Decor fabrics. It took a little while, at which point my monkey-son attempted to climb out of the cart again...and scream. He's loud. Unusually louder than any other child I've been around. For an example, when he was a wee babe I was talking to my neighbor on their side of the fence and my neighbor said, "Do you have a cat? Because it sounds like it's distressed." I explained that, "No, that's not a cat. It's my son. He is just unhappy right now about lying down in his crib." Did I mention that baby is now almost three? So he's perfected the pitch.

We survived the cutting counter. At one point in the process Bryant got very quiet. I thought, "Hooray! I won this battle!" and turned to find him stripping all of his clothes off. I turned back around and acted like I didn't see it and just thanked the Lord he was quiet, for the other customers' sake.

At the checkout counter, stripped down to nothing but his Woody underwear and "Lucky Charmer," t-shirt, he decided to start screaming again. The other customers were covering their ears. I smiled, laughed (it's my reflex that's similar to crying), and kept apologizing to the clerk. Then other customers were attempting to help me out by talking to Bryant. "Hey, Buddy, what's up?" "Hey there, little guy, what's the trouble?" That, unfortunately only made things worse as Bryant became embarrassed. And cried/screamed louder. So we used all of our coupons and discounts and out the door we went. Oh, and I won a free shopping bag. Probably for being the most hated customer of the day. We charged out of the store where Bryant promptly exclaimed, "It's COLD!" Yes, my son, it is cold. It's 44 degrees outside, wind is howling through, it's raining very hard, and you are in your Woody underwear and a St. Patty's day t-shirt. Not my fault.

The cherry on top was me trying to unlock someone else's car. Yes, I was flustered and I did, in fact, see people chuckling as we sheepishly made our way across the parking lot to our car.