There is so much going on this week….today in my mind and online that I’m finding it hard to pace myself. We started our homeschooling year today and it is going well! I’m going to get my thoughts together for that to go up with the Not Back to School Blog Hop a little bit later, but FIRST I wanted to let you know about a new site online that I am very excited about. It’s one of those things that I HAVE to share….
(in)Courage is a site sponsored by DaySpring and featuring over twenty of the most inspirational, encouraging, bloggers and artists I’ve seen. I’ve even added a special place in my Google Reader for this site and the sites of all the bloggers contributing to it. I don’t usually get swept away by lots of hype, but I am really excited about this new site! I just think it is going to be a wonderful place to visit.
I don’t have a lot of time to spend online in addition to writing on my own blog, especially now that I’m homeschooling EA and MC. So, I want to make sure that the time I do spend online reading blogs, visiting sites, tweeting, etc. is a positive experience. I want the time I spent to be uplifting and encouraging instead of frustrating and, well, discouraging. (in)Courage looks like a place for just that.
As they are launching their site this week, (in)Courage is asking it’s readers to write about what encourages them.
There have been several distinct times of struggle in my adult life. Through each of these struggles, my encouragement has come from the same several distinctive places of encouragement.
When my husband, ChaplainAndrews, was leaving the pastorate of a small church, I truly struggled in my own faith. I witnessed ugliness within Christ’s church and it hurt my heart very deeply. I couldn’t understand why we were struggling so and how it was all fitting into God’s plan for our lives. There were days when I couldn’t pray, I could only cry out to God for help. For a while Satan really used this to grip my spirit and I struggled depression, fear, unforgiveness, and anger.
It took quite a while for my spirit to be healed from this time of struggle. And while to be quite honest, I still don’t understand and will probably never be able to fathom the reason for political battles within the church, it was returning to a place of worship that encouraged me through that time. It was the comfort and listening ear of my family and friends that encouraged me to forgive and keep on living in Christ. And it was God’s presence and the steadfastness of his Word the encouraged me and brought me to restoration.
Another struggle came just as everything seemed to be going “right” in my life again. My husband had been accepted as a Chaplain in the Army and knowing that we were financially secure, we began trying for a baby. Well, as God would have it, we were blessed with our Ten Thousand Beside, twin girls. I loved being pregnant and enjoyed every minute of it until I became sick with HELLP Syndrome, a severe form of pre-eclampsia and my girls were delivered ten weeks too early.
They were both very sick struggled to survive their first days in the outside world. Again, it was family, friends, God’s presence and His Word that helped me survive this time.
I will never forget praying Psalm 121:5 “The Lord Himself watches over you” as my c-section was performed.
I will never forget my Daddy sitting with me as Keith had to leave for his Chaplain’s Basic Course in Ft. Jackson right before MC was put on an oscillator and medically paralyzed.
I will never forget my husband coming back to be by my side when I called crying because they were so much more sick than I ever imagined.
I will never forget my in-laws opening their home to me as I was recovering and visiting my tiny babies in the NICU.
I will never forget friends from my Sunday School class visiting, bring meals, and praying.
I will never forget the power of prayer and the wonderful miracle that was performed in the lives of my little girls.
It is these and so many more that encouraged me through a time where all I could do is cling to Christ.
Our family has also survived two deployments. Army Chaplains are called to serve their soldiers wherever they go. And in this day of war, it is certain that they will deploy. ChaplainAndrews has deployed twice and we have learned to maintain and grow our relationship from a great distance. We have learned to work through the hardships of pre-deployment, deployment, sustainment, re-deployment and post-deployment. And, yes, it’s a struggle at each stage.
His first deployment was for a year when those little premature babies were only five months old. And he recently returned from his second deployment, one that lasted fourteen months. He left when our little Will was almost eleven months old.
Through both deployments, I was encouraged and strengthened by my husband’s calling. I never questioned because I KNEW that he was doing the Lord’s will. Yes, the days were long as I served as a single-mom for months on end. Yes, I was lonely living apart from my husband and this time an ocean away from my family. But more than anything else, I was encouraged by KNOWING. By knowing that he was called to serve.
It is the companionship of friends that gave of their time to call, to write, to pray, to send care packages, and to minister to my husband and myself that encouraged me in the midst of those deployments. I sought out Christian friends who would lift me up, who would be there with encouraging words and prayers and they did just that.
God’s Word was also a constant in both of those times without my husband. Through His Word and my time in it, I was strengthened, my spirit was nourished, and I was encouraged beyond measure. When there were uncertainties, I held to the only thing that is certain in this life….God’s Word and His love for me that is written throughout that Word.
So, as you can see, the constants of friends, family, faith, the church, God’s presence and His Word have encouraged me through so many times of struggle. But it is also these very things that encourage me from one day to the next. Even when there is no struggle and I am just living my life. In the happy times and in the sad, in the struggles of life and in the times of coasting, the source of encouragement is the same.
What is is that encourages you?
Note: This post is being linked to (in)Courage and Real Life’s “Your Life Your Blog”
Amber@theRunaMuck says
I absolutely love every stitch of this post. My goodness, I really appreciate hearing how others have struggled and how God pulled them through. I have a similar spirit journey in many ways as you do. Thank you for sharing, sister. Thank you for joining us at (in)courage.
Real Life Sarah says
Wow! I really enjoyed “getting to know you” in this post! Your steadfast faith is such a great testimony! I had pre-eclampsia, but thankfully it was only at 6 weeks early, and we stayed in the hospital just 12 days. I can’t imagine how hard that was for you!
And thanks to your husband (and yourself) for serving in the Army! It is a priceless mission to be able to minister to those giving their lives for our country!
Holley - (in)courage says
Wow, what a beautiful post! “I will never forget…” this reminded me of how God told His people in the Old Testament over and over again to remember all He had done for them. Your reflection and treasuring all of these things in your heart must delight Him so much.
I’m so glad to be (in) with you!