Blessings

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
It's not our home

‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise

~Laura Story

These past few weeks have become ever increasingly stressful as we approach transition at work and uncertainty of the future. I am leaning on God and trusting his guidance and wisdom in my decision-making processes. I trust that He will provide for my every need, but I would be lying if I said it has been easy and doubt-free. I heard this song this morning on the radio and it really spoke to me. It reminds me that God never promised that everything would be easy in our lives. It also reminds me of this passage from Isaiah

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. ~Isaiah 43:2

 The passage doesn't say IF you go through deep waters, but WHEN. God tells us that our lives will not always be easy and that we will face difficulties and hard decisions. There is also a promise in that statement: I WILL BE WITH YOU! That gives me peace about all that is going on in my life right now. I am thankful for the trials because they help me to grow into a stronger woman, who is more and more trusting of her God.

The Road Not Taken

 The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost 

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

I came across this poem this morning and although I've heard and read it hundreds of times, it hit me more this morning. I realize that it is ever increasingly applying to my life.  Daniel and I are moving into a new month after having one of the best months in our business to date. We are so excited for the growth not only in our business, but in ourselves over the past couple of months. Its always been a struggle for us to come to terms with friends and family who are not supportive of, or do not understand our venture, but we will keep pressing on because we have a vision of what our future will be...and its not the road most traveled. 

I have been working on having high expectations for people, our business, and our life in general. There has been a lot of extra stress with work situations this past couple of months, and change is coming. I have been working on preparing myself for the changes ahead and keeping my attitude and expectations in check. I will leave you with a quote that really speaks to me every time I start to get worried.

In every adversity there lies a seed of equal or greater benefit for those who have a positive mental attitude.