Living Life for Christ Alone

I sat on the bathroom floor, the sound of the girls crying from the different rooms they were in making its way to my ears and breaking into the silence. It had been an emotional week for the girls. Between potty training, teething, leaps and who knows what else, there had been many, many tears. My own emotions were frayed, and I knew I couldn't handle their tears and the intensity of emotion much more.  I took a deep breath and said a prayer. "God, I can't even hold myself together..."  His whisper quieted my soul: "I can hold you -and them- together."  I stood back up and walked out of that bathroom with renewed confidence. ... "He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it." (1 Thess 5:24) How readily I take things into my own hands. How easily I grasp for control. And then, how quickly it all gets out of control because of my choice to take control.  But I am here -as  a wife, a mother, a writer and whatever else I am, because He  called me...

It had been a long week full of challenges for me. I don't remember what all the challenges were, but the main thing I remember is that I’d had many moments of overwhelm, many moments where I wondered if I could make it through another day of more of the same.   But now, as I trudged onto the beach, a sense of joy flooded my soul. Here I was, in one of my “happy places”, alone with God.   You see, Kevin had given me the morning off to spend some time alone with Jesus while he watched the girls. I knew where I wanted to go, how I wanted to use that time. I was going to take a long, long, long, uninterrupted walk along the beach. Just me and Jesus.   The waves crashed, the white sand glistened in the sunlight, the sounds of seagulls could be heard, the smell of salty water filled the air, and I felt a sense of awe settling over my soul. I looked around at others there and wondered if they felt it too. How could they not? This was God’s creation, awesome beauty for all ...