A day at the museum!

It's always a great day when you can spend the day enjoying long, God-centered conversations, laughing, and catching up with a close friend you don't get to see often! 

It's an even better day when you get to enjoy those things while watching your children play and make memories with that particular friend's children. It's like icing on the cake if you ask me!

Yesterday, I got to do just that! 

The kids and I got to spend the day at EdVenture children's museum with my friend Maureen and her kids! It was such a treat watching the kids play and seeing them enjoy each other's company. There was so much joy, laughter, fun, and a little bit of learning too! 

Here they are at the butterfly exhibit checking out the different species of butterflies!

I think the Zebra swallowtail was everyone's favorite!

They got to be veterinarian's for a little while;-) 

There was a quick puppet show!

Lunch and cow 'hats' at chick fil a! 

Lot's of grocery shopping!

And lot's of holding hands when we crossed the street!

What a treasure all of these kids are! I'm so thankful for my friendship with Maureen and the Broggi family! 

And I'm certainly looking forward to many visits like this!

The bigger picture.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
8 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

My heart was so heavy as I drove home from Charleston yesterday.
For the past week, I've stuck close beside my dad's side of the family as we pray and wait. A few weeks ago my cousin (age 22) was diagnosed with cancer and is fighting for his life in ICU at MUSC.
We are all thankful for the doctors who are doing all they can to sustain his life but still my heart aches.
My heart aches, not just as his cousin but as a mother. I can't imagine what my aunt is going through or how she feels as she watches while her oldest son continues to fight this horrible cancer.
My heart aches for my grandparents and the rest of my cousin's, aunt's, and uncle's.
My heart aches for his fiancé as I watch her stay strong and continue to hold the hand of her future husband.
My heart aches through and through.
As I drove home I couldn't help but weep as I thought of the suffering so many of my loved one's are enduring right now.
I thought of my younger cousin who wanted to know why bad things happen to good people. He didn't understand.
To be honest, as I continued the long drive down I-26, I wanted to make sense of and understand the why, and how these kinds of things happen too.
I trust in the Lord with all of my heart. I know God is good and faithful. I know He works all things together for the good of those who love the Him, but with something like this, It's hard to see how anything good could come out of it.
But then...
I thought of how the community has rallied together in Jordan's honor and how so many have cried out to God on his behalf. I thought about one girl who posted on his support group on Facebook that she hadn't prayed in a while and had turned from God and how this has made her return to Him.
Those are not just good things; those are great things!
God also reminded me that nothing on this earth that we go through compares to the suffering His one and only Son endured on that cross. Even if we can't understand our own suffering or why these kinds of things happen, our Heavenly Father does. And He longs to bring us comfort.
He said in his word that, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
I read this quote from my devotion this morning that said, "Are you asking why this should be, believer? Look upward to your heavenly Father, and behold Him pure and holy. Do you know that you are one day to be like Him? Will you easily be conformed to His image? Will you not require much refining in the furnace of affliction to purify you? Will it be an easy thing to get rid of your corruptions and make you perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect?"-Alistair Begg
God desires us to be more like Him. In order to do that he must refine us and that process hurts.
My heart continues to hurt for Jordan and the rest of my family, but I will seek comfort in the most high. I will continue to trust in His goodness even when I can't see the bigger picture.
I know that God uses all things for His glory, and I know that He is faithful to his promise's.

Generation after Generation

This morning I sat down on my kitchen stool and opened my bible.
I waited patiently as I listened to the last few seconds of my coffee brewing. The kids were still snuggled in their beds sweetly dreaming. It was just before sunrise. I got up, poured myself a mug of coffee and sat back down. I stared at my opened bible, took a slow sip of coffee, and began to read:
Deuteronomy 6
“Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the judgments which the LORD your God has commanded me to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you are going over to possess it, so that you and your son and your grandson might fear the LORD your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.“O Israel, you should listen and be careful to do it, that it may be well with you and that you may multiply greatly, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. “These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. “You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

As I began to read this I pictured my Grandmother who was probably getting ready to wake up, fix her own cup of coffee and open her bible.
My mind wandered to the times I have stopped by for a minute (sometimes hours) to visit my Grandparents. 

I don't care what time of day it is or where she is in her home, my grandmother's bible is always close to her. (Her coffee mug usually isn't far away either:-)
The character of my grandmother was all I could see as I continued to read verses 5-9. 

When I finished reading, I thanked The Lord for the godly example both of my Grandparents set for all of us grandkids and now great grands. For their wisdom and teaching.
I thank Him daily for a grandmother who continually sets a flawless example of the Proverbs 31 woman.
She is faithful, God-fearing, obedient, and strong woman who loves and honors the Lord.
Today, I'm reminded again of how our obedience to the Lord influences generation after generation.
Genesis 22:17-18
I will certainly bless you. I will multiply your descendants beyond number, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will conquer the cities of their enemies. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.”