January always feels like such a long month, but we made it through! Just as this new month awaits us, so does the coming spring!
My favorite color is green. It’s the first color I said and in my little world, everything was green. Still today I love the variations and depth it holds! Spring means the grass will go from brown to green and flowers will bloom again!
You know, I determined 2018 was going to be a great year! Didn’t we all? We’re a month in and let’s just say it hasn’t been the start I had hoped, but that’s okay! Is it ever?
We don’t know what’s ahead and we can’t know. The older I get, the more I am so glad we don’t. It forces me to pace life a little more, to take it truly one day at a time, to live in the moment.
Over the past year, there were a couple things I really wanted. Recently, God has revealed His provision and protection. How incredibly amazing that God’s “no’s” are filled with so much love! Looking back, when I was discouraged or disappointed that things didn’t work out, I now see that it was His guiding hand the whole way!
We may get discouraged about life and that’s absolutely okay because we’re human! But please never forget that even when every single door closes, one day, the doors meant just for you will open. Maybe you can’t see door number three or four or 10 yet, but trust me, God is a good good father. He is more loving, more gracious and more compassionate than we can comprehend.
My Bible titles Isaiah 61, “The year of the Lord’s favor.” As His children, we have hope that is proven time and time again.
Isaiah 61:3 says, “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”
God uses the ashes, the hard things, the “no’s” to create beauty, to grow great oaks. May those times be fertilizer for your strength in the goodness of God.
Maybe your 2018 didn’t start how you hoped but, spring is coming!
Embracing The Journey 