What Would You Have Me Learn from This, Lord?

                             The sky is gray.  Is a storm brewing? 
                     What am I facing?  What's going to happen to me? 
                                         Why is this happening?

Why did that happen?
Why are You allowing this to happen to me, Lord?

I ask and sometimes He lets me see that this world is not my home. I have not arrived home yet. I’m in school, in training. Each experience is a learning event. I am being evaluated by how I react, how I treat others as I would have them treat me. I am being evaluated on my attitude, how hard I try – even when I fail.  Am I learning?

God knows I am weak, but He cares when I keep trying, when I turn to Him for strength. He always knew I couldn’t make it on my own. He has been waiting for me to learn and accept the fact. He’s been waiting for me to turn to Him and make Him my strength. 

My flesh...may fail but God is the strength of my heart.   Psalm 73:26

He’s been waiting for my heart to soften from a heart of stone into a heart of flesh and to forgive as He has forgiven me my many sins – just because I ask, not because I could ever earn His forgiveness and will never deserve His forgiveness. 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 
  Ezekiel 36:26

God has plans for me, plans to help and not to hurt. He as a job for me to do and I will be here until I complete that job.

He is molding me into the child He knows I can be and really am, deep down inside. I can stop Him with my willfulness. I can choose not to allow.  He did give me free will, but do I really want to use it to oppose Him?  Do I trust Him completely with my life and my future?  Do I trust the Creator of all that exists to make good plans for me?  I’d be a fool not to.

So, I put myself in His hands and when stuff comes up in my life that is difficult, that I may not want to do, I ask “What would you have me learn from this, Lord? and listen for His answers.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.    Jeremiah 29:11

                           God can change gray skies to blue.  

            There may still be clouds but the outlook is much brighter.  

               The scenery changes from gloom to brilliant beauty.  

            This is what happens to my life when I trust in the Lord, 

      when I trust that He has a plan for me and it involves teaching me, 

                               molding me into His child.

                      View is near ski jump at Lake Placid, NY.

Prayer Request:

There is so much turmoil in our country right now.  Please pray for everyone.  Please sew the seeds of kindness every chance you get.  We can only fight the darkness with God's light.  We can only fight evil with God's goodness.  And guess what?  God has already won the final battle for us. 

                          In the midst of darkness, 

                                 God brings His light and His love.  

                                 We only need to walk to the light 

                                   and to His outstretched hands.

All photos taken by Debbie McEwen

All bible reference from the NIV
     unless otherwise noted.

If you are interested,
    you can click on the Blog Archive
    dates on the top right side of this post
    to connect to previous blog posts.

I would love to hear from you either 

    on the comment section of this blog post
    or through my email.
    debbieamcewen@gmail.com
I usually post every other Saturday.

Lately I have been very busy with Grandma duties on weekends 
    so I may try to post during the week.

As we live our lives and trudge through the problems and heartbreaks and JOYS that life brings, we need to remember that there is a heavenly reward waiting for us when we choose to follow God's way.  God is the golden light waiting for us on the other side. His eternal reward is beyond anything we can imagine.

And the Clouds Parted

The clouds are gray and threatening.
It’s been raining.
The wind blows leaves hither and yon.

My mood is down-cast.
So much is happening
So many problems at home and in the world
So many issues to deal with.
Sometimes it’s over-whelming.

And the clouds parted.
The sun shone through.
The sky is still gray with patches of blue

But the day brightens
My mood brightens

My father is telling me that regardless of how dark my life becomes, He is with me always, beside me, helping with all my problems, with all life’s issues.

He says “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5
He never has and never will.

I am never alone.

He has a plan for me, a plan to help and not to hurt me – or you.

Be blessed, my friend.

This is the day the Lord had made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11

                        God gives us rainbows to remind us 
               that He walks with us through each of life's trials.

Happy New Year dear friend.
It's the time to reflect on what happened in 2018 and think about what we would like to accomplish in 2019.  I would encourage you to pray and ask God what He would like you to accomplish in 2019.
Your true happiness and fulfillment will come when you are working with your Father and living the life that He has planned for you.  I wish that happiness and fulfillment for you and that 2019 is your best year yet.

All photos taken by Debbie McEwen

All bible reference from the NIV
     unless otherwise noted.

If you are interested,
    you can click on the Blog Archive
    dates on the top right side of this post
    to connect to previous blog posts.

I would love to hear from you either 

    on the comment section of this blog post
    or through my email.
    debbieamcewen@gmail.com
I usually post every other Saturday.

Lately I have been very busy with Grandma duties on weekends 
    so I may try to post during the week.

The next post should be in about 2 weeks.

                               I'll close with a beautiful sunset.  

             I am so blessed that God has planted me in a beautiful area 

             and that He sets up wonderful scenery for me to photograph.

                            When I look at His wonderful sunsets, 

                 God seems to be saying "See you in the morning, child.

                                         Tomorrow is a new day, 

                             wait till you see the plans I have for you.

                      "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

                           plans to give you hope and a future. "