I failed.

     It's amazing how easily you can make the same mistake multiple times. It's human nature I guess.
     This past month or two(give or take) I have failed. A lot.
     We all fail. We're human. Sinners.
     But I am oh, so grateful for God's grace, mercy and abundant forgiveness!
     I have spent weeks trudging through life, sometimes happy, sometimes sad...searching for something. But through it all I was letting myself get distracted from Christ. Just little distractions, but distractions I didn't get rid of.
     Through a series of events over the past week or so I realized just how much I'd like these distractions become the determining factor or how I felt or acted.
      But even when you realize you're in the wrong and you've failed, it's still not easy to get rid of the cause. At all.
      And I fought it for a few days-which put me in a REALLY bad mood.
      When you don't listen to God's still small voice...sometimes He'll give you something you won't be able to ignore. Usually something you won't enjoy at the time. And that's what happened.
      I guess you could call it a wake up call.
       And it kinda hurt.
      But it's what it took to remember, once again, how I had been letting these little things get in the way of following Christ with EVERY part of me.
   
      Don't get distracted. It can be anything. A job, a relationship, a friend, money, parties....if we let anything take priority in our minds above Christ... well... obviously something needs to change.
     Christ should be our #1 focus. AT ALL TIMES.
     And those things that are distractions, whether or not they in themselves or bad or not....need to be kicked out the door.
      We can tell ourselves that they aren't distractions, but that won't solve the problem.

     Just man up and get rid of them!
     Often times it will hurt. In fact, I can almost guarantee it will hurt. And you'll be tempted to go back even after you get rid of them. BUT IT'S NOT WORTH IT.


       Our happiness, our joy, isn't found in the day to day distractions of life. It's found in Christ. It's found in the hope He gave us for eternal life by dying for our sins. It's found in pursuing and serving Christ every moment of the day. And when those distractions come, it's turning away and seeking Christ all the more.


       What's distracting you today?
        I failed. I got distracted.
        Will you?

Answers.

 Two bins. 

One marked 'questions'

the other 'answers'

I make my way to the first bin

Inside are stacks of blank paper and a pen

I begin to write

Soon the stack of paper has reached an end

Each page filled with questions

Questions from my heart

Questions about my life

Questions of 'why' and 'how'

Questions I desperately want answered

I place the filled paper back into the bin

Then I move to the bin marked 'answers'

I take a deep breath, knowing the answers to all my questions

are in that box.

I tug at the lid

It doesn't budge

I tug harder

I use every ounce of my strength

the lid remains unmoved.

I punch, kick and pound at the box

Desperately, I want those answers.

"Why can't I see the answers???"

I sob into the air.

"I can't continue in life with all this unknown!

I need answers!"

I continue my plea, not caring whether anyone can hear me.

"If I just knew, even a few answers. I wouldn't feel so lost.

So confused."

Silence answers my plea.

I gaze around me.

I know not why I hadn't seen them before.

As far as my eyes could see there were rows and rows

filled with bins.

Half of them marked 'questions'

the other half 'answers'

Each 'questions' bin is filled with papers, 

many so full the lid doesn't close.

I walk over to one

the questions inside are similar to mine

but by someone else.

The 'answers' bin beside it is locked as mine had been

I continue to walk down the endless rows of bins

Searching for some way to find answers.

Far back amongst the bins

something catches my eye

One bin.

Marked 'answers'

 There is no conjoining 'questions' bin.

Could this answers bin possibly be unlocked?

I pull at the lid.

It flies off

Inside lays a single piece of paper.

 I slowly reach in and pick it up

The words draw me to my knees.

"He is the Alpha and Omega,

The beginning and the end.

Before you were born,

He knew you.

When hard times came,

He allowed them.

He knew the outcome.

He gave.

And He took away.

He never told you the purpose.

He never told you his perfect plan.

For his plan is far beyond what your mind could ever comprehend.

His thoughts are high above your thoughts.

He has seen you fail.

He has seen you repent.

And fail again.

He has forgiven you when you asked.

He holds the answers.

He is the God of yesterday, today and forever.

And He wants you to trust Him."

I put the paper back in the bin and shut the lid.

I still have questions.

But I know who has the answers.

And I will trust His perfect plan for my life.

Isaiah 55:8-9

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts."

This is my cry

A summary of my life in the past year: "The Lord gives...and the Lord takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised."

I have lost a lot in the past year, months and even week...
And I have been tempted to want to give up.
In fact, I have given up...multiple times.
I've thrown my hands in the air and fallen to the ground, unable to even cry.
And I've waited for someone to come help me up.
But the only response I've received is silence.
Maybe you've heard the saying, 'nothing speaks louder than silence' 
And you know what? It's true. It's really true.

And it's that silence that terrifies me. Makes me feel unable to go on. Makes me feel as if I am unable to ever stand again.

But isn't that how it is so often?
We let ourselves feel as if we cannot go on. We give up hope.

We forget that God will never give us anything we cannot get through on HIS strength.
Not ours.

It was a few days ago, and I was really hurting...I took a walk outside with my two lil bros...when I realized how much I had failed.
How much I had been trying to depend upon my own strength.

I'd hit rock bottom, and I hadn't looked up to where I should have been looking.  
A little while ago I wrote a blog post entitled 'rock bottom' (You can read it here)...
And now that I look back at it, it's so true...

Seeking Christ isn't a one-day thing.
It's continual.
Always seeking Him, always calling out to Him.

And when we come to the feet of Jesus, humble and repentant, He won't ignore us.
And that alone is reason to feel extremely humbled.
We have the AMAZING privilege and honor of being able to cry out to Christ with our hurt, with our pain...with our praise... and that...wow.

When life hurts, we are tempted to despair. But it is when life hurts the most that we are given the most opportunity to rely on Christ and shine His light in a dark world.

to ponder...

To ponder all my tears in life
has left me beat and worn
But through it all
I've learned to stand
upon the strength of God
For I myself, I cannot bare
the sorrow of this world
But in His grace alone I stand
And praise Him evermore

You would think...

You would think

the more loss you see,

the easier it would be

You would think

the more pain you feel

the more you will to heal

You would think...

but you would think wrong

Each loss

Holds the same pain as before

Except now

A new addition that hurts all the more

Tears

 that never run dry
Strength

fading as the days go by

Until

your strength has run dry

You stop

even asking why.

God, please grant me strength not from myself nor for myself

But grant me the ability to rest upon your strength

in order that I may praise Your holy name

How I long to be where there is no pain

How I long to go to my eternal home

But I know I am here for a reason

So please, God, give me the strength to continue on

With a song in my heart

To shine Your light

Though my heart grows weary

Though I lose the will to go on

Though You take all I have loved

Even when the tears won't stop

please give me the strength

to raise my hands

and say

'Blessed be, the God who gives

and who takes away'

To Sit Upon a Moutain

To sit upon that mountain high

The valley far below

The breeze whispering softly to me

The music of the world

To spread my arms out wide

And feel the open air

To shut my eyes and listen

To the sound God's creation

Then open them wide

And take a deep breath

To witness that creation

So beautiful

So majestic

On that mountain

Is where I want to be

For on top of that mountain

It is as if

The whole world

Lies under me

Go

I laid on my back silently gazing up
The stars above me shone brightly
Occasionally twinkling as if they held some secret
The only sound I heard was the song of the crickets
and the croaking of frogs small and large
Memories swam through my mind
A tear slid down my face
I sat up and hugged my knees tightly
My heart ached with the pain of loss
"God," I prayed silently. "I don't know how I will get through this."
Tears flowed freely now.
"I feel so battered, and lost.
 I have lost all I care so much for."
Then His voice came all so clearly.
A whisper in my head.
"I have a plan for you, Clareesa.
A plan that far surpasses any plans you have ever had for you life."
I sobbed.
"But, God, what do I do now? In this moment...I don't know where to go."
His voice came again.
"A few years ago I told you to go, to go serve."
My mind wandered to the time when God had used a squirrel to show me that He wanted me to go.

To go and serve.
"I removed from your life something that held you back .
Something that was stopping you from going.
Now that i have taken that away, you are free to go.
 Go, Clareesa. Go and serve. Go and don't stop.
Don't let anything hold you back.
This is what I want you to do right now."

I wiped away a last tear and looked at the creation of the stars.
The God who had created these very stars
Had a plan for me.
And right now, He was telling me to go.
To go.
And not stop.
My heart still ached.
But I felt a renewed hope.
I would go.
I would serve.
And I would fail.
But I would keep going.
Without stopping.
Because my God was faithful.

The Path

The walls loomed above me

In vain I searched for an escape

For even a window of light

Nothing.

Darkness.

I knew not how I got here

When I had first started on the path it had looked harmless

I all too quickly learned the trust danger that lurked here

I felt bruised and battered

I pounded against the walls once more

"Someone, help me! Get me out of here!"

I felt something wet dripping down my hand

Blood and the dirt of the walls.

"Please, anyone."

I sank to the ground, my voice hoarse from crying out.

"Help me."

My salty tears mixed with the taste of blood around my mouth

If only the walls were gone

Then I could see the light

Oh, how I longed to see the light

Feel it's warmth upon my face

"Please, someone."

My voice was barely a whisper now

"Take these walls away."

The earth began to tremble

The walls - they were coming down!

I felt a renewed strength and jumped to me feet

I shut my eyes, waiting to feel the light against my eyelids

The walls roared as they crashed around me

Then silence

I slowly cracked my eyes open

Darkness.

My heart began racing in a new fear

Why was it still dark?

Why couldn't I see the path?

The wall were gone...

so why couldn't I see the light?

I stumbled forward

Soft dirt squished under my feet

I was on the path again

But the darkness remained

I strained my eyes in every direction

Desperately seeking even the smallest ray of light

"Where do I go?"

I cried out into the darkness

My question was answered with silence

Then I knew

At the end of the path, there was light

 The walls hadn't been blocked the light out

There was no light on the path in the first place

And if I could just make it to the end of the path

I would find not only light

But the guardian of the path

The Creator of the light

The One who would watch over me as I made my journey

My journey down this path

This path were I could not see ahead

But the Guardian could

The Guardian could see everything

As long as I remained on the path

the darkness would remain

And the journey would be long and painful

But at the end - a glorious light I would find

And each time I would stumble

I would know the Guardian was using that injury

To mold me into His image

But for now

I would continue on

With my eyes fixed ahead

Even though I could not see

On this path call life.

 

It wasn't the smile...

     It wasn't the fact alone that she smiled.
     It wasn't the the way she laughed.
     It wasn't the words she said
     It wasn't her
     It was the fact that she could smile
     It was why she was laughing
     It was what she didn't say
   
     The fact that in such a difficult trial, instead of showing a face of sadness and pain, her face radiated with joy.
      The fact that in such pain, her laughter still came from the heart.
      The fact that she wasn't complaining about what she was going through, but speaking praise to God.
      It was Christ shining through her

    That's what stands out.
    That's what shining the light of Christ looks like.

    Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."

    James 1:2-4, "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. "


      We all go through trials.
      But it's very rare to find joy in trials... but it's what we are called to do. And when we do...we shine a light greater than any light there is.

The Wooden Wishing Well

     I was skimming through one of my notebooks from last year and came across something I had started writing and never finished. And since it was midnight and my insomnia was keeping me up...I decided to finish it.

The Wooden Wishing Well

At the end of the path now overgrown with weeds

I stood at the edge of an old wooden wishing well

Ready to drop a coin down and make a wish for a new car I wanted

I looked down and, though dark and far off, somehow I saw the bottom

Only small puddles of water remained

Twisted vines crawled up the cracked sides

But in those puddles of water, I saw hundreds of shiny relfections

Wishes

Some of the wishes took the form of dimes, others of pennies 

Some of the wishes even took the form of coins from another country

I thought to myself 'What if I could read those wishes?'

Then I found myself falling

Down into the wooden wishing well

Once I hit the bottom no pain did I feel

Inside I felt a sense of awe as each wish sparkled up at me

I bent and picked up a penny and felt my eyes widen

For clearly, without explanation, I knew this penny's wish

The wish had been made by a girl, no older than seven

Wishing for a new pink dress with ruffles for her doll

I picked up another wish, this one in the form of a silver dollar

A wish for a new bike 

Amazed, I continued to pick through the wishes

Some made me laugh

Like the wish of the little boy who wished he could be a real superhero so the girl next door would like him

Some made me cry

Like the grandpa who wished his grandson would beat his battle for cancer

If even just long enough to make it to his next birthday

A wish for a pony

a wish for her mother to come back home

A wish for a new job

A wish for the pain to go away

But no matter the wish

Each one was different

Unique to that person who wished it

And with each wish

I found myself realizing all the more clearly

That each life

Though so different from the other

Was imporant

Meant something

The pile of a wishes around me

Had become much more than a pile of wishes

They had become lives

Then I once again found myself standing above the wishing well

Staring down

I walked back down the path

Not looking back

I felt burdened with that thought that every life

Every person I passed on the street

They weren't just a another face

They had wishes

Struggles

Needs

I suddenly wanted to be part of all their lives

To show them that they were important in their own way

I never went back to the

wishing well

But I never forgot what I learned

It is easy to get wrapped up in our own desires

To think little of the lives or others

To view them as just another face with a wish

But they are so much more

They are a life

And some of those lives

I have the chance to impact

To show them I care

And maybe even answer one of their wishes

That is what I learned

at the wooden wishing well

Undeserving

      There's a line in a song that goes, "who am I to make demands of the God of Abraham"
      That line gets me every time.
      Who am I to be able to come before the feet of Jesus?
      Why would the God of the universe allow me, a wretched sinner, to continually come before him, time and time again after I fail, and yet still forgive me and give me abundant grace and mercy?
     What have I done to have the right to bring Him my requests?
     What have I done that He should listen to my cries for help after I turned my back on Him?
     What have I done to deserve abundant grace and mercy and love?
      Who am I to make demands?
      I am so incredibly undeserving of any of it.
      In fact, the only thing I do deserve for who I am, for my sins... is death.
      Think about that. What we deserve is death. Eternal death.
      But instead of death God sent His one and only son to DIE IN MY PLACE.
      Jesus Christ, the One without sin, God in flesh...bore my punishment upon the cross.
      And what did I do to deserve it? Nothing.
      What do I continue to do even after I know He has done this for me? Fail, sin...fall away.
      Each time we lay our requests before God, whether it be asking for forgiveness or seeking a request, maybe for a job-for health...whatever it may be... what are we thinking about?
      Are we thinking about how God should give us this or that or how we want this, need this...demand this?
      Or are we remembering what a privilege it is to come before Him?
      Because that's what it is. Us, in ourselves...we are nothing. Worthless, sinners, dirty, wretched...but in Christ...we have been made NEW! Our sin washed away! No longer worthless.
      We deserve death, but instead we have received the hope of eternal life and the ability to come before the Lord in prayer. Um... wow.
      So next time you pray...thank about that. Think about how undeserving we are to be able lay our requests before the Lord.


"My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever." -Psalm 145:21

One Year.

One year.
How can one year feel like a lifetime but yet one day at the same time?
I cannot put into words what I am feeling right now. I woke up this morning with a million thoughts in my head-all related to Joshua Steven Eddy . Thoughts of how I missed him, thoughts of how I could be praying for his family and close friends, thoughts of how it felt like just another day to wake up...but yet....it's different today.
It was exactly one year ago that I got the news that one of my dearest friends, Joshua Eddy, had slipped and fallen into the Rogue River and drowned.
You can never be ready to lose someone you care about.
I miss Josh. So much. And I know so many others do as well.
I also know that God's plan to take Josh home when He did could not have been any more perfect. God took Josh home at JUST the perfect time. It may seem too soon for those who were close to Josh...but God's plan for everyone, when they are born, when they die, is SO SO perfect. Planned from beginning of time.
Josh left behind a testimony of what it looks like to truly follow of Christ. Anyone who knew him can tell you how he constantly would encourage and challenge you in your walk with the Lord.
Since Josh has passed, life has gone on. But the memory and testimony of Josh still remains. If he could see how many lives his passing has impacted in the past year, he would be so humbled.
A reminder of so many things: a reminder of how he isn't with us anymore and the deep pain that comes from missing him, a reminder of the life he lived-for Christ, and a challenge not to live our lives 'like Josh did', but to follow the same path he did in living for Christ, a reminder of how short life is and most of all: a reminder of how God is in control. Always.
I miss Josh. I miss him far more than I did a year ago. I miss receiving his famously long emails encouraging me to do what was right, so stand firm in the Lord and to always always keep my focus on God. I miss seeing new photos that he had taken where he learned a new photography technique and he would get so excited about it. I miss reading his heartfelt blog posts that always encouraged me. I miss his smile, his laugh. I miss him.
And a year later, through tears, I am praising God that He had this planned from the beginning of time. Because even though I miss him, I can rejoice that I will see him again.

Here's a part of an email I once received from Josh, it seems all the more appropriate now(As this was an extremely personal email, I replaced any names with '----'):

"No matter what happens, you need to trust in Him, and live for Him. Never live the complacent life. If you believe that God is in control of every single aspect of creation; not even a leaf falls from a tree without God allowing it to, then God has a purpose for every event in your life, and your job is not to say “oh, well, that wasn’t fun”. Your job is to say “Blessed be the Name of the Lord, You give and take away. What do you intend for me to learn from this, Lord? How can I grow from this experience?”  
Can I ask you a sensitive question? Do you love God more than ----? If God took ---- from you permanently, would you still love Him? Of course yes, I know that you’re far stronger than to turn your back on Him. But would you ever “forgive” Him? Would you resent it and always look on it as a curse? Are you willing to lay your friendship with ---- on the altar and “Lord, it’s yours, use it for you greatest Glory”?"

So many of the things Josh said, God knew how they would effect others after his death. Things about losing someone, about always trusting God...things that relate to Josh now.
It's amazing to see God's plan.
 
 
"Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look no at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." -2 Corinthians 4:16-18

What would you say?

     A few years ago I first heard the song, What Would You Say by Trailor Choir.
     That song got me thinking-a lot. What would I say if I only had a few minutes and a piece of paper to write a few thoughts?
     (Maybe I've written a post about this song before, I honestly can't remember.)
     I have spent the years since trying to figure out what I would write. It just seems impossible to try to think of a few that I would I want to be my last.
     I thought of different ways I'd tell people I cared about them, who I cared about. I thought of different ways I would try to leave a note of encouragement, to encourage people to keep focused on Christ...but nothing seemed to satisfy that thought that I still really hadn't found what I would actually write.
     I was listening to this song again today, and it hit. I know what I would write.
     I wouldn't write to tell people how much they meant to me. If the first time they heard it came from a piece of paper, then I didn't live a life loving of Christ would. I should be living that out day to day.
     I wouldn't write an encouraging not to tell others to follow Christ, my life should be shining that out day to day. If the only way they knew how much I loved God and wanted them follow Him was from me writing it down, well I definitely hadn't been living life shining my light as a Christian in a dark world.
     I would want to write something to this effect, and mean it with all my heart: "I am ready. I have no regrets. Do not cry for me, rejoice! For I was a wretched sinner, but by the precious blood of Christ I have been saved. Rejoice. For God is faithful."

     "What would you say?"

Blink

Blink.

You just lost a second of your life.

      

     A second may not seem like much. But have you ever stopped to think how much can happen in a second?

     In a second, a life can be over.

    I was looking through some photos from a few years ago. I was thinking about how it seemed like those photos had been taken yesterday but how much had changed since then. Then a thought struck me; I could never how those moments back.

     Life 2 years ago for me was hard, as life always is...but some of my greatest memories were from 2 years ago. Moments I took for granted. Even the hard days. I took them all for granted, and now they are gone.

     A few days ago I was driving past the retirement home of some adopted grandparents of ours, the passing thought of stopping by and visiting them crossed my mind. It wasn't tell I got home that I remembered my adopted grandpa had died and they didn't live there anymore. It had become such a habit to go there and visit them, when I passed their home it looked as if nothing had changed. But it had all changed.

     You are in this moment right now. A moment you will never get back. 

     Don't take this moment for granted.

     Even if you're going through struggles in life and you 'just want to get through it'. Don't. Stop trying to get past the moment, and live in the moment.

     Don't be in a hurry to reach a point in life. God placed you in this moment for a reason.

     Take this moment to fix your eyes on Christ, to follow His leading.

     Take this moment to show the ones around you that you love them.

     Take this moment to shine the light of Christ to someone who might not otherwise see that light.

     Live this moment so that in the next moment you can look back and think, 'wow, I lived that moment to the fullest.'

     Because you can't have this moment back and you don't know how much you may miss it later. 

 

Each second

A gift.

Each breath.

A blessing.

Each blink of an eye.

Will pass.

     Only memories will be left.

You're in this moment.

Live it.

    Blink

Let go |part 2|

     Almost a year ago I posted about letting go. Letting go of those things we cling to on this earth and clinging to God, with both hands.
     This past week, once again, God has been teaching me to 'Let go.' But there's more to it than that.
     We can let go, sure...but what happens afterwards? All to often it's easy to seek to try and figure out what to do after we 'let go'.
      Letting go doesn't just mean releasing our hold on something, it means releasing our hold and not worrying about the result. 
     I have spent the past two months searching for answers, trying to figure out what God wanted me to do...I had let go in my mind. Let go of so many things, but I was trying so hard to figure my life out...I let me focus slip from remembering that Christ is the one in control of my life. Yes, I knew He was in control, but I kept trying to 'help' Him out.
     Big mistake.
     God doesn't need our help in figuring our life out.
     God convicted me that I had been spending too much time in the 'trying to figure out' process rather than the 'serving Him in the moment I was at' and letting Him take control of the rest.

     Let go and let God.
     The past week has been one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Not because 'good things' have happened or I've done anything special. The hardships of my life are still there...but, by God's grace, I am learning to release my grasp from trying to figure it out myself. And once you do that, the joy that comes from seeking Christ is...amazing.
  
     To wake up in the morning, and to be able to smile and say, "today will be a good day because it's a day God has given me" is amazing. To be able to wake up without dreading what the day holds, because you know that with your focus on Christ, you're where He wants you to be.

    Just a clarifying note, I am not saying that I continually am joyful and have continually kept my focus where it should be. I am a sinner, just the same as everyone else. And I fail, continually. But I am also learning continually, and striving to continually be joyful and keep my focus where it should be. :)

     Colossians 3 has been extremely convicting to me lately. Verses 1-3 say, "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seating at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God."
     What is your mind on? Have you truly let go of the things of this earth? Or are you 'trying to help God' figure things out? He doesn't need help, I promise. ;)

How Great Thou Art

     Yesterday would have been Josh's 20th birthday.
     A year ago I never would have imagined that instead of sending him a happy birthday email, I'd be visiting his grave.
     God opened the doors for me to be able to make the 5 hour trip to Grants Pass and visit Josh's grave. What a trip. So many emotions. But I am extremely thankful God allowed me to go.
     Visiting Josh's grave wasn't what I expected it'd be. I'm not positive what I expected, but I thought that when I went there would be all this extreme pain.
      And while it did hurt, there was this overwhelming sense of peace. That THIS was how it was supposed to be. This was all in God's perfect plan, and I didn't want it any other way.
     I spent most my visit at the grave, walking around the cemetery singing praise songs and praying. One song I just couldn't get off my mind was, 'How Great Thou Art'. I sang it over and over. The lyrics are so powerful.
     One of the verses goes,

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works they hand hath made

I see the stars, I hear the mighty thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed;

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great thou art!

     I miss Josh. A lot. But God's plan is so perfect. He created the whole universe. I just look outside and see His mighty hand. God is so good. And His plan so perfect. I rest completely in His holy will for everything that happens.
     While in Grants Pass I was talking with a friend and we were talking about how in everything, God is so faithful. And how in the hard times, and in the unknown, it gives us all the more reason to trust and rely in God.
     It's easy to get wrapped up in our own plans for life. But when something happens to someone dear to you, everything changes...and then it becomes easy to worry about loving for fear of losing someone. But God is so faithful.
     Yesterday is a day I won't soon forget.
     Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great Thou art!