Friday

I enjoy getting the tidbits of information that others have. Thanks for the advice regarding math practice!

This has been another week of ups and downs--my life story lately it seems! The weather has been fluctuating. I also way overdid it on Tuesday and have been struggling the rest of this week to catch up. As the day goes by, so do I. Thankfully I have been very blessed in that I can sleep every night. I am generally so tired that by the time I am in bed I drop to sleep very fast. That hasn't always been the case with the headaches, so I am definitely thankful for that!

I don't remember if I have written this before, but I have been a little overwhelmed with the sadness and heartache around me again. Two men that I knew at Dordt are struggling with cancer as well as a friend from the Netherlands. Another little girl has a brain tumor, and there has been emotionally difficult news to take and understand in our church at large. Another friend has been waiting for years to take home the children they have been trying to adopt. Sometimes it can be overwhelming to think about the sadness, hurt, pain and sense of loss that accompanies the news of hard times. I know that the Lord uses difficult times to refine us and draw us closer but it just isn't always so easy to understand the why's of these things. I love the verses in Isaiah 43 1) But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you. 3) For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. Then Isaiah 40: 31 Buty they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

What an encouragement and blessing during hard times. I will continue to pray that the Lord comes quickly!