Victory is sweet!

 

  

 

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13

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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. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

 

 

 

I write this post,

sitting comfortably on my Dad's plushy beige couch.

 

 

I haven't been myself these past few days.

 

At least that's what my husband keeps telling me.

 

This first bothered me when I heard him say it,

and I got angry and offended.

 

Then after marinating on it for a little while,

as I often do...

I realized (painfully) that he was right.

 

My thoughts seem to be all over the place.

 

 

Today makes five days that we have been away from home.

 

Hurricane Isaac entered the gulf and headed our way,

so we decided to take a few days away to visit my dad and step mom as a nice getaway and to flee the oncoming doom of the storm.

 

The storm didn't hit us directly, but the winds and rain knocked out our power and it has been out ever since.

 

No power means no water.

 

No power and no water makes for a cranky little family,

so we opted to stay at my Dad's until our power is restored.

 

Which still,

has not happened.

 

Although I am enjoying the visit with my parents, and they have opened up their home to us as if it were our own...

 

I am out of my element and feel all discombobulated.

 

Hence...I'm just not myself.

 

I even began to make preparations for my own little pity party-party of one,

 being that tomorrow is my birthday and due to the storm...

my previous plans have been cancelled, washed out, blown away with the wind...

you get what I'm saying.

 

So there I was,

ready to stretch out my rubber band on my little pity party hat and tuck it tightly under my chin,

when...

 

I looked to my right and saw my sweet husband sitting on the side of me.

He glanced at me, smiled and grabbed my hand in his squeezing it tightly.

 

I exhaled a huge breath of air and thought to myself,

 

"Oh ye, of little thanks."

 

Yep. That's me.

 

I remembered within those few seconds where I was four years ago almost to the exact day.

The. exact. day.

 

It was August of 2008 and Hurricane Gustav was heading straight for us.

 

My husband and I had separated just four days before.

Our family was divided and broken.

 

I decided to grab the kids, a load of food, their baby pictures, some important papers, a weeks worth of clothes, my dog, and my very broken and confused heart and head to my Dad's house to avoid the storm in the gulf, and in my life.

 

Things were bad, really bad, between my husband and I.

 

The word hate left my lips way more than the word love did those days.

 

 

The day after I arrived at my Dad's house, we packed up and left for Texas to evacuate the storm even further.

 

The next day, the storm hit...on my birthday. 

 I was on my own with my three kids,

 an entire state away from our home,

and desperate to find some sort of peace in my life.

Looking for a Love that didn't cause pain anymore.

 

 

I longed to hear God's voice of direction within the midst of such a huge storm.

Within such a huge mess that had become my life.

 

 

It came...

that Voice. that Peace. that Love.

 

 

And now here I sit,

four years later,

at my Dad's house,

in the aftermath of a hurricane,

the day before my 40th birthday,

with the man that I love.

 

Once again He brings me full circle.

 

Oh how I love this man of mine!
I have so much to be thankful for.

I never imagined I could love him so much.

My companion,

my lover,

my best friend,

my partner,

my husband,
my future.

 

 

These days,

I can't stop telling him "I love you" .

 

And hate,

 is just a bad friend who isn't allowed to visit anymore.

 

 

After pondering all that we've have been through to get to where we are,

and all the places that we have gone together,

 

I realized that it was no coincidence that God had me in the same place I was four years ago,

but this time,

 sitting beside the man of my dreams.

 

It was to remind me where He brought me (us) from.

 

It was to remind me to be thankful even in the midst of a storm.

 

To truly see the blessings around me in spite of the winds that blow from time to time.

 

To realize what really matters.

To see and appreciate, with an open heart,

the little things,

that are actually BIG things.

 

 

I've learned that

God will often bring us to the ruins, so that we can stand in the rubble,

smell the dust around our feet,

and realize as we are standing there...

that we are doing just that,

standing there.

 

And as we are standing in the ruins, that we once knelt down in at our weakest moments,

we can then see from a higher view,

where He planned on taking us in the first place...

 

into victory.

 

 

I'm thankful today to stand in the ruins of what used to be,

and be able to see now where He has brought me from and intended to bring me all along.

 

Take it from me...

Victory is sweet!

 

 

Happy day before my Birthday to me!!

 

 

God is good...oh so good,

and He is so good to me!! 

 

Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good.