Still here! It's just that instead of writing in this blog, I'm reading it.
No, really, especially The Farm Years. Oh my, Debra sure embarrassed herself with all that boo-hooing. What a crybaby! And yet? I read those posts now and see that, hey, I've grown a bit since then.
Throw all that stuff at me today and I'd only whine half as much. heh. (We did experience lots of death there, after all--deaths of dear friends and Tom's job, Naomi's 7-year romance, friendships, cats, snakes, birds, toads and decades' old dreams, as well.)
But all that aside, I revisit the farm years from a safe distance, hold those acres in my hands, turn them about, and view them from all angles in retrospect. Which makes it a dreamy place now. I can read about the green pastures, the barn, the orchard without actually working to keep them lovely and visit a gorgeous blue-sky day in June while it's currently a grey, snowy afternoon in 2014 (which always reminds me of that scene in Wilder's, Our Town, where Emily chooses a day to return to her life).
I recommend keeping some type of a diary for the occasional (short) visit to the Past and gratitude nudges (not regret fests, though!), as well, but more? If satan enjoys reminding you, also, how far you've yet to go and how much there's left to learn, your record will show you how far you've already come. How far God carried you from where you began.
And honestly, I'll take encouragement wherever I can find it, even discovering it like David did when he "encouraged himself in the Lord" and didn't wait for a whole truckload of Christians to come along and tell him what a good job he'd done. He relied on God for that.
Seeking God to keep me strong, Himself--now there's a valuable thing, especially since He is so wonderfully with me, with us, 24/7.
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God is not mad at you, He is madly in love with you! Let His amazing grace rescue and restore you today!
Don't despise your past, present or future sorrows. You have depth, character & wisdom beyond your years b/c of them. God's got you covered!
Zach Maldonado @ZachMaldo
Don't put your focus on your sin; put your focus on your savior. Don't dwell on your limited goodness; dwell on God's limitless Grace!
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"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." ... Romans 8:1,2
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"There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." ... Romans 8:1,2
I like that notion of how far you have come already, and also how you traveled back in time, and found you have learned quite a bit.
ReplyDeleteWell, aren't we supposed to be learning in "earth school"? All of us would likely say some of the same things...we cringe sometimes in reading things we wrote in the past.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth in WA
Terra-- Yes! There is a whole other way of seeing things. I'm glad you picked that up. :)
ReplyDeleteElizabeth--actually, my point was to *not* cringe about our past, but rather, let God show us how far He's brought us from there and celebrate that. :)
Thanks, Ladies! Blessings, Debra
I remember reading your blog about the farm years...and I identified with those at the time. There is so much to be learned on our journey. I'm glad you've shared yours, Debra.
ReplyDeletePam--thank-you much! I'm glad you found me here and I'm thankful that you've shared your story with me by way of email. You are an encouragement to me and I so appreciate that! Blessings, Debra
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