Adjusting to a New Normal

So I am not even sure what the numbers of days we have been requested to stay home, but it really feels like time is not passing at all. Most days I have to think about what day it is, which is something that I hadn't considered before. I knew my schedule based on Steve working from home or traveling and now that his company has asked for no travel, it seems like the days are all running together.

I was never much of a TV watcher before either, finding my love for reading was better used than mindlessly watching programming in front of a television set. Even that isn't helping. Yesterday was my first time venturing out into the world to drop off packages to FedEx, and I was still surprised that the city looked normal. Cars were out and about and you remember seeing pictures of places like China and Italy looking like ghost towns, but not here, even after mandatory shutdown orders for California.

Small non essential businesses like clothing shops, nail salons and others were closed, but everything else was open. Some fast food places had caution tape out around the perimeters of the doors to keep people from coming in, forcing them to utilize drive thru as an option to keep them open. Yet banks, restaurants, gas stations, Costco, Dollar Tree, and all the medical offices around where I live were all open. Our streets were just as busy and there is no difference to the number of people out and about. You know not everyone was running errands, when they are supposed to be staying inside. Sure I could see picking up food at the grocery store, or driving through to grab lunch, but honestly, I don't think this is going to have much affect, if people are still out and about.

Makes you wonder when people are going to take things seriously and just stay put. Meanwhile we wait and wonder just how long will this continue. Places like China and other small countries are trying to get back to normal, while our stock market continues to plunge and all those retirement packages are just going to have to wait for sometime. One thing is certain, people have a lot of time on their hands and toilet paper still continues to be the one thing no one can find, even still.

What is it like where you live? Do you think people are heading the recommendations or has nothing really changed much?

A Typical Day in the Life of Kat from Kat's Creations

Good Friday Morning Everyone!

I love Fridays! Don't you?

For some it is the start of their weekend, just finishing up their work weeks and for others it could be their Monday, but Friday just has something to it, the other days don't. Not quite sure if it's just programming we have incorporated into our lives since we were children, and lived for those Fridays!

I wanted you to get to know me more and wanted to take you along in what a typical day looks like for me. You know those things you do even without thinking about it?

For me, waking up in the morning involves, taking whatever morning meds I'm supposed to, while my 3 cats wait anxiously for their treats. Yes, I indulge them every morning and just before bedtime. So Giles, Bella and Boba wait for me to dispense their goodies. Then I open all my blinds and windows. I hate keeping things closed. I think I got that hatred from my mom, who liked to keep everything closed. Maybe it was because we had no real front facing windows and everything pretty much sat at the back of the house. Yet I want to let the sun in!

I make my bed first, because it makes me feel good to know that my bedroom is nice and presentable every day. My youngest thinks it resembles a hotel room, but I like neatness. As I pass by my bathroom, I have to stop and give Giles water from the bathroom sink. He will be here for awhile. So I leave the light on as a reminder that I have to come back and shut off the water.

Then I head to the garage to get things for emptying the cat boxes. With 4 cats, you have to do it twice a day so just first thing in the morning, then just before bed. After that, I head to the kitchen to grab my coffee which is ready from getting it prepped from the night before. I take my cup and head to the couch where I start my real day with prayer and my daily Bible reading and devotions. This will be my 5th year reading my Bible through from cover to cover, and each year God shares more new things that I need to apply to my life. For me, there is no better way than to begin my day.

From there, I check email, post updates to my blog Reviews From The Heart, with FREE Christian book offers and then begin my daily blog. I will also check and see how my business is doing, from replying to comments, posting on all my social media pages and even answer some comments from my You Tube page.

From there, I finally take a shower and then begin to prepare for my day. If I am doing a LIVE video on  Facebook, I will begin to prep and sort through color choices and decide what I'm going to make and get everything ready and cut.

Steve and I will usually head to lunch or run a couple of errands if needed for the LIVE session if I am needing something to complete that look and it gives us a chance to just be alone. When I get back, I water my outside plants, feed my birds that visit during all times of the day. I love Spring in my garden and I love tending to it.

Around 3pm, I finalize all my LIVE preparations, cut all my material and get all the lights staged and ready to go for our LIVE at 5pm Facebook tutorial.

The tutorial will generally last about an hour and a half, and afterwards I will shoot pictures to update my Etsy store on whatever I have made. Then we clean everything up and put everything away and will head to dinner at our local favorite restaurants like Cracker Barrel or Paulina's Mexican Grill, where we know the owners and we're treated like family there. With just cooking for one of us or the two, we want to get out of the house and just be together. It's also a chance for us to hang out with our family and friends that we get to talk with or bring along with us.

The night ends with feeding the cats their treats, and checking email for the last time, taking our daily meds and for me, reading a couple chapters in whatever book I'm reviewing before we head to bed around 11pm. For me, that is generally the way my days roll and I have to say I am indeed blessed beyond measure.

While I may have some medical struggles to overcome, I know I am not alone in this walk. God is completely by my side and we'll work on things together to get to a place where I can feel better again.

Finding Hope in Turbulent Waters

Seems like there are storms brewing everywhere. From the real life physical storms all around us due to weather, to even those affecting our personal lives, from work life struggles to just finding ways to keep the peace within our own homes. Again for me, prayer will always be and should be our first response so we can unleash the power of heaven. I believe we need that unseen power to begin to move whatever barriers that are going on that are caused by the spiritual realm.

Yet how often do you feel like your struggles go nowhere. Are overwhelming? Like trying to push back the wind or waves? Almost to the point of being pointless? Should we just take a step back, take a deep breath and re-evaluate what is happening? Are we simply too close to see what is going on around us? Maybe we should ask someone else to take a look at things and offer their advice or wisdom.

I find this in my own life, with my own challenges, happening both in my personal life and my business life. As a wife and mom, my own struggles are not just what I face, but at times, we have to shoulder the burdens of our husbands, family members and kids as well. So where we find balance in it all? Or it life simply meant to constantly keep us off balance?

I don't even know if I have any thoughts on it. I know in my personal life, I'm sitting here wishing and praying that I can find a way to help my poor husband who spends so much time traveling and he is just wiped out each weekend and really all he wants to do is catch up on sleep so he has enough energy to handle next weeks work schedule. I can easily look at him and see that he is just beyond overwhelmed. Sure we can try talking about it, but it doesn't really change much. Work is simply placing demands on him that are beyond what one person alone can handle. I know he needs some kind of outlet or it will begin to manifest itself in him physically if he can't process all of what is happening in his own life. Like trying to push back the waves or put out simultaneous fires all around the globe and he can only be effective in a very small area, but work expectations expect him to be effective in all of them.

So if you're reading this, can you add my husband to your prayers? Can you pray for protection around him from the enemy who seems committed to making things in his life difficult? Can you pray that the eyes of those he works with be open to see that he needs help and will commit to making that happen for him? Can you pray for physical strength to fly week after week? I thank you in advance for that and believe that even now, God is already moving in his life, to help and bring about a peace that surpasses all understanding.

Conforming to New Changes

Change is hard.

I mean at times, it can really be hard.

Pull your hair out, scream at the top of your lungs hard, but none of that changes that change is here.

As a former corporate trainer, I used to teach a class on Adapting to Change, so while it might seem to you that I can probably weather the storm a bit better, I still am human. I still want to pull my hair out and scream at the top of my lungs.

It's like trying to battle back the waves at the beach.

You can try as hard as you can, but you will get no where.

The best thing you can do, is to find ways to accept the new normal. Or sure running and hiding might help for a short time, but sooner or later, you have to come out from where you're hiding and face facts. Change is here.

For my family, this will be a year of changes in almost every area of our lives.

My youngest daughter is getting married before the end of the year. Big change, financially for all of us.

My oldest is moving again and of course, the old landlord is being a bit of a pain, so working through those issues can put a lot of stress on a family.

My husband is now having to travel more, meaning all those things that need to get done, have to wait or I have to hire someone to do it, so it won't be something he has to do on whatever free time he has.

I am moving forward with my small business and still having to manage all the other areas of change as well with everyone else's change. Can you relate?

As a wife and mom, our change doesn't just affect us. Everyone else's change affects us as well. At times, it can feel downright overwhelming. You seriously consider running away from it all, but in the end, it doesn't do anything because everything is still right there when you come back to your senses.

As much as we can try to plan for change, plans can change. People can lose their jobs. Health issues might take a bigger precedence in our lives over the minor ones. And our kids never stop being our kids even though they're married and out on their own.

The one thing I do know is that you can manage. You just need to stay within the borders of today, and stop worrying about tomorrow. Remember, you've heard me tell you before that a tomorrow is never guaranteed. So manage within what you CAN do today. It helps you from feeling like a plane crash survivor and more like you can do this. I believe that is why woman are so good at managing things and being able to multi-task.

Just don't forget to take care of yourself. Even it is just locking the bathroom door for 5 minutes and being completely alone, except for the pounding on the other side of the door, asking if you are in there? Or the paws that reach out under the door.

Everyone seems to want a piece of us.

Just make sure you take care of you. Even Jesus had to walk away from the crowds and pray talking to His Father. It helps us to balance everything else out.

If you feel overwhelmed at this moment, have you prayed about it? Have you prayed that God will give you the strength to face today? Not worry about next week or even tomorrow. Ask God to help you manage the overload of what is happening to you today. I pray that if you do, God will show up and you'll get through it just fine.

You might smell like smoke, but you will survive. Tomorrow is simply another day on the battlefield of life. Get some rest and don't forget to talk to God! 

Breaking Point

Whenever I went to the beach, the water seemed to call from me no matter how far the distance was from the sand to the water. It beckoned me.

As I stood between the soft, warm sand and the firmness of the sand that was being pulled back into the beckoning cool waters, all I saw were wave after pounding wave. At first the waves didn't look so big, just a little loud at times but still manageable.

I had my boogie board in hand and approached the refreshing feel of the cool water on my feet slowly enticing me in further and further. I knew that if only I could get to the point where the waves were beginning to break, I would have the best ride possible.

Yet what lie before me was the challenge. The pounding of the waves.



I knew if I timed it just right, and ran with all my might, I could make it out to the break point and not get pummeled.



So I waited, standing on the shore, and counting how many waves and when they would stop for a brief moment before cycling again. Once I was confident, I ran.

I jumped over the first couple of waves and kept my focus on the horizon, to the goal I was attempting to reach. In the process, I found that between sets, the water was growing deeper.

Those shallow sandbars have given way to deeper water. In between the sandbars were trenches I couldn't see from the shore line. Yet as I ventured further out, I found a sand bar and shallow water again.

Yet I was further out from shore and the waves were stronger and much larger, with no real water below, there wasn't a way out, so I either had to turn back, get pounded or moved forward.

I chose to move forward. Yet this wave was too big and I got caught in the cycle of the waves. Each time I got turned around inside like a giant washing machine and finally managed to make my way to the top, I gasped air long enough for the next wave to beat me back to the shore line.



Coughing and splayed out on the sandy shore, I wiped my sandy face and wondered what happened. I was back on the shore, safe and sound but so far from my goal.

After a number of attempts I was able to gauge the whereabouts of the sand bars and trenches along with the timing of the waves to finally manage to get out where I was beyond the waves breaking.

What I found there was peace. There was only a faint whisper of the waves breaking towards the shore behind me, but hear I experienced the lapping of the water around my board, and the rocking motion of the waves as they began their journey to the beach.

It was the most amazing and peaceful time. I could smile and wave at others who had survived right along with me as if we faced that journey together. I could see the sailboats on their way along the horizon line and all was right in the world. Until....

I looked down.

Below was dark, inkiness and a bottomless ocean. My mind now began to play tricks on me. Maybe too many Jaws movies as a child. Terror was now the only focus in my mind and all I wanted was to get back as quickly as possible.



After some serious paddling, I manage to catch a wave and make it back to shore. There was I knew my surroundings better I felt safe.

How often is life like that.

Our shoreline is where we stand today, comfortable and safe where we are.

The waves are the pounding and pummeling we must experience when facing whatever life hands us, it will either kill us or make us stronger. Yet in order to find peace, we must move forward unafraid of the fears life would have us believe exists.

The dark waters are fears that only exist in our mind, yet when we take our eyes off the horizon we immediately fall victim to those fears.

See an analogy coming?

God is like that peaceful place we all hope to get to one day. Yet too often, like Peter we look down. We face fear immediately and we grow afraid and turn back.

We are afraid at times to even venture out and experience that peace that exists if only we would stop out in faith and go.

Sometimes we are tossed and turned by our daily circumstances, trials of life, job loss, loss of a loved one, loss of our personal possessions, facing addictions, whatever the enemy would have us beaten down by. Our question remains. What will we do?

Run away or keep trying with our eyes focused on Him to triumph and experience a peace that surpasses all understanding?

Even though the waves of life may beat you down, remember God doesn't put you through the trials you can't win. In my life right now, God must think we are pretty strong, because even though we are battling our own waves, we know what lies beyond the breaking point. We are keeping our eyes on the horizon!


"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." ~ Philippians 4:11

At Day's End

Is anybody happier because you passed this way?
Does anybody remember that you spoke to them today?
The day is almost over and it's toiling time is through;
Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

Can you say tonight in parting with the day that's dipping fast,
That you helped a single person of the many that you passed?
Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;
Does the person whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?

Did you waste the day or lose it?
Was it well or sorely spent?
Did you leave a trail of kindness, or a scar of discontent?
As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that God will say
"You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today."

-Author Unknown

"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men." Galatians 6:10

Invisible Mothers

Invisible Mothers...

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or vacuuming, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. I'm the invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this? Some days I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to ask, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. Going, going, gone!

One night, a group of us were celebrating the return of a friend from England. I was sitting there, looking around at the others who were all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when my friend turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: '...with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In reading the book, I discovered four life-changing truths: *No one can say who built the great cathedrals- we have no record of their names.

*These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

*They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

*The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

When I finished the book, I felt the missing piece fall into place. I heard God whisper, 'I see you. I see what you do every day, even when no one else does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

I don't want my child to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving dinner that her Mom gets up at 5 in the morning, bakes pies; hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table. I just want her to want to come home. If there is anything more for her to say to her friend, I want her to add 'you're gonna love it here.'

We are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world because of invisible women.

Feeling Older Than Dirt Today!

Hey remember how we chatted via my blog yesterday about how I wasn't going to let things get me down and I was going to get out and enjoy all that life has to offer?

Um, perhaps not all in the course of one day?!

At least that is what I felt like last night after retiring to the sanity of my old familiar bed.

Old, older than dirt, old.

I mean feeling every bone in your body ache kinda old.

Old like you should start slow and work you way up slow, old!

The day started off brilliantly (Sounds like a line from a Harry Potter film, I can hear Ron say Brilliantly to Harry, sorry)with a great cup of coffee. We started things off slowly and didn't rush to get to making plans on our day. It was going to be a sort of challenge to just take whatever opportunity passed our way and say YES!

Well we decided if our kids were taking their roller skating lessons, we would join them for a short two hour skate afterwards. It has been about 5 years since I skated, loved doing it at the beach and something I loved since I was a teen in high school. Hubby hadn't done it in about 10 years, pre-Kailee days and our last memory of that was roller blading at the beach.

Sorry but I am a fan of the old quad wheels not inlines. My ankles and coordination skills aren't that great much less balancing all my extra weight I now have that I didn't when I was a teen.

Age kinda does that to you.

Well our kids were just tickled pink with that idea of watching mom and dad skate with them. I must say we weren't the only ones about 5 other parents were there and a bunch of kids that could literally skate circles around the things we did back in my high school days.

After about an hour we sat inhaling large quantities of water and wheezing in and out, trying to rest between a game that was in the works of being started.

I looked at my watch, then at Steve and said, "You know, we've only been doing this for an hour?"

I think he seriously stopped breathing and his eyes enlarged in his head, as bead of sweat continued to roll down his neck. "Your kidding right?"

"Nope, we still have an hour left!" I said wiping my own sweat from my forehead and fanning myself with my hand.

I think we both at that moment in time questioned our sanity but threw caution to the wind anyway.

Fast forward to the end of the night, once gravity takes control and time begins to wear thin at those muscles that haven't been put to good use in way way too long. Oh, man! Were we ever sore!

Sore, aching, plagued with enormous pain, racked with agonizing muscle aches. I am sure you get the picture.

It wasn't pretty, but we both looked at each other before toasting over water filled glasses and muscle relaxers, "It was fun wasn't it?"

"Yup, want to do it again?"

"Absolutely, if we can manage this about 4 hours a week, we'd have exercising just down pat."

"Cheers to next week. I'll call the pharmacy and refill these before we run out."

Ah all in a day's work and just loving life even if it feels like it's going to kill us.

By the way, Steve only fell once on his inlines and I managed to avoid the floor! Guess we aren't so old after all!! :)

Fairy Tale Life at 45

I sit back and wonder where did all the time go? 45 years is a lifetime to a child, but mere memories to us. Our children would tell us we are so OLD! Yet if you really sit and think about it 45 is about mid way for most of us in our life if we expect to be 90 when we die.

So when thinking about it that way, I look at where I am right now in the middle. Here is where you will really get to know me and I hold nothing back. I am a person who is OK with being completely honest. I have nothing to hide from things I have done in my past. As a matter of fact, I see them as things needing to be said because it may just help someone who is thinking to themselves, no one understands this but me. Hopefully you just found a friend that has gone what you are going through.

I am not ashamed of my past even though looking back there are things I wish I had done differently. However if I could go back with my magic pencil and erase those things, every other event moving forward would also change in retrospect. Maybe those are things I wouldn't want changed.

So what happened to living happily ever after and marrying my prince charming? Where did that life go?

Living happily ever after is something I am still in pursuit of and not sure if I will honestly ever reach it. That is because things that make me happy today aren't the things that made me happy yesterday. That is frustrating because there is no formula for happiness. Happiness is what you make it today for yourself. No one can make you happy. That life truth I have finally figured out after 45 years. Only you can make yourself happy.

I used to wait around wondering why some person in my life couldn't just look at me, see how unhappy I was and try to do something they knew I liked to make me happy. So I would wait. And wait. And nothing.

People can't make you happy. So get over that fact. Sure things people do can make you laugh or bring you happiness but ultimately how you respond to things is yours and yours to control alone.

I used to think if I had no financial problems I would be happy. Nope. This just meant someone in our family had to work more hours, work further away or work two jobs. Now the person you wanted to share time with is no longer there. They are providing financial stability for the family now. You can't have it all.

I used to think if I had my personal life all squared away, life would be organized and simple to manage. Kids prevent things from being managed. They are always changing and always on the go. The more you have, the more you realize you can't really manage them the way you dreamed. They are children, mini humans in the making waiting to be molded and shaped to become adults of their own in the future.

I used to think if I could only stay home, manage the home like a pro, handle all the things mom, I would be content. I could leave everything to the outside of the home for someone else. Do you realize how vast that job is? It is beyond a full time job. When school is in full swing look out!

Your house will never be what you dreamed it could be and your kids could care a less. They want time! Your time! All you can spare! It's the one thing you can't put a price tag on. They want parents that want to spend time with them. Only thing is, the older they get, the less they want you around. See where the happy ending went?

I guess happily ever after is what you get when you finally reach your heavenly home. You are happy forever after you have lived your life out on earth. See how that works?

As for prince charming? Well he is charming some days when we get a chance to see him. Things are strained at best for us right now. He is at a crossroads of decisions to determine what he really needs in his life besides providing for his family. There is a huge cost on the back end of that and not sure it is something that would benefit all of us. So the gap increases daily because for now I just live with my best friend, while I wait for my hubby to return.

So you see fairy tales are something that are just written in a book and not something people live out their whole lives. Some come darn close however, I used to think that way. Please pray for Steve at this point. I believe he needs to choose what is right for him. The rest, as they say, should take care of itself.

God Still Teaches Daily!

I find myself so grateful for the many people that have commented, emailed or called, and sent along prayers of strength and protection during this time of separation for my husband and I. It gives me just enough to get through my day and find some shimmer of light in the midst of what can seem like overwhelming darkness and depression.

I have spent last night in a session with God where He has enlightened me on my role during this process. Let me share if I may. Last night I tossed and turned to sleep in a lonely, cold, empty bed while my husband and I finished our conversation. He was just starting work for the evening and I was heading off to bed.

After we hung up, God spoke to my heart and shared with me a few things that this experience has done. Before this, you could say without a doubt I was co-dependent. I could not experience any peace or contentment while my husband was away even for a weekend. I hated that life of being lost and alone. During these long months and weeks of absence, God has patiently walked with me, holding my hand and showed me that I can do this. What would have seemed impossible months ago, is now doable. I am handling life! I am experiencing for a second time, what life without a husband is like. I have to manage finances, pay bills, deal with bill collectors, attorneys, take care of home repairs, and all the while, still homeschooling one child and carting the other one off to high school, track practice, fashion club, Christian clubs, church, and if you can name it, I have either done it or can do it at this point. Plus if you are sick or in need of something, I have learned I can bite the bullet and move through the pain to another day.

I would have never thought this was possible, but God is amazing and has shown me that even though Steve is missing right now, God still remains with me and never leaves me. In those lonely dark moments at night when missing my husband is the most difficult, God wraps his arms around me and holds me while I fall asleep.

I still am a work in progress however. I still lose patience with my girls, who seem to think I have become a Super Mom, and can do everything, but I am trying harder to teach them to become self sufficient women as well. This from sprinklers breaking, circuit breakers needing to be reset, car failures and even a gall bladder ER visit for me in the last week has been a bit overwhelming.

So to recap here's my lesson from God:

1. I can do this even though I thought I couldn't.
2. I am a lot stronger than I ever thought possible in all ways, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.
3. I have some amazing friends I can always count on. This has also shown me, who isn't as well.
4. God is only a prayer away.
5. I have 100% complete confidence, I want to be married to Steve for the rest of my life. I am not meant to be alone on this earth. I am meant to be a married woman.
6. This job is not for our family, nor is any involving out of state travel.
7. God brings things into your life to help you through difficult circumstances, such as long lost family and friends.
8. Thank God for email and blogs!
9. I am teaching my daughters a lesson through these difficult economic times, what it takes to be a good wife and mom.
10. I need to take things one day at a time. God only guarantees to supply my needs daily, not weekly, monthly or yearly.

I ask if you are reading this that you stop and take a moment and pray for us, asking God to work with us and help us to find something that works for our family. I also ask that you lift my health and gallbladder up that I won't require surgery to remove it at this time, while Steve is away. Thanks again for being some amazing people in my life! God bless each of you!

If God Loves Us, Why Does He Allow Bad Things To Happen?

“Dear God….”
Why do you allow people to die before they should?

Someone died before his or her time. Don’t we assume that we have a timetable slated when we are supposed to live a full life, like into our older years like 70’s or 80’s? When does the Bible say that? It doesn’t. It states that there is “a time to be born and a time to die”. (Ecclesiastes 3:2) God is in charge of that. We don’t have a say about when we get to be born or when we get to die, but we have everything to do with the time in between and how we choose to live it. Psalm 90:12. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” means to make the most of our time. Don’t take any of your loved ones for granted. Don’t put off telling someone in your life just how much they mean to you, because no one knows how much time you have left. You don’t have a guarantee on how much time you have left.

There is a book that tells you about “The Things You Must Do Before You Die”, with some of the examples such as going to the academy awards, or running with the Bulls? Running with the bulls? Isn’t that a way to die? Did you know that the author of this book died at the age of 47 after hitting his head after a fall in his home, and he only completed half of the things in his book. The goal isn’t to do all these things but to glorify God. Sure it’s ok to do some of things but they shouldn’t be our life’s focus.
God will give you a peace that passes all understand not give you an understanding.

Don’t worry about it, pray about it and he will give you enough strength to get you through it day by day.

Psalms 61: Here my cry of God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

No one ever said that you would live a trouble-free life in this world.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Bad things happen to Christians as well, problems with our families, dying in unexpected accidents, getting cancer. No one is guaranteed a problem-free life.

Why is it that the words trial and problems occur in the same sentence. Why doesn’t God remove my problems if He loves me? Because God loves you, it’s your definition of how He should show that love that is our mistake and what we think good means in our life. No pain, no suffering, no death, a problem free life with the sun shining and birds singing. Doesn’t that sound appealing?

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Our definition of good is what benefits us in the here and now and not in the by and by. We are interested in what will benefit us temporarily while God is interested in our eternal benefit.

We are interested in what will make us happy, while God is interested in what will make us holy.

He doesn’t always remove suffering because it makes us stronger and keeps us closer to Him. We can also be used in our situations to glorify Him and bring others to Him through our problems.

Why does God allow it?

1. Adversity levels us and keeps us humble. Prosperity has a tendency to make us proud. We don’t need God when things are going smoothly, the bills are paid, we have a great job, family life is incredible and there is money in the bank. Hopefully however, when adversity comes, we turn to God and see what really matters. It is during times of prosperity we will forget God. When tragedy and adversity hits, we pray and pray a lot.

2. Adversity teaches us eternal truths we would not learn on our own. Our basic objective is to avoid pain at all costs. We want to be comfortable. We want to look good, but we don’t want to sweat, we don’t want the muscle aches and pain, but pain reminds us of a deeper need. Hunger pains, birth pains, back pains, you get it.

God teaches us lessons in those pain filled valleys we wouldn’t have learned on the mountaintops of our life. Things we need to know, things we need to share while we are passing through this life into our eternal one.

3. God allows us to go through these adversities so we will have compassion for others in pain. Never minimalize someone’s pain, but reach out for him or her.
Success builds walls but failures build bridges. When things are going well for you, you got that promotion, you kids got all A’s again, you just bought a new house, paid off all your debt, and you’re sharing that with someone whose life isn’t going well. They are losing their home, they don’t have enough money to put groceries in their home, and their kids are failing in school, it puts up a wall between you and them.

But what happens when a friend comes to you and tells you that they need prayer, that they were just diagnosed with cancer. You care and you want to help them. You should. When we go through adversity, we can help others.

2 Corinthians 1: 4-5 “ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

It was only through the death of Stephen that the worst Christian killer, Saul of Tarsus, was brought to God and became Paul. So sometimes good comes from adversity and tragedy. We just need to look for it and seek God every minute of every day.