02/25/13

I know, I know......

I have been MIA for a while.

Life just doesn't slow down enough anymore for me to get my thoughts together!

Plus, I have tried to read more and spend more "still time" with the Lord.

With that being said, I have to share some things I have been learning from what I have been reading.

I had never heard of Cherie Hill before I found her as a $.99 book for my Kindle right after Christmas.  I had bought this book and it was waiting in my carousel on my Kindle for some time before I began reading it.  I was reading others I had bought, too.  Well, I began reading this one - Waiting on God - because I thought it would help me as I helped a friend while she was waiting on a job.  

Little did I realize it that the Lord had me start reading it when I did because I NEEDED IT!

It is a book that I believe I will refer back to many times.  I will probably re-read it soon.  It has such meat to it on what God is doing in our lives.

I thought I would share some things out of it to encourage you as well as get you to think.

Here is a portion that really has stuck with me since I began the book.  I have shared it with others and it has brought tears to my eyes.  Enjoy:

"One of the most critical decisions in your faith that you will continually make throughout your life is:  'Do you trust God, or not?'  Do you believe He's holding onto you or not?  It is a question you must answer.... it is the decision in your faith that determines the outcome of your life.

Here's a little story, you'll surely enjoy, and hopefully you'll take its message with you in your life.

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hold behind his house.  In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind his shoes, socks, and shirt as he went.  He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the sore.  His mother, in the house, was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together.  In utter fear, she ran toward the water yelling to her son as loudly as she could.  hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a u-turn to swim to his mother.  It was too late.  Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.  From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.  That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two.  The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.  Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.... His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal, and on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he could show him his scars.  The boy lifted his pant legs, and then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, 'But look at my arms.  I have great scars on my arms too.  I have them because my Mom wouldn't let go.'

We can relate in our lives as we reflect upon God's love for us.  The enemy has been pulling on us, tugging on us, and we have scars.  We have scars of a painful past.... of sins that have left their mark.  And our greatest sin is our unbelief during our 'waiting places.'  But what we must never forget is that some of those wounds are because God refused to let go.  In the midst of all that you've been through, God has been holding on to you.  In your 'waiting place,' as you fight through the pain and suffering, God never lets go."

~ Cherie Hill, Waiting on God