crooked places

This has been a hard week for me. I’ve been sad, and I’ve cried a lot. I’m overwhelmed.

Todd started basketball this week so we need someone to help with the three little ones. Also, we are starting to think about the holidays (just the logistics of preparing Christmas for five kids overwhelms me…how did Kathy do it all?!) Like I said, it’s been a difficult week.

I tend to looking ahead and worry, and it has always given me stress. In my heart, I know that God is taking care of me; but in the ins and outs of daily life, I get caught up in trying to fix and control…and when I take things out of God’s hands into my own, it is easy to get overwhelmed.

God has sent several sweet reminders of his love my way this week. Several friends have volunteered to buy and wrap gifts. People are praying (and I have felt those prayers). I’ve got telephone calls and emails from those who care about me.

A friend sent something that her cousin emailed to her. It gave me so much comfort in this hard week.

“Fortunately, we serve a God who is not restricted by time or space, and Whose love holds us securely right where we are. We are not immune to the difficulties of this life, but we can move confidently from day to day knowing that we are not alone. We still have to walk through our days and feel the feelings, but we are not alone. God is either everything, or He is nothing. He is interested in everything, big or small, that is happening in His children's lives. And the great thing is...He's already been where I'm going and already knows the outcome!”

1 Peter 5:7 further reminds me: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”

This is a special prayer, written by Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook. I’m praying it today, and I need to remember it next Monday and Tuesday.

“I have crooked places that need to be made
straight and rough places that need to be smoothed.
I’m facing mountains I can’t climb and valleys
I can’t cross, I need help, I release into your hands
All the worries and anxieties and struggles of life.”