The Lord Gave and Has Taken Away

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;

may the name of the Lord be praised.”

~Job 1:21~

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The beginning of this year began with a one month vacation for my husband.  For those of you who don't know, my husband is self employed.  This one month vacation was not a voluntary one.  Though the Lord wanted him and I to take it as one.   This year will be a year where my husband and I will say, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." 

This past month we have had to fully depend on  the Lord to open doors and pour His favor upon my husband and business.  And in the process we have been in peace.  My husband and I are amazed by this peace and know it can only can come from God.  This time has brought us so much closer.  We have been able to get our home in order, talk about our marriage, our plans, pray together and just grow as "one".  

These past months have been a little difficult for me with morning and evening sickness (I am 3 months pregnant).  And my husband took care of me, our boys and our home. I couldn't have gone through these months without him and God graciously provided him to me for a month! God is so good!

When we look at our circumstances it really is with what eyes we will look at them in.  Will we look at them with our natural eyes? This will lead us to worry and discouragement. But when we live and walk in the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is there to remind us who is our Father. He points us to our provider, the One who has never left us and never will. 

Our family has never lived in so much joy then this past month.  We didn't worry how we were going to pay the mortgage, bills, or buy food.  We know if God gave us this home, He will provide for it; if He gave us our children He will provide for them.  

So what have we done in this month?  WE HAVE PRAISED AND BLESSED HIS NAME!

No matter if He gives or takes away, we will praise Him, because in the end He is all that we have and all that matters!

Whatever circumstance or situation you find in yourself, know that HE IS GOD! He will take care of His children and He knows what is best! Stand firm in His Truth!

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  ~ Revelation 1:8

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.  ~ 1 Corinthians 14:33

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. ~ Proverbs 19:21

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

This song has blessed our life during this season.  May you be blessed.

For His Glory and By His Grace,
Monica

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This is the WAY, Walk in it!

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6

Recently I have understood a little more what God means by trusting Him, leaning not on my own understanding and acknowledging Him.  There has been a lot of changes in our home.  Changes that have been drastic and surprising.  I truly believe that all have been planned out by God and He is putting everything in order.

And your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left. ~ Isaiah 30:21

It is very hard to let God!  My complete heart desires to honor, serve and do God's will, but that becomes difficult at times when it has to be His way.  It is easy to honor God my way, easy to serve Him my way and  easy to say my will is His will.  It's at that moment when I am humbled by my Father and have no other choice but to let Him do what He does best for me. 

As you know I have been homeschooling my boys for sometime.  For sometime my husband had been saying to me that He desired for our boys to go to school.  For me this was a shock.  I knew in my heart that God wanted us to homeschool them.  I told my husband, "until the Lord gives me peace about it, I will think about it!"  With that said, I made sure I didn't feel the peace of God!  My husband never pushed the subject because we both knew it would turn into an argument.  A time had passed and things were just not going well with our homeschool.  There was so much distraction on a daily basis, I was not being a blessing to my boys, I was ignoring my youngest son and the list can go on.  I finally knew my "ears needed to hear the word behind me".  God was speaking to me and was just not listening! What was He saying?

Monica....

1. You are not submitting yourself to your husband, therefore you are not submitting yourself to Me...

2. You are working in your own strength, therefore you are not seeking Me to help you

3.  You are ignoring my will for your life... 

4. You are closing the door to the blessings I have for you....

Really the list can go on! But the one thing on this list that truly hit home was not submitting myself to my husband.  My husband is a man of God, who fears the Lord and when he speaks, I know, God has spoken to him.  

All the while, we had been arguing and I had been so close minded toward the idea of sending our boys to school. Until I finally surrendered.  I went to the Lord.  I asked Him truly what His will for our family was and it was to send our boys to a Christian school, three minutes from where we live!

My husband and I spoke and began to move.  We prayed to the Lord, came into agreement and TRUST the Lord to do what HE has already planned. 

'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Our boys have been in school since December and LOVE it! My youngest son is completely happy to be able to have his momma's undivided attention,  I am truly at peace and my husband and I are live in harmony!

God is so good that He doesn't reveal all His blessings at once!  The Lord gave us a little SURPRISE.... I found out that my husband and I are expecting our 5th child!   This for us was a HUGE  surprise!  But not for Him!   I have learned to tune my ears to His word ... and walk in it!

Living For His Glory and By His Grace,

Monica

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