More than a conqueror....

For three years I fought against the reality of my Bipolar Disorder diagnosis. I didn't want it. I wanted my "normal" life back. I wanted things to be the way they were before July of 2007. But that was not to be. Last Fall I began reading through and studying a book by Jerry Bridges called "Trusting God Even When Life Hurts." God used this book mightily in my life. I finally realized that I needed to stop kicking, screaming, and fighting against this diagnosis, and I did. I have now been praying and working toward getting on board with what God wants to do in and through me as I learn how to live with and manage Bipolar Disorder. I finally realized that all of my kicking and screaming against it wasn't making it go away, it was still there. I am learning how to manage it and asking God to help me see His hand at work through it. I want to walk this path well, and I know that God wants to teach me many glorious and wondrous things about Himself through this journey. I will trust Him in this because I know that He has His greatest glory and my best interest at heart. His ways are so much higher than mine, and I trust that He has a wonderful plan and purpose for this difficulty in my life.

"This I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'" Lamentations 3:21-24 (NIV)


"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. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all---how will He not also along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died---more than that, who was raised to life---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)

Memory Verses for January 2011:

I am sure many of you have heard of Beth Moore. She is one of my favorite authors. God has used her writings and Bible Studies to impact and change my life on several occasions! I also follow her blog @ http://blog.lproof.org/ and have decided to participate in her Scripture memorization program for 2011. I thought I'd share the two verses I have selected for January.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." ~Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)


"...Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for His compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'" ~ Lamentations 3:21-24 (NIV)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBm5aSsp6o0

Help us LORD!

Oh God, my brother is in such pain and the Doctors keep on treating his symptoms as they cannot seem to find the source of his difficulties. Father, help us in Jesus' Name! Thank You that You have saved Peter and therefore hold him in the very palm of Your hand. Father thank You that You are all powerful and all knowing and that this is not a surprise to You! Please let Pete somehow sense Your constant, comforting presence with Him even in the midst of his great pain! LORD please help those of us who love Pete to trust You with all of our hearts. Keep our eyes focused on You and grant us peace, comfort, wisdom, and rest. We love You Jesus, and it's in your matchless Name I pray, Amen!

"Merciful and faithful Lord, because of Your great love I am not consumed, for Your compassion's never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, 'The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.' Lord, You are good to those whose hope is in You, to the one who seeks You." ~Prayer taken from Lamentations 3:22-25

Oh No He Never Lets Go!

Last night I went with my parents to take my brother Peter to the Emergency room in Danville, PA. Pete has been extremely ill since Christmas night and this was our third trip to the ER with him in just a little over a week. If I had to be honest, I was scared as we drove. Sitting up makes Pete very sick, so he decided to lay with his head in my lap and asked me to rub his head to ease the pain. The sun was shining brightly, so I held a blanket over his eyes to keep it from hurting his head even more. Any of you who know Pete know how sick he would have to be in order to do these things. He never gets sick and has a higher pain tolerance than the rest of us kids combined. I started to sing quietly about Jesus and His many promises as we drove along....more for my own comfort than for Pete's. I was trying hard not to cry, but a tear slipped down my cheek in spite of my efforts. I couldn't help but flashback to when Pete was just a newborn and we were making another trip to the ER, but that time was for my mom. I sat with him in the backseat and held his binky in his mouth while Mary Truitt drove us to the hospital in Tunkhannock. I was eleven and Pete was a week old. I was just as scared then. It hurts more than I can express to see the ones you love in so much pain. As we drove along yesterday and the words of the hymns I was singing sank into my soul...Jesus began to remind me how faithful He has been to our family over the years. As scary as that time and this time have been, He has never forgotten or forsaken us. I cried out to Him on Pete's behalf, and He comforted my soul.



I've said it before and I'll say it again, God is bigger and stronger than any circumstance we may face in this life and He never let's us go.



"'My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and the Father are one.'" ~John 10:27-29

Hopelessness vs. Unbreakable Hope...

Sleep is eluding me tonight, so I am reading....I came accross this quote by Beth Moore, and it really spoke to me. I doubt that many of you who read this struggle with feeling hopeless. As someone who battles bouts of depression from time to time, I do struggle that way. Perhaps once you read the quote, what I am saying will make more sense....



"Hopelessness is never of God. Never. Nothing is too difficult for Him. Nothing is beyond His reach. His restoration. Even His reconciliation...May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." ~ Beth Moore



Amen!