Hey friends!
Thank you so much for all of your encouraging comments after I shared about my horrible no good very bad day week. (I am so sorry many of you could relate!).
After reading all of your comments, I don’t think I could ever eat bagged lettuce again ~ no matter how many free coupons they send me….
In my last post, I shared vaguely about the horrible week I was having. Trust me ~ it was one of those weeks where I wonder if I’m doing anything right…especially as a mom.
Have you been there before??
After a horrible incident at school, I ran into the grocery store quickly. Everything in me wanted to numb my pain and discomfort with something.
Anything.
Diet Coke.
Chips and salsa.
A latte from Starbucks.
Not that any of those are bad things, right? Just in my case, at that moment, I knew I was craving those false comforts BIG TIME like an alcoholic craves their next drink.
And no matter how much Diet Coke I drank, or how yummy my latte was, it would not take away the fear, pain, hurt, and loneliness I was feeling.
As I put my Starbucks gift card away (shoot!), I thought of a MOPS message I’ve shared many times before, based on Proverbs 18:10 ~ “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.”
I knew I had a choice. I could “run” (to sin), or I could remember what I’ve learned and obey. Thankfully, I made the better choice.
What I’ve learned is that when stress, fears, troubles, and/or worries are “chasing us”, we can run to the Strong Tower by….
S ~ Stop
So last week on my horrible no good very bad day, I stopped right there in the grocery store and made a pre-determined decision that I would not numb out how I was feeling ~ no matter how yucky and overwhelming it was. I would stop.
A ~ Acknowledge my need for God
Trust me, with a “past” like I have, I don’t go one day without knowing how much I desperately need God. But last week, right there in the grocery store by the Starbucks counter, I looked up to the heavens and asked God to help me in this icky, hurtful state I was in.
F ~ Fill your heart and mind with Truth
I began to think about who God says that I am. He doesn’t say I am fat, or a horrible mom, or not good at anything. God is not an evil task master Who tells me to work harder, or to stop making a mess of everything, or hurry up and respond to all of the e-mails.
As I drove home (without a latte or Diet Coke), I went through the list from A to Z….
A – I am Accepted just the way that I am
B – I am Beautiful (regardless of the size of my pants)
C – I am Chosen (handpicked by God ~ that’s pretty significant and special, don’t you think?!)
D – I am Delievered (God delivered me from a cocaine addiction in 1996, certainly He can free me from the grip of soft drinks!)
You get the idea…. Trust me, I started feeling much better real soon ~ it’s amazing what God’s Truth can do!
And lastly, in my SAFE message, I share….
E – Expect God to Show Up
OK, I’ll be honest…I thought God showed up by helping me not give into my temptations. I thought the victory came when I bypassed my “lesser gods” and came home empty handed.
God also showed up when He helped renew my mind with the Truth of who He says I am. I wasn’t expecting more….
(But isn’t it just like God to go above and beyond and do immeasurably more…)
Imagine my surprise when I walked to my mailbox and found a special package from a very dear friend!
And what was in the package?? TRUTH just for me!! 🙂
First, there were personalized verse cards….
Can you read the first one? This is the first card I read. It says…
My special package also included a personalized spiral of verses….
Isn’t that awesome?? My special friend Darlene had made all of this just for me. Wow. And isn’t God’s timing perfect???
I don’t know what difficult circumstances you are going through this week, my sweet friend.
I do know this ~ life is hard. Marriage is hard. This economy is hard. Parenting is hard. Being home with a house full of kids on snow days is hard. What’s going on in Egypt is hard. Depression is hard. We could go on and on, couldn’t we???
BUT (and this is a BIG but)….God is good and He does know what He is doing!! Of this I am sure.
May I please gently remind you….when everything in you wants to run to something, anything…..head for the Strong Tower! Our God is so faithful, and He will show up in a special and unique way ~ just for you! (And I’d love to hear ALL ABOUT IT!)
Thanks for stopping by *She Sparkles*! May your week be filled with many special “winks” from your Heavenly Father Who thinks you are so very special…just the way that you are!!!
Sweet blessings to you~
P.S. Sneak peek to tomorrow’s post ~ Darlene would like to make some verse cards for some *She Sparkles* readers!! Can I get a Woo Hoo?? 🙂 More details coming soon…
What a special amazing gift. Don't we all need to to personalize verses. I know i need them but don't think to do it. Cindy is certainly a gift from God to you. Life is very hard right now. It is so easy to look at circumstances around me and not at Him. Thank you for this post today. I needed it and your sharing blessed me.
As I was reading your post, I thought..man those cards are awesome and wouldn't they just set each days tone toward the Lord. Then I saw the sneak peek =) So glad you have great friends to help you through this thing called Life! God is good, even if we don't see it right away. Glad the story had a happy ending. =)
Thanks so much for sharing, Cindy. I'm so glad God put your friend up to something amazing for you. You deserved to have a little life. Don't you just love it when God totally exceeds any expectation? Just makes Him all the more special and absolutely incredible. This little follower is thankful for you and thinks you're beautiful too. :)Hope you have a really good too.
I've been reading your posts for about a month straight now and I have to say they are one of the highlights of my day. You bring up real life issues that a lot of us don't really want to admit to or rather act like we don't have any problems. We put on a "game face" for everyone else and it's so inspiring to read your truthfulness in your posts everyday. I love how you overcame your temptations (with the Lord's help of course! ;)) I look forward to hearing much more from you!
Beautiful cards!! A friend made something similar for me and they are so special. It seems that God speaks to me in so many ways through those verses. Bless you, Cindy. Leah
Cindy, thank you for "modeling" a real life struggle and responding in the Spirit. It's such an encouragement to me when godly women are willing to be open and share what it really looks like to walk with the Lord in the midst of life in this world and the struggles we contend with. I'm always so blessed by you 🙂 Much love and may your snow days be a special retreat from the daily grind (I hope!) ~ Jenny C.
I love that S.A.F.E! I need to write that up on my dry erase board! I'm so glad your day got better! I was hoping it would : D*Allie*
Oh yes, can I ever relate to those days. I had to write "Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial" on the "Press n 'Seal" on the pan of brownies this week. And God has been faithful in reminding me Who my Source is. What a lovely gift from your friend, and such perfect timing, too.Each Thursday I host a link up called "Mama's Heart" where mothers can share what's on their hearts as they mother their kids. I'd love to have you join us sometime. Here's the link for more info: http://www.itsgrace.com/?page_id=293 Thank you for the encouragement and sharing what is such a real part of all of our days.Blessings,Erin
God's timing is so perfect, and what a great evidence of how tender He is to us. Love Him!!
I LOVE hearing stories about God's timing just reminds me of how PERFECT and in control He is. Those scripture cards are amazing, I think I need to do that for some of my friends. Love it!
I just love how God speaks to the very core of our beings. I often try to seek comfort in things like hot tea, etc, when what I really need is just … Him.I know that you have linked up to Soli Deo Gloria before and I just wanted to say that I would love to have you back. No pressure, just that you are welcome all the time.
I love how God works,He is an on-time God. What a blessing to receive those from a friend. I love the idea and am contemplating about doing that for a sweet friend. Do you mind if I use that idea? Thanks for sharing. God Bless you,AdrienneP.S. I love your blog and the verse, it's so cute.