Happy Friday! 09/20/2019
My Happy Friday emails are raw. They may have typos. They may not make sense sometimes because I might have been half asleep while typing them. They might be really short if I don’t feel like I have much to share. Or they might be really long if I am feeling weighted down by something I need to get off my chest. I never expect replies. I don’t even look to see how many of you have opened the message to read. I just want to put it out there.
Today marks 7 years since our dad went to heaven. I won’t go into detail, but I will say for those that I have just met…he was the best. Since then, so so so many wonderful things have happened. I graduated high school and college. My sister got married, I got engaged, my sister found out she was pregnant, then I got married. My brother went through middle school and is now in high school with an amazing girlfriend. I now have a ONE-year-old beautiful nephew and a NIECE on the way. My mom started dating, and he has pretty much become a member of our family. Of course, there have been down times too. We have struggled tremendously with feelings of loss. New storms have come and destroyed beautiful days. But we are blessed.
I firmly believe that God has a plan and He allows ALL things to happen for the goodness of His will. The world will try its best to break you. Cancer, miscarriages, infertility, mental illness, and so much more can wreck your life, leaving you broken and hopeless. Seven years ago, when I was trying to wrap my brain around what had happened, I thought of this. Maybe God allows evil into the world, so that we aren’t content with it. Maybe He wants to remind us that we aren’t supposed to entirely depend on the world for happiness. Maybe He wants us to remember that this isn’t the end, and there is something coming that requires our attention. Maybe he wants us to refocus on Him.
If you are going through (or have been through) a season of your life that has left you feeling broken, remember this.
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33
That is the Lord himself reminding us He is bigger that the world and any problem in it. We must put all of our energy, hope, insecurities, anxieties, and fears on him. He will turn our sorrows into joy. And with Him, we will all be in Heaven one day. Nothing will be able to steal that joy. We will one day be FREE.
I love you all and I pray for every one of you.
See you next week!
-Jennie