Green Beans

So we've planted a vegetable garden. (I say we, what I mean is Joe. Although I did help carry the ridiculously heavy railroad ties and I shoveled dirt, so that counts, right?) Anyways, this morning during the storm, Lou comes running up to me and yells, "Mom! It's raining on our green beans! We have to make the rain stop!" I'm not sure where I'm going with this story, except that it cracked me up.

Moving on, my mom is teaching a Sunday school class at her church and the workbook that they're doing is "Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering" by Angela Thomas. I also have a copy of it and am doing it at my own pace. If you haven't had the opportunity to do this workbook, you're missing out. Every lesson seems to be God-sent. It has really, really touched me. Thursday had been miserable. Beyond miserable. I will spare you the gory details, but I was in spiritual turmoil. I went to bed not really wanting to do my Bible study, but something inside told me that it would be a really good idea to do the next lesson. It was all about finding Jesus peace. Again God spoke to me and touched me.

John 16:33 says,
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Wow! Thank you, God!! In You, I can overcome my depression. In You, I can find joy. In You, I can find peace.
In my previous post, I wrote about surrendering to God. Some days, it takes a few mistakes before this particular lesson sinks in. I often feel like it's one step forwards, two steps back. I feel like I'm changing so much inside and I get aggravated that other people aren't or at least not as quickly as I am. I want to go up and shake them and say, "Why?! Why are you still acting like this?!" And then I have to remember to surrender everything to God. He's in control, not me. As much as I sometimes want to be, as much as I sometimes try to be, I cannot be. It's frustrating, yet humbling. Mainly frustrating. Going against the popular saying, He actually is probably going to give me more than I can handle. Why? Because He wants me to run back to Him, every single day. And THROUGH Him, I can do it. But not without Him. And when I come crawling back, begging for His forgiveness and mercy, I know one thing: God is NOT going to forsake me. He will pour down His tender mercy and love, and give me peace.