One For the Road

My alarm went off at 4:30a.m. We pulled out of the driveway by five, heading to Miami for the second time this summer. A long, hard drive for sure. Naturally, I took a little something for the road.

In addition to traveling with my darlin' husband and my sweet son, I held a special companion in my hands. Yeah, I had a little Peace for the Journey--Elaine Olsen style. And I so needed peace on this journey.

About six hours into the trip, the air conditioner in the truck stopped working! We spent the next four hours--and, no, I'm not exaggerating about the time either--in a dealership waiting room while mechanics installed a new compressor.

And guess what I did during those four hours? That's right, sweet girl, I read Peace for the Journey.

Elaine writes about having peace in our lives wherever we are along life's hot, dusty road. Even in a dealership waiting room. Or in a hospital waiting room. We can have peace if we know Jesus Christ because He paid the price for our peace.

Elaine teaches from lessons that she learned through her own seasons of suffering and struggling. She inspires us to walk closer to our Savior than we've ever before walked. She prays for us.

Most importantly, Elaine challenges believers to reject the easy road and to walk down the path of a higher level of obedience to our loving God. She writes, "Some of the best work we will ever do with God will be fleshed out upon the sands of a heated obedience."

Elaine doesn't claim that this kind of whole-hearted obedience will be easy. The fleshing out of our obedience is never easy, but the reward of complete devotion and obedience can't be surpassed.

The reward "of a heated obedience" is peace.

Everlasting peace.

And Jesus Christ, Prince of Peace.

For He Himself is our peace (Ephesians 2:14a).

How about you? Do you need a some peace and encouragement for the road you're traveling? If you aren't already following Elaine's blog, why don't you check it out?

On my last post, I promised to give away a copy of Peace for the Journey. And the winner is mchristiangirl!

This book is definately one for the road.

Sweet dreams,

Deb

I Got What I Wanted...Didn't I?

A nice, big office! New desk and chair. I don't have to share this space with anyone else. Sounds like a tremendous improvement over sharing offices with everyone from the cookware salesman to parent volunteers. I got what I asked for, I think.

Umm, maybe not.

See, my new office isn't located at either of the two schools that I serve. Last year two other facilitators moved to off-campus offices, and I thought it would be way cool to do that. I've only been back at work four days, and have quickly discovered that this change may not be so cool at all.

Actually, I'm thinking my job is going to be more difficult because I won't have a work space at my schools.

Guess I got what I wanted. Didn't I?

Why do I keep doing this? I see what someone else has, and I want what they have. Or, I think that I know exactly what I need. Sometimes, I even tell God what will work for me.

But I want to be content with what He has already provided. I want to trust Him to meet my needs and wants and dreams according to His amazing love and grace.

For your Father knows what you need before you ask him (Matthew 6: 8b).

Don't you love this verse? Our great God knows everything about us. He knows our heart. Where we hurt. Why we hurt. He knows how to heal our pain.

He knows what we need before we ever tell Him. And He has the power to meet both our needs and wants. He is prepared to take care of us from the big things down to the smallest detail.

And this office situation? Well, I got what I thought I wanted.

But everything will work out all right.

My Father knows me better than I know me.

Now, that is way cool!

P.S. I've got a wonderful book to give away. It's Peace for the Journey by Elaine Olsen! I'll be sharing some insights from her book a little later this week. All you have to do to win is to leave a comment or shoot me an E-mail.