Nov
14
The whole purpose of this blog is to give glory to God for His work in my life, and that of my family. I want to be able to encourage and comfort others with the same comfort God has given me.
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us. ~ 1 Corinthians 1:3-7
From the feedback I’ve been getting regarding my posts, my goal was being accomplished, praise God! Several months ago, Sten-Erik received a hurtful comment on one of his blog entries. I won’t ever forget receiving it. We were at the symphony, thanks to free tickets through the seminary, and were enjoying a rare evening alone. We were sitting in box seats with a great view of the performance, and were looking forward to hearing the last number… Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, with a full chorale. As the music began, we sat and took it all in. It was glorious! During the first part of the song, Sten-Erik’s cell phone buzzed. He checked it to make sure it wasn’t a problem at home with the girls. He read the message, and looked a bit sick as he handed me the phone. I read it, and my stomach turned.
As far as we were concerned, the concert had come to a screeching halt. We allowed an anonymous person’s opinion to ruin the night, and totally missed the one number we were so looking forward to hearing. We sat lost in thought, oblivious to the music around us.
As I shared my struggle with this message the next day with some close friends, I said, “You know what this makes me want to do? Not tell people what God is doing.” For more on this, please read Sten-Erik’s blog entry…
The months that followed felt different. God was still providing, but I felt a distance there that wasn’t there before. It really bothered me and I racked my brain, trying to figure out where we went wrong.
Last week, as I took Kaylee (a precious little girl I babysit) outside to drop her off, her mom asked me what was wrong. I told her we just had a lot of bills going unpaid, but I was sure something would work out. She looked at me with a worried expression and said, “Oh no! Has God stopped providing for you?” It was a knife in my heart. As far as everyone knew, our silence might indicate that He had! We had not blogged since receiving that comment. I was stunned. I was so sad that we had let one anonymous comment overshadow our desire to make God’s glory known.
I just want to give Him praise for the many ways He has provided for us this month! The most recent being a check from a friend and $500 anonymously slipped under our door tonight!! He IS ever faithful. It certainly hasn’t been easy, but He has never left us alone.