A SCORCHING EXPERIENCE!

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The last couple of weeks have been rough. Things kept going wrong, challenges kept coming and I was continually blindsided by the unexpected. I could name everything, but in the end, what happened doesn't really matter so much. How I coped, does.

I scrambled to find solutions, but the doors kept slamming in my face. Every time I thought I had one problem licked, I got the wind knocked out of me and had to start all over again. So I hung on, asked for help and prayed for the wisdom and the power of the Holy Spirit to do God's will and not my own. I hung on tight, because as I've said before, just when you want to let go, that's when the miracle is about to happen.

Walking through the desert of uncertainty is a scorching experience...Feeling alone, is a human weakness...Clinging to the God we cannot see is a test of our faith. I moaned countless times, cried incessantly-slept very little, but in the end-I made it through the darkest hours and into the dawning light.

As a 12 stepper, I could have taken a giant tumble backwards...Multiplying my challenges and making myself miserable. But that's not how I deal with the pain or the problems anymore...As I often tell people...The incredible highs and the incredible lows...Life is a wave of emotions...The skilled ride the waves up and over the bad times, right on into the arms of hope and the serenity that comes with knowing we are being carried by a power greater than any difficulty we may be facing.

The holidays always bring about so many sad and uncomfortable feelings...So many unresolved situations seem to steal our peace. So many times we give in to the replay of old tapes and re-runs that ruin our sanity. But always remember, when you are feeling your lowest, when there is no solution in sight...Remember-there is a God who is watching over you...who is waiting for you to surrender in trust...who is willing to give you everything you need-if you will only ask.

In the end, after all the worrying and the praying, and the desperate feelings of failure...Just remember, as I did, that God is with us...and there is nothing, nothing at all that you cannot overcome with his help. Bank on it! I am!

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