When it rains, it pours...

And then I was reading in Lamentations 3.  The book isn't called "Lamentations" for no reason.  It is sad...really sad. A lot of crying out because of life's circumstances.

The trials and hardships of life...they get us down...we struggle with the load when the trials keep coming. And sometimes they do seem to get piled one on top of the other.

And then there is HOPE....
 
Lamentations 3 (selected verses)
"I am the man who has seen affliction
   under the rod of his wrath;
he has driven and brought me
   into darkness without any light;
surely against me he turns his hand
   again and again the whole day long.

He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
   he has broken my bones;
he has besieged and enveloped me
   with bitterness and tribulation;
he has made me dwell in darkness
   like the dead of long ago....


He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
   and made me cower in ashes;
ny soul is bereft of peace;
   I have forgotten what happiness is;
so I say, "My endurance has perished;
   so has my hope from the LORD."


Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
   the wormwood and the gall!
My soul continually remembers it
   and is bowed down within me.
But this I call to mind,
   and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;
   his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
"The LORD is my portion," says my soul,
   "therefore I will hope in him."


The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
   to the soul who seeks him.
It is good that one should wait quietly
   for the salvation of the Lord."

We see the prophet come to the end of himself through all he has gone through. And again when he gets to the end of himself, "My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD."

BUT then, he remembers...he calls this to mind and then he has hope once again:

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; and his mercies never come to an end."

That just gives me goosebumps.
    His steadfast love never ever ends...
         He loves me forever and ever...
              no matter what I am going through or even how I am going through it.
                   And his mercy, oh his blessed mercy that I need every day, it will never come to an end.

No matter how bad the circumstances,
       no matter how without hope I feel,
             no matter how exhausted I am
all I have to do....all the Holy Spirit needs to do
     is remind me of where my hope is...in God.

It isn't in what is going on around me.  My hope is in the steadfast love and faithfulness of God.
   And so we pray for each other as we go through the trials, as we struggle, as we hurt.
       I pray for you....and you pray for me.

Thank YOU...

#501...the garden in bloom with surprises of color and smell everywhere


$502...cool nights for sleeping


#503...a Spring tea with the widows in our church.  What fun to share with them about the history of tea


#504...son coming to help cut down dead branches...help is so nice


#505...two pounds--lost


#504...ice cubes to cool tea, coffee, soup, water, a burn


#505...the refrigerator that makes them

#506...hiking up Pulpit Rock and seeing the view of the city where I live


#507...spending time with my sister...so close after so long apart


#508...the vegetables growing...provision


#509...water from the mountains to water our gardens and lawns


#510...new little fish in the pond...feeder fish....cheap


#511...one Koi...$3.44...still alive...no bear or Heron or snake


#512...Iris, iris, iris....still blooming

#513...a garden tour to see and enjoy friend's gardens--and tea.  Homemade Hummus with veggies to snack on


#514...Kaylee's HS graduation to attend...lovely


#515...Your work and plan in V.....'s life.