Tragedies all around us

In the last week or so I've heard about a few tragedies. They didn't happen to me or anyone I know personally. But they were sad and I feel like sharing them with you.

My friend Angela told me about someone she used to work with who lost her daughter-in-law in a car accident. She died. Gone forever. Left behind a husband and a sweet little 2 1/2 year old daughter, and lots of friends and family too I'm sure. What happened to cause the accident? Can't say for sure, but they said she had been on FACEBOOK just prior to the accident.

I follow a blog of a crafty lady who's a friend of my friend Brandi's. Click here to go to Mandy's blog. She has a cousin who lost her husband the other day. I don't know what happened, but what broke my heart is she's pregnant with their first child. That little sweetie pie will never get to lay in daddy's arms or feel those sweet daddy cheek kisses. Seems so unfair.

I also read this story online this week - Click here to read it. and it's just more proof about how DANGEROUS texting and driving is. This Texas guy was driving along and texting an old buddy he was about to meet up with when he drove off into a ravine. He survived, yeah, but now his life has totally been turned upside down. 

I've been seeing the tv commercials by AT&T. They are moving. Disturbing even. You're right AT&T - it CAN wait! 

Then I did a little googling and found that the government has a website devoted to this very topic. Distracted drivers. And I see a lot of em. And I've been guilty. Here's the link.

These two stats jumped out at me ... 

~ Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times 


worse than driving while not distracted.


~ Sending or receiving a text takes a driver's


eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 


seconds, the equivalent-at 55 mph-of driving the


length of an entire football field, blind.

Obviously I realize tragic, devastating things happen every day. Kids get cancer. People die unexpectedly. 

Does it make sense? NO! 

But today I sit here comfy and cozy in my living room as it thunders and rains. My cat is behind the couch in her "safe place" and my husband is beside me. We aren't sick and we have the things we need. In fact, we're blessed beyond anything we deserve. 

My heart hurts for those folks who aren't so blessed. The ones who just lost a loved one. The ones who can no longer function normally, lost their jobs or don't know how they're going to pay the bills. 

Let's pray for them and if you can, HELP THEM this week. Look for ways to share God's love.

And if you feel a complaint come on your tongue, bite it and start listing your blessings one by one.   :-P

God's plan for US

Do you ever stop and think about where you are in life? 

Do you ever think how did I get here? By now I thought I'd ..... fill in the blank.... 

Lately it seems like everywhere I turn, there's stuff popping up about God's plan for us. I see things on Pinterest, Twitter, Christian blogs, and today I heard it at church... 

This morning we went to a church we've visited once before. It's a large church with multiple services and a few satellite campuses. The pastor is such an amazing speaker and so down to earth. He seems like a guy you could hang out with and talk football with as easily as you could talk Bible with.

Today's message came from the scripture in Jeremiah 18 - about the potter molding the clay on the wheel. If you've gone to church much, you're probably thinking yeah, I've heard that story a hundred times. So? 

I won't try to regurgitate the message here, but if you want to hear it, go to this site to listen for yourself. 

The thing that hit me like a two by four 'tween the eyes was this - does the clay tell the potter what to make it into? If the potter is molding the lump of clay into a beautiful bowl, does the clay have the right to say no, potter, make me a tea pot? That sounds pretty silly doesn't it? 

Well God is our potter, and we are his clay. Yet WE try to tell God what WE think we should be. 

Uh oh, I see a problem.

Clay is supposed to be flexible and soft. But we are often so hard and immovable at times, aren't we? 

We need to stop and listen for God to lead us toward what HE has for us. Because HIS plan for us is better than what we have for ourselves. 

Sometimes we try to be the potter, the ship's captain and if we would just leave it in God's more than capable hands, we'd have less heartache and disappointment. And more of God's grace and blessings.

But we're human and thankfully God is patient with us. Like the potter in Jeremiah, when we get crooked and terrible (marred clay) God will simply pick us up and start shaping us again. He's always there... to make us beautiful again.



Sometimes when it seems like everything's falling apart, that's when God's putting the pieces together the way HE wants it.. 

There's a great Christian author/speaker someone put me onto a while back, Lysa TerKeurst. She always has great stuff on her website, and this particular entry fits with what I'm talking about - -  
Read this Christian blog
You may not know the WHY now, but you just have to trust that God has a plan and if you're seeking Him like you should be He's definitely going to take care of you. 

Chin up! 
  ~ stop comparing yourself to others
  ~ stop holding yourself to a standard that's so high it's unrealistic
  ~ start loving yourself as much as God loves you
  ~ and never let a day go by without being thankful! Even though you think things didn't work out as you planned, remember God has a higher purpose for you.