I find myself once again filled with words and emotions …
and am praying they all end up neatly articulated here in this post.
First off … since I’m not a super big fan of a post without images … I thought these would be fitting for today’s post. My driveway is lined with all kinds of still dead trees, a few starting to bud … but most are just brown, dead and dreary looking.
But beneath all that brown, are these beautiful, vibrant and very much alive daffodils.
As I’ve passed through my driveway the last few days, the image reminds me of God’s faithfulness … in that beneath the dead and dreary, lies something beautiful and vibrant.
I suppose this post could end there, but lucky for you … I’ve got a few more thoughts in store for you today! ;)
So here’s the thing … God does have something special in store for each of us. But I believe that sometimes, in order to see the blessing … to see what’s hidden beneath all that brown and dreary … He desires us to be still. To listen. And then to be obedient to His calling.
I experienced an incredible display of this obedience this weekend and I need to share it with all of you.
You may know I came back from a 3 week hibernation vacation last Friday. I’m telling you … when I’m laying on a beach gone … my body is in heaven! For any of you new to my story here … I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis last July, and to be blunt … it’s wreaked havoc on my body ever since.
So anyway … when I’m off on fantasy island, even though I have a few symptoms here and there … for the most part, I’ve not felt better in a long time! But the minute we get back home … things somehow take a turn for the worse. I’m still figuring all that out and what I can do about it to prepare or ease back into things, etc … but regardless … I wanted to share that because it relates to my point.
One of my symptoms is this stabbing pain on the top of my left foot. It comes and goes. But Sunday morning, it was in full force … as well as an extremely numb face.
So … I go to Sunday School, and my {step} nephew is in the class with me. Our church offers a gazillion different Sunday School classes to choose from, so it was a pleasant surprise to see him in my class. At one point in the class, we talked briefly on different fears you might have and why and how to overcome them, or at least be aware of them.
Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
Proverbs 29:25
After class, Chris wants to tell me something, but I can tell he’s nervous. And I recognize that feeling. I recognize that subtle tremor in the lip. The quiver in the voice.
But he pushes through that … and tells me in light of the topic of fear, he’s just going to go for broke and then he begins to tell me how the Holy Spirit spoke to him. That he was being told to gather 2 or more and pray for me. It was time to kick this MS’s behind! Of course I was all over that! So we walked to the sanctuary and found my mom, dad, and Taylor … we went into a corner of sanctuary, before the service started, and Chris prayed over me. It was beautiful. I have tears in my eyes remembering.
And oh how I dream of the day my husband will pray over me! Be obedient to the whisper of the Holy Spirit and act on it.
To be a man, or woman, or child of God … to be in tune with and therefore obedient, to what God wants from us … these are the gifts I want for all of us. This is what I wish to unwrap everyday for you.
The Lord has blessings in store for you. I promise you He does. But He also wants to be in relationship with us so that he can bless us. And oh, how much sweeter is that gift … knowing it was given to you out of obedience.
I’m so proud of Chris. Tears again. It’s not easy being obedient. It’s hard. Embarrassing maybe … putting yourself out there. Sometimes by a leap of faith …
Oh, but the blessing … the beautiful, vibrant, and very much alive … blessing. that is in store for you.
This post is linked up with Emily at Chatting at the Sky
Tracie this post is beautiful and I love the daffodils. I am praying for you today to my friend. We worship an amazing God and He can do big things!
love your texture on these shots! i’ve been so sad to already see my daffodils go.
love even more your post. true that he has that blessing, but the best part is that He is the blessing. oh, so thankful that He loves us so!
You just made me cry picturing that child dutifully putting aside his fears and obeying God!! How powerful. If only us adults were as faithful. Why is it hard to push thru fear and embarrassment? I truly hope you feel better.
this makes me so happy. not the part about your pain, or your MS–i hate that part (and I have visited several times before and didn’t clue in…) but the part where your nephew hears God, and follows in obedience. How old is he?
I am a children’s ministry director at my church and stories of kids’ faith just make my day. And as a CM director–let me thank you for teaching sunday school and giving to the kids. You are making an eternal investment!
Oh, and I love, love, love your blog layout. I have a blue bird on mine too… :0)
Wow, what an incredible experience…for all of you. Sometimes it is so hard to be still and listen, but when you do, amazing things happen!
You know . . . I was thinking the same thing about the daffodils as I passed them on Saturday. I was going to ask you about them! So beautiful, and full of promise!
I think it is awesome that Chris wanted to pray over you like that . . . it would have been so easy to let fear envelope him, and not follow thru on the Holy Spirit’s nudging. Bravo for him for listening and being open! I pray every day that cj will be similarly receptive, and his “crunch outer shell” will someday be shed!!
And because of Chris’s obedience to God and praying over you, God has moved your ms appointment with a new doctor up a month earlier. Healing is on the way!!!
The flowers tell a story of their own,how strong and tall they stand with those beautiful, vibrant yellows just demanding our attention…as does He without saying a word…you hear but do you listen…I am trying so very hard…thanks for sharing the story. I decided this Sunday to cut those very same daffodils and place them in a vase where I can see them and be reminded to be still.
It is so nice to meet you! Lovin your photography and lovin your heart. My sister lost her hearing in one ear very suddenly one day a year ago. Her pastor and elders prayed over her the following week and she says it was one of the sweetest moments in her life…thanks for sharing your story.
as i click on you “tell me what you’re thinking” i’m not sure i can… i just feel it all in my hert. the tears and the thanksgiving and the sweetness. and i love the daffodils. thanks for sharing this with me, because i think i really need to hear it… and feel the beauty and the stillness…
Wow ~ great message Tracie. You even had me crying ~ how touching it must have been when Chris told you he wanted to pray for you. I am so happy to hear you feel better when you are relaxing but sad to hear it came back! We all just pray and wish that it would go away for ever.
That sweet Chris sure sounds like one amazing young man… he could teach us all something extraordinary about the power of GOD’s love.
love this tracie! i can relate in so many ways and i absolutely love your photograph. thanks for the inspiration!
My favorite flower!