Today in church we heard a testimony of a husband sharing his journey of his wife's battle with cancer that was lost at Christmas. To hear a man share how there are days he curls under the blanket and struggles to face the world and continue on. To hear how God carried him and her through these struggles and now he's alone with Jesus. No wife to go home to every night. No wife to laugh with, share his heart, just rest quietly with. She's resting with Jesus.

Watching the news and seeing the calamity in Haiti. My heart is torn and I have shed so many tears for this country. It's easy to keep myself in a bubble because I attach myself emotionally to situations like this. I have a hard time watching images of the destruction and deaths on TV yet it's important to know what's going on in the world so we can pray and know how to pray.

Hearing about this wife who died of cancer and all the destruction in Haiti, life really doesn't seem fair somehow. I sat there in church thinking of my own life and what if God called me home today.... would I be ready? In a moment I know I'd be ready but what pains me most is that all the letters I think of writing to each family member telling them how much I love them and all the memories I treasure most are not written down yet. I have so much dear to my heart that I want to share with everyone before I am called home yet I know that God will take care of that too if I were to die tonight. The letters would mean so much to them but the time I have with them now is the most important. That's what they are going to remember. That leads me to this thought? How am I living and walking each day? Do my faith and works walk together?

There seems to be so much suffering in this world. My family has read a series of devotions on the book of Job and how God allowed Satan to bring suffering to Job. I hear of all the devastation in Haiti and then this husband who's wife has died. I wondered who brings destruction and allows these calamaties. Did Satan once again receive permission from God like he did in the book of Job?

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." ~John 16:33 (NIV)

Jesus tells us that we will experience trouble. There will be earth quakes, death, tsunamis, destruction. Through all this though is how we grow and our strength in Jesus is deepened. God is a God of love and will never do anything to hurt us.... only to help us.

Keep praying for the country of Haiti and for those in the world that are suffering.

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." ~ I Tim 2:1-4

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." ~Col 4:2

On another note: I found a link a good link with some answers in regards to if God sends disasters. I do not know the author but I found it very good. You can read it and ask God to lead you to some answers.

http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/content/does-god-send-killer-hurricanes

Love, the strongest thing...

Christmas... what a mixture of emotional thoughts... It comes each year but we all see and experience it differently. Yet, there is something about the birth of Jesus that moves us. It reaches the very depth of our soul. I think it is because it doesn't stop there. We watch Jesus, grow from a little baby lying in a manger to a young boy hanging out in the Jewish Synagogues. We watch Him work beside His earthly father as a carpenter and we see Him walk along the shores of Galilee calling His disciples to follow Him. We watch Him love and care for the sick and bring the dead back to life again. We look on as He gathers the little children on his lap and blesses each one. And we can only stand and gaze in agony as He takes my sin and yours, and the sins of the world upon Him as He carries His own cross to Golgatha.

It is hard to look at this tiny little baby and see Him nailed to a cross for us. But had he not given his life, there would be no celebration each year. It would just be an ordinary birth on an ordinary day. The sacrifice He made lives in our hearts today and is the reason we hold Christmas so dear to our hearts. It is the reason we give to the poor, we gather together, we are moved to acts of kindness not even thought about throughout the rest of the year. I believe it is the time of year that a lot of people experience the love of God.

But Satan is also aware of the impact it has on our lives. His trick is to have us so busy with all that has to be done, it puts us under great stress. We can be so busy with the preparations of Christmas that we miss what our heart wishes to celebrate. Hurt feelings, anxiety, anger, impatience, even self- centeredness and loneliness can blind us to seeing the glory of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.

We need to slow down, even skid to a stop if we need to and reflect and think on what is important to us. Really, the best gift we can give to anyone is the gift of Christ in our hearts, His love, His compassion, His mercy and His joy.

"Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world... stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death... and that the blessed life which began in Bethlehem nineteen hundred years ago is the image and brightness of the Eternal Love? Then you can keep Christmas." Henry Van Dyke 1896