For Jen !!

"Samuel then took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer (which means "the stone of help"), for he said, 'Up to this point the Lord has helped us!'" 1 Samuel 7:12

As the holidays approached this year, I felt especially exhausted and down. I finally wrote out all that happened in 2011 and I understood why! We had a year packed with actvity; challenges and celebrations.

It is easy for me to get focused on the challenges in my life. It may be more accurate to say that I even panic at times. In the Old Testament, God often had His people hit the pause button on life, stop and REMEMBER. They would stand before the next challenge, often something that they knew might wipe them out, and remember how God had been faithful to them in the past. Remembering gave them faith and hope for what they were facing. They remembered who their God was and how He had provided for them before.

I keep a little stone on my desk. It's my "Ebenezer stone". It reminds me that up to this day, God has been faithful to me. I have absolutely no right to panic and carry on as if God didn't have me in the palm of His hand and will continue to be faithful to me, just has He has in the past!

2012 looks it could hold many challenges; things that without God's help could overwhelm us! But I'm pausing and remembering all that He has done for us in the past and celebrating that "up to this point the Lord has helped us".

I pray that you too will be aware of His faithfulness to you and will remember all that He has done for you! I pray that remembering will give you peace and hope, regardless of the challenges that come your way!

Happy New Year!

Angela

ps...my friend Jen is now going to remind me every Thursday to update my blog!! Thanks Jen!