Mother of Seven + 2

 When I was in Bible college I was told that when God called you to ministry he would provide.  Specifically one of the things he would provide was the family we might have to leave behind.  There would be someone that would be that Mom or Grandma that we needed wherever God called us to serve.  Family has always been the hardest for me to be away from in our years of ministry.  The funny part is God didn't call us too far away, but he did take my parents to China for several years.  God helped fill the gap with the most beautiful and special lady, LaVada Smoot. We moved to Fredonia in 1997.  LaVada was the first to show up on our doorstep with her famous potato soup whenever one of us was a bit under the weather.  I soon found she was a good source of advice for anything from potty training to cooking.   She taught me how to make bread in the bread machine and how to make sand plum jelly.  I found excuses to call or go visit her, a...

I was glancing back through my journal that I am about to close and stash away with many others when I found these words that I wrote in June of 2019.  I vividly remember penning these words through tears as I tried to come to terms with my husband's plans to change ministries.  This was a very personal and lonely struggle for me.  I share now only to say there are hard changes in life sometimes, but they become opportunities for growth.  I needed to struggle in the shadow of the cross.  There were things in my life that needed fully submitted to Him.   I learned that it is in complete surrender that peace is found .  It is hard to describe that peace and why it is there.  Perhaps that is why we find these words penned by the apostle Paul in Philippians 4: 6-7, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all und...