Finally Friday - Hope

It seems to me the buzz around the blog world is that many are taking a break or just so busy with summer right now. I have seen a few of my favorite bloggers are taking a little hiatus from their sites and I even started out that way myself this week.

The week started out on a sour note to say the least. While I have said before I hate to be a downer on the blog, the truth is...bad stuff happens in this world of ours.

The story of a young mother's murder in my area has hit our town hard. The rumors are flying and the pain for her 2 young daughters is felt by every one of us. It is a very unsettling and sickening feeling when something like this happens at all much less right down the road from you. A beautiful young life has been snuffed out at the hands of another human being and her family and friends are reeling from the pain. It is absolutely tragic. My prayer has been for God to just hold this family close and be with her little girls every step of the way. Their journey is going to be hard. If you want to follow this on a more personal note here is a link to a blog that her friends have set up for her.

The week has otherwise been filled with going to the pool, back to school shopping and sick kids unfortunately. Fevers, sore throats and throwing up. Always fun. The upside is that while the kids are happy to just watch movies and hang out, I have been able to catch up on some much needed housework.

I have been doing a great bible study this summer. Beth Moore's Psalm of Ascents. I have struggled with insecurities most of my life. (yeah, who doesn't, right?) This study is an excellent reminder of how we just have to find our security in God. That he will protect us. That he surrounds us with love and a hedge of protection. He is our mountain. He is our peace. Only he cannot be shaken.

This life can be so overwhelming.

Sometimes, I am bursting with the joy of it. The beach, the kids accomplishments, my funny and hard working hubby, my sweet mom. The garden in my backyard and the hummingbirds flitting around. Beauty absolutely surrounds me every single day and I feel blessed beyond my imagination.

And sometimes, the chaos of running a household, dealing with sick kids and taking care of my responsibilities can just wear me down to where it is hard to see a blessing if it hit me in the face.

Other times the pain I witness around me is almost unbearable and definitely overwhelming for those experiencing it. A depressed friend, a friend who has lost a child or a young mother here one day and gone the next. It is just too much.

It's like I am a wave tossed in the ocean. A seed blowing in the wind. A fickle child just riding the waves of her emotions and circumstances.

So, if I look to this crazy and overwhelming world for my security - I will be lost and I will surely be disappointed. Because there is none in this world. Security can only be found in the One who created it.

Psalm 125:1-5 The Message
Those who trust in God are like Zion Mountain:
Nothing can move it, a rock-solid mountain
you can always depend on.
Mountains encircle Jerusalem,
and God encircles his people—
always has and always will.