And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Mark 13:13 KJV

Hello brothers and sisters! I am so very glad the Lord has kept you another night and day. I am so very glad that you chose to spend time with me and my random thoughts. This blog is a lot like my life – I really wish I had not written some of that… Now as I look back over the posts I wonder if I should just get rid of the page all together. It would be easy to just go in and delete all the past posts and start fresh. All I would have to do is push the big button that asks if I would like to delete it all. There is even an option to keep the page but to rid myself of all the old posts that I have placed here for the world to read.

This made me think of the way this kinda mimics life. How often do we wish we could just go back and start over? How often do we wish our life had a big reset button to push and all the past would just disappear? For some simply resetting feels like it is not enough. Some feel like maybe if the whole page was gone it would be better. I promise you this is not the case.

Every letter in the story of your life is important. Every misspelled word, every rant, every unplanned digress, and every dot and tittle in the story of your life is important. Lets just say that the letter “R” in your story really irritates you… “R” stands for whatever past memory you have. Now I want you to write a sentence without using that letter. Try writing about something you wish you could change. I would use an example but we all get the idea. The sentence would not read the same way and if you did not have all the letters you would not understand the story. Even the ones you don’t care for or wish were not there at all are needed. The more letters we take out for whatever reason, the less and less the story makes sense. Like I have said in past posts, not all the things in life are pretty and even less of them are perfect. However there is a beauty in being perfectly imperfect until the day the Lord comes to get us. We are to press towards perfection, not that we will be perfect here.

I guess my point is this – Do not give up on yourself – God certainly has not!

We are given a new body and a new name. All the former things will be passed away and we will forever be with the Lord. In a place with no sorrow and no pain. Where there are no tears to be shed or sickness to be had. The world will be as it always should have been and we will once again dwell in the presence of the Lord. Just as Adam and Eve must have… How wonderful it must have been to walk beside the Father in the cool of the day! Every evening the Father would “come home” and visit with His children! I cannot wait to experience this!

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans 15:13 KJV

Yes life is hard.

No, you might not ever be able to trust anyone in life.

BUT

God is one touch cookie! He can handle all the ups and downs in your life.

Trust that the Lord has your back. He will not allow anyone in your life that does not belong there.

Everyday we will have troubles and that is okay. God said His greatness is made manifest in our weakness. I know some of what makes me weak in mind, body and spirit. I have watched the Lord stand strong in me when I knew I would fall if not for Him. We all know the areas we struggle and fight in life and God says give it to Him and allow Him to deal with it. Just do not give up on yourself! Hang on everyday. I know you feel alone and it is dark but I promise you God has your back… if He did not, you would not have woken up this morning!

For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
2 Corinthians 12:8‭-‬10 KJV

Rest in His mercy and grace family!

Until the next time I write, I found a recipe my whole family will eat AND it is full of veggies and goodness! It is super simple to make and takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and that makes it a winner in this house. Fresh ingredients and goodness from the Lord! Stay peculiar family!

A Recipe to share!

Ratatouille Penne Pasta

• 1 med eggplant
• 2 med yellow crook neck squash
• 2 med onions
• 2 red bell peppers
• Cherry tomatoes – a good amount
• Steak Seasoning – about a 1/4 cup
• Olive oil – enough to coat veggies well.
• 1 lb Favorite noodles

Mix the first seven ingredients and broil 7 inches away from heat. Cook for twenty or so minutes or until nice and browned – you may want to take it out of the oven half way through broiling and give it a quick toss. Once done, place all into a large bowl.

While that cooks…

Bring water to a boil, add noodles and cook until desired tenderness, drain and add to the veggies. Toss together, serve with your favorite bread!