You can't eat Suckers for Breakfast..

We have been going through the book of Ecclesiastes in my Small group and man its been so good. So many things that God does daily that reminds us he is present..and he is with us.. But I think the hardest thing to Understand about God is the WHY of it all.. I have friends who are non-believers that are always asking the age old question.. "Why does your GOD let bad things happen to GOOD people?".. Or "How could there be a GOD in a world that lets children die, family members die from disease?".. I think the answer to that is we don't know. We don't know what God Knows.. We don't see the Big Picture.. We don't know the end result..

I think the first thing we have to realize is that we walk with God By Faith. Faith that he has a plan for us.. Faith that he knows the ultimate outcome... Faith that he will take care of us.. Faith that he can take bad things and turn them into good.. But we also need to understand that God Doesn't promise "Good" all the time. Your Faith, and your Spirit is formed through trials in your life. Trials that aren't pleasant..they are hard.. Trials that break your heart.. and Trials that teach you lessons.

When I get frustrated with my 3 year old girls.. because they bark orders at me.. or they keep doing the SAME thing over after I have told them not too.. Or when they put HOT food in their mouth after I just TOLD THEM IT WAS HOT.. I think.. Geez.. What does it take for you to learn that lesson? And that makes me wonder how many times God Looks at us.. and says "GEEZ.. what does it take for you to learn to have patience? What does it take for you to learn Humility? What does it take for you to learn Selflessness?".. Again and again.. we screw it up.. daily.. Just like a Toddler.. And Just like the way I keep loving my girls over and over day after day when they screw it up.. My God loves me over and over.. Even when I'm screwing it up. The beauty is.. we are both leaning lessons. Crosslee is learning not to run as fast as she can on the sidewalk, because she will fall and scrape her knee... and I'm learning Patience to teach her right from wrong. I don't let my Child run like a crazy person and fall because I'm a MEAN Mommy.. I let her do it because its a lesson. God doesn't let trials happen in my life because he's a MEAN GOD.. He does it because its a lesson.. A way to grow in my faith.. A way to learn to trust him more.. To have Faith... And Just like Cross, when she falls, she runs into my arms, I hug her, I pat her, I reassure her, and I put a bandaid on her scrape.. Just like God Does for me. The Key is to always keep running back to him.

I am the first to admit that I have an amazing life. I have not had to live with a family member passing suddenly, or a tragedy that shook me to my core. When my Grandma Leona Died at 81 that was one of the hardest times for me. She had Pancreatic Cancer and they gave her 3-6 months to live. She died 6 months later.. But when I think back on that I still see God's hand at work.. She had 6 months to prepare everything.. I had 6 months to show her and tell her how much I loved her before she left us.. We had that time. God gave us that time.

When I lost my radio job, that was by far one of the hardest things I'd ever gone through. I know I'm good at being on the radio. I woke up every day knowing that. I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing EXACTLY what I was born to do. Then without a thought, 1 man could choose to take that away from me with a single business decision. I had to re-learn what I was good at.. Redefine my goals for life. Re-FIND myself. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing.. But when I look back (They say you see your faith best in the rear-view Mirror) I see God's hand at work in that situation too.. A listener getting me a job at Chesapeake.. Me Excelling at that job.. Meeting Aubrey McClendon.. Being in IT so my husband and I could talk about something in common, lol.. Having Great bosses that allowed me to Take it easy when I was pregnant with Twins.. Having Great bosses and companies that provided awesome maternity leave and insurance.. Becoming a Mom, and working for companies that celebrated that.. All God's hand.

 We may not see miracles everyday like burning bushes, or walking on water, but when I look back I can always see amazing details in the way God is working in my life. And as I'm raising these girls.. I have to remember, that they are NOT going to have all the answers at age 3. They don't know how to speak properly (They sound more like Dictators at this stage) They don't know why they need to eat green vegetables..Why you should wear coats when its 15 outside.. Why morning doesn't start at 2am.. They don't know why Suckers aren't an option for Breakfast. The things that took us years to understand, we expect them to get immediately.. and that is when I learn that we must be patient and mold them.. and form them.. and shape them.. through trials..and time-outs, and crying fits..and judgement stares.. and jerky comments from other people.. into the people we want them to become.. Just like God does to us.. each and every day..