God is just plain cool!

Ok...so once again I'm up and can't sleep. Last night it was because of sadness and pressure to get some things done. Tonight it's because I'm just so full of joy! Yes, it is absolutely possible to have joy while walking through the valley :):)

A couple of weeks ago at BSF my "ASK" (prayer request) was for wisdom in making decisions regarding my mom's hospice care. It was at the time when we were trying to decide if she needed to go to a facility or not. I didn't think anything of it...just hoped that people would actually pray for me. Well, once again God went way above my expectations :) After lecture a girl approached me. I could see she seemed a little out of her element and she said something about my ASK and asked me about what was going on with my mom. I thought that was so kind of her to be concerned. We probably didn't talk more than 5 minutes, but within those minutes I kind of realized God had given me an earthly source of wisdom and advice for the road I was on, but I didn't totally feel it yet. She had lost her mom when she was 32, she had a 3 year old child, she was the caretaker...the list goes on and on. I'm not sure that I thought about really taking her up on her offer to talk. I'm sure I reasoned in my head, "she's just saying that because that's what people say". Maybe I just thought I'd talk to her about it at BSF. However, I did make an effort to keep her contact information in a safe place just in case.

Last week when I walked into discussion group I was so frazzled I didn't even realize I had sat down next to her!! I felt like a total idiot for not remembering exactly where I had met her before. I apologized and we chatted again for a few minutes. Gave her the update and then started to think more and more about taking her up on her offer to get together. After the news of my mom's decline and finding out that her organs had begun failing Danny encouraged me to call this girl. Thinking back, if I had mentioned her to Danny it must have made some kind of impact :)

Well tonight we spent 3.5 hours together talking and laughing. It was fantastic. I didn't leave with any magical answers, but I was able to talk through some things and come to a decision on certain issues. We talked about lots more than just our mothers (who by the way I think would get along just as much as Cami and I do) We seem to like all of the same stuff and it really seems as if these situations we've been through have been so much the same. Her mom didn't die of cancer-she died of ALS but all the other details seemed to just be identical. She encouraged me so much and I was really able to share some things with her about how I'm feeling that I just don't think any of my other friends could really understand. I am so unbelievably grateful for the wonderful sisters God has placed in my life and the wisdom they impart on me, but sometimes you just gotta talk to someone who really truly knows what you are going through. I was able to say things I've been feeling that would have sounded just ridiculous to anyone else. It was freeing in a way I guess.

In other areas of my life I've been able to see how God has used the bad for good and Cami is an example of how I know He will do that for me again with this situation...if I'm obedient like she was. Losing your mother just plain sucks (for lack of a better term), but God is already doing something so big with it and I'm excited to find out what the rest is going to be :)

We talked a lot tonight about God's love and mercy. We talked about how He has emotions too and that he spoke to me Saturday and told me that He is sad right along with me. The Bible tells us that he collects our tears in a bottle. That right there tells you that He cares deeply about our sorrows. I love getting to give my tesitmony (or at least part of it) to someone new and tell them all of the amazing things God has done in my life. We both seem to have very energetic personalities so there was a lot of excitement at this table in Wendy's :)

I'm just so thankful and overwhelmed by a Father who loves us so much that He so meticulously arranges events in our lives so they refine us, but they can also impact and encourage others. He really is just the coolest!