Sufficient

Little Love,

Sometimes life just doesn't feel good. Today developed into that kind of day. Conflicts with one of your siblings just put me in a funk this afternoon, and I couldn't quite get out of it. I was emotional and teary the rest of the day. Yuck. Your Dad and I talked tonight, and I just shared with him that I think a lot hit me today that I hadn't dealt with yet. Everything just felt...bad. Not quite right. I prayed a lot today, Kate, and tried to take these thoughts captive. Thoughts that threaten to pull me down into a dark pit. Thoughts about the future that I have no. control. over. Thoughts about all that I need to do to raise five amazing, beautiful children. So, tonight after dinner I spontaneously grabbed your two older brothers who are 3 and 5 and took them blackberry picking down the road. At first they weren't too excited as they picked around the thorns and tried to find ripe berries down low. They were gingerly stepping, cautiously and carefully picking and doing a great job trying to find ripe berries at the bottom. Unfortunately for them the big juicy berries are very often at the top. It's where the warm sunshine ripens them into full blackberryness more quickly! They're the ones hardest to reach sometimes. The effort is always worth it, though. The goodness is there for the taking, but sometimes we get scratched by thorns in the process. Today was a thorny day. But there's always beauty in life, and I so enjoyed watching your brothers carefully pick two buckets of berries, growing more excited as the buckets got more full. Matthew kept telling me as we were just about finished that he was having so much fun and that I was the best mom ever because we do fun things. I thought, "Really? Because I feel anything but fun on most days." That measure of grace and love from him brought life to my sad soul. God is there, Kate, in every moment. He's there in the sadness. He's there in the thorns. He speaks through a five year old by giving love and grace. My weaknesses allow God's power to rest on me. Lord, let me glorify you, even when I feel broken! Let me boast in my weaknesses, not because they bring me pity or attention but because your grace is enough. It's sufficient. Sufficient. Father, let your power rest on me! Let my life show that God's grace is enough for this moment, and the next, and every moment after this.

We came home and made blackberry smoothies with a Vita-Mix full of blackberries mixed with coconut milk and ice. Sweet. Rich in color. Good. So is life. You don't appreciate the sweet without getting scratched by thorns, sweet girl. Mommy is still processing some hard things. I guess we all are in some way. Friends go through dark days. Relatives get diagnosed with hard things. Sometimes life is just difficult. Lord, let me savor all the sweetness you have given us. Let me take dark thoughts captive and focus on the beautiful tapestry you are making of our lives. Kate, your life is a beautiful piece of the work the Lord is doing in us. He is walking through some dark moments with us to bring us closer to him; closer to the sweetness and treasure that is HIM. Let me not miss it, Lord. Let your grace in this moment be sufficient for me.


But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

"...and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."
2 Corinthians 10:5