You might think you know me.

Maybe we are friends or maybe you’ve read enough of my blog to get an idea of who I am.

I have shared where I live and the places I have been.  I have talked about my journey through life lessons learned as a wife and mom, nana, friend, sister, and pastor’s wife.  You have walked with me as I put into words the things I have experienced as I traveled to other parts of the world.

Since the beginning, my primary goal in writing has been to encourage and inspire you.  To build up–and not to tear down by writing about things that are negative.  I have written about hard things, like learning to let go of our children as they become adults and in more recent posts about navigating the mirky waters of CoVid19.

While I take no pride in admitting my struggles, I think you have seen that I have tried to be real.  I want you to see to the other side of the computer screen–and even past the words and thoughts that I’ve written, I want you to know my heart.

Even though sometimes it’s even hard for me to see myself clearly.

Because I want to be an encourager, sometimes I struggle to write.  When life gets hard or messy or just downright discouraging, I find myself avoiding words.  Perhaps it’s the Holy Spirit helping me to avoid saying something that I might regret.  Or maybe not. Maybe it’s because when I can’t write I know something is amiss. My quietness speaks volumes, for it is in the quiet that I meet with God and see that the battle is in my heart.

“I am not content.”

There, I said it.

And I know why.  I hate CoVid.  I am an introvert who happens to hate social-distancing.  I’m tired of masks and quarantining, of politics and negativity.  I’ve turned off the t.v. and I avoid the news, but I can’t escape it when it affects everything around me.

So what do I do?  How do I learn the lesson of contentment in a troubled world?

I repent.

“Whaaaaat?”, you say?

Yep.  My only escape from this is to decide right here and right now to repent of my lack of contentment.  When I made the choice to let God be my authority, I said, in effect, “God I will trust you with my life. The good and the bad. The happy and the sad.”

Christianity is not about a life of ease, but it is about a life of peace.

When I place my trust in the Almighty God who created every part of my existence, I am saying, “God, even when I don’t understand, I WILL TRUST YOU.”  And yes, “Even when I don’t like my circumstances, I will look to you for peace.”

“Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in His holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not set his mind on what is false,
and who has not sworn deceitfully.
 He will receive blessing from the Lord,
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
Such is the generation of those who seek Him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”  Psalm 24:3-6

I don’t know where you are today on this spectrum, but I want to encourage you today to place in all in God’s hands.  He is in control, you know.  He sees what’s going on in your life and in our world.  He is sovereign over it all–and you can trust that He is at work, even if we don’t understand–or see the end result until heaven.

DID YOU KNOW? You can learn to love right where you are when you trust that Jesus is with you.  Don’t let circumstances dictate your peace.

“Then Jesus came near and said to them, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”  Matthew 28:18-20

I have several personal stories I could share about the ways I am seeing God at work in our world today, accomplishing things that might not have come through a life of ease.  Lives are still being changed (I saw a 79 year old man baptized Sunday!), and doors are being opened to the gospel like never before.  Satan wants us to think that he is gaining ground–but we know the One who has already defeated him!  Stand strong in your faith, and press on with courage.

If you know Jesus, then you know that He is faithful and He can and will give you the peace you are looking for.  If you don’t know Him, I beg you to consider looking for the truth about who He is.  Read the book of John.  Look at my FAITH page here: FAITH .  And please, write to me @waterincanblog@yahoo.com if you have any questions.