I wake up in the sixes but it feels like the fives, this spring change still taking its toll. I think about Tokyo, entering into their evening. We fly through there in two short months. And a city that didn’t exist for me becomes matter and molecules and weather and people and real. Real.
I pray for the people there and feel ridiculous. I think about my day to come, my middle of the week writing day, and ask for the Lord to equip me to write this second book, equip me to parent these children, equip me as I prepare to speak to a group of women next weekend about grace and good girls and living in this moment. Equip me, Lord. And he gently says I already have. I cry a little.
I think of my sister-in-law who had her heart broken eleven years ago and who, in three short days, will marry the most beautiful, loving man. Their story is one of redemption. I think of how the ugly and the terrible turns into light and beauty. Hope refuses to drown even under the heaviest kind of broken.
He writes stories, and he works his moment miracles into them. Sometimes he lets us see them, and we marvel and we believe. But what about when he keeps his miracles a secret? When he works them small and quiet? What will we believe then?
We will believe as always, that He is good, and that His ways are not our ways, and we will be so very grateful for that! Thank you for your writing, your offering, your gift that you share……..so good.
asnipofgoodness´s last [type] ..spring wreaths
All of His miracles will be revealed one day.
Thanks for sharing your heart, Emily.
Have a wonderful day. The time change is messing me up, too. Whoever decided it was a great idea to change the time twice a year obvisouly didn’t have small children……
Cat Moore´s last [type] ..Need A Good Laugh
Thank you for writing the words He gives you. He has worked them small and quiet in my heart today.
My reading this morning was from Deuteronomy. It was about God’s promises, and how He we need to trust that what He has promised has already been given. Then, I came downstairs to read my email devotionals, and wouldn’t you know — one was about how we need to trust that we already have what He has promised. My precious sister-in-law’s family lives in Kyoto, and they were rattled by the earthquake, but blessedly untouched (physically, anyway) by the devastation. I know that His promises are as real for those people half a world away as they are for me here, but still I grieve for them. I trust that beauty will rise out of this tragedy, and in many ways, I think it already has. There are so many miracles, big and small, going on there as I write these words, and as much as my heart breaks, I know they are being held. I will keep praying right along with you that He reveals Himself in ways big and small as Japan begins the long healing process. Jeremiah 29:11 just keeps rolling over and over in my mind. Thank you for the gift of your words, Emily, today and always.
Lisa´s last [type] ..Our Song
Great post, Emily! I want to see the pictures you take at Susan’s wedding!
hope does not disappoint. i cling to her even in the dark because i don’t ever want to be in that place again. the place where i let her slip through my fingers because i didn’t care. so glad for your SIL!
kendal´s last [type] ..in the wash
Seeing what was a neighborhood in Japan and instead it now looks like a giant fishing boat cemetary and then seeing the former home owners just standing there looking, trying to convince their minds that this is the current reality, that their are only boats, not their homes. It looked like some surreal dream that seeped into reality. There they are trying to convince themselves and I cry because I can’t believe it either but my brain can barely take it in and I’m here in my home far far away.
Katie´s last [type] ..Flexibiity in my Nesting Mode
i would love to hear more about your sister in law’s story. sounds beautiful.
i didn’t remember or realize ya’ll were headed to tokyo!
prayers continue.
paige´s last [type] ..a few of my favorite things-the march edition
We’re actually going to the Philippines, but we have to fly through Tokyo to get there…And I would love to tell her story in more detail sometime. It is lovely.
Emily´s last [type] ..hope
I would love to hear that story, too…
) Currently pending heart break of my own…I believe absolutely in His promises, but its these stories and testimony that bring it to life; that make the waiting not seem so overwhelming.
Thank you for sharing so much of your heart with us. Such a blessing.
Nikki´s last [type] ..Better than a Hallelujah
I love the line- Equip me Lord, and He says “I already have”. Many times He has put into us what we need to do what He has called us to do, we just don’t believe it or accept it yet. Lord, help me to see that You have equipped me to do as I am called!
Bernice
Living the Balanced Life´s last [type] ..Would starting a business help your work-life balance
I have had some hard conversations with my not-so-little guys lately about the devastation in Japan. We settle on this: trust. Love each other. Let faith spill into action. I’m glad you have the opportunity soon to do this in a big way. I am praying for safety and transformation.
laura´s last [type] ..Tears for Japan
“Equip me, Lord.” “I already have.” Oh, this struck me profoundly.
supermac´s last [type] ..We Are All Japanese
When we can’t/are not able to see what He’s doing…that’s the walking by faith part.
These last two blogs have spoke to me – good words.
My son has gone through tremendous heartbreak in the last 8 months. I know it was God’s plan and He has someone waiting for Jacob. I would love to hear your sister-in-law’s story sometime. Hope for what lies ahead.
Yes, He has equipped you before you even knew you would need the equipping. Love that about Him.
Southern Gal´s last [type] ..This Day
“Hope refuses to drown even under the heaviest kind of broken.” ~ So poignant and thankfully, so true. Good reminder words at this time when we are often at a loss for them. Praying alongside you today…
Kristen-Chasing Blue Skies´s last [type] ..When You Feel Like Comparing
Such a powerful truth! We hope and trust in a God who we KNOW is faithful…even (or maybe especially) when we just can’t see. It amazes me to think that we serve a God [more than] big enough to share His mighty miracles on a large scale, yet personal enough to work just as mightily in the small and quiet.
Emily´s last [type] ..Big Soft Sugar Cookie Cakes
God has been drawing me back to this concept of hope over and over again… i love how you have captured it here Emily
Jenny´s last [type] ..Sweet Shots Yellow
My small miracle on this Wednesday is just having a normal day. It can all turn on a dime. I still can’t wrap my head around the devastation in Japan.
dayle´s last [type] ..On Blogging my two-cents worth
I pray for the people in Tokyo and feel ridiculous, helpless and a little selfish too, my little trials pall in comparison. But I know He works in miracles even when I lack in faith.
Charming’s Mama´s last [type] ..Something Borrowed- Something Blue
The tragedy in Japan certainly makes me rethink my daily life. Yesterday guilt hit me as I shopped for clothes for myself (something I generally don’t do) as I tried on things that made me uncomfortable because of my weigh, I thought of those who are physically uncomfortable because they have no place to sleep. No home. Lost loved ones. And I prayed for those who were left behind to pick up the pieces.
Blessings,
Mel
Please feel free to stop by: Trailing After God
Mel @ Trailing After God´s last [type] ..Encircled In Father Comfort
I needed that reminder. That we’ve already been given all we need for today. He’s not holding out on us. We just have to go to him and get it. Thanks, Emily.
i have felt the same thing when i go to pray for japan. and i don’t think that it means we can’t pray for them, but it feels so difficult to believe God for a miracle there…i mean, what can that even look like right now for them? but then, yes, i see how gracefully he comes to us, in the big and in the small, and i know that somehow, He can.
melissa´s last [type] ..A Spring Fling at Maxie Bs
Hope! It’s what’s been on my mind today – I had to write a little about it.
Joylynn´s last [type] ..Pause for some reflection
These are great words today. My heart is with yours. I especially relate to ‘He writes stories…..sometimes he lets us see them…”
Robyn Q´s last [type] ..All the Woman Followed Her
We will believe that His promises are, and always will be true. And we will look back on our lives and realize that He has always been there and will carry us through anything just as He always has. Thanks for the prompting to remember my own redemption and the truly undeserved grace that washed over it all.
Hayley´s last [type] ..Lovin on our Military
I *needed* this today. Hope. At times it seems so distant. Like the mast of a ship barely breaking the horizon.
This spoke volumes to me:
“He writes stories, and he works his moment miracles into them. Sometimes he lets us see them, and we marvel and we believe. But what about when he keeps his miracles a secret? When he works them small and quiet? What will we believe then?”
I think I’m needing to believe in His moment miracles more than ever, even though I’m falling into the not being able to see them.
Prudence´s last [type] ..Elements of Grace- Prayer for The Workers
Emily – you are writing with such depth and passion in recent weeks. Thank you so much for sharing the deep places of your heart. I think that when we are brave enough to do that, the blessings are multiplied. Thank you. You have ministered to me.
Linda´s last [type] ..Words
When he keeps his miracles a secret, I remind myself (over and over) that he works all things together for good. That’s not always easy to remember.
Kristy K´s last [type] ..Permission to Rest
Hopefully, we will continue to believe in Him and trust that He knows the things we don’t. I am learning that it is all about trust.
Pattyann´s last [type] ..Women – Leading By Example
In my current situation and need for hope God has spoken this…
Romans 5:2b-5
…we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I love every word of this post. We have a Redeemer. My heart needs to remember the ways He has made Good from bad in the past, and know He is doing that today. In my life. In Japan. Even when we can’t see.
Thanks Emily.
dawn´s last [type] ..pickles new music video
beautifully written and connects with my heart on so many levels….i’m sitting in the small and quiet and learning to trust and just believe that even if all seems lost and all looks like He’s not going to follow through that He is…He is already and when that redemption comes it will be a sweet sweet song. though it’s hard to sit in the uncomfortable.
Katy´s last [type] ..5 minute Friday- i feel most loved when…
“A city that didn’t exist for me becomes matter and molecules…”
I really appreciate this.
I felt like I was struggling with that over the weekend.
It was all just so huge, so bad, so awful…almost didn’t seem real.
I read a comment under a youtube video of the Tsunami that really hit me.
A person wrote: “looks like a great blockbuster hit”
I felt sick.
And wrote the post below in response.
I love your post because it takes in account the “weep with those who weep” part.
When our daughter died, a few people were quick to push us to the “see the good in this” place.
We did get there…but when God brought us there…in His timing.
I want to remember that you can still weep and share in the pain, without that being a doubting of who God is.
Because as you wrote–we can’t see around the next corner–or as I like to remember…
This is not the end of the story.
In the middle, when you can barely lift your hand to “turn the page”…that’s where He meets you and supplies a faith that can only come from Him.
Kara´s last [type] ..And her name was Kazuko
Oh how this is such a broken world. It was designed in perfection – and not just we experience the Fall, but all of creation as well. It is imperfect now – glorious one moment, disastrous the next.
It’s as you write Emily. There is heartbreak turned to joy – but it remains heartbreak until it transforms and we are transformed through it. And Our Lord always does remake us through it – if we let Him. Whether we see it – or not.
Your words today, true, and full of grace – thank you for them.
God Bless and Keep you and all of yours.
Craig´s last [type] ..Love Tweets with God Love prays pt3
“I already have”
I needed to hear that today. Thank you Emily.
Melissa Brotherton´s last [type] ..routine
mmm. mmm. good.
I will trust Him. Because I believe.
Tracey´s last [type] ..The Cost of Clutter
The big incredible recognizable miracles are only a drop in His bucket of miracles that happen every day. I keep opening my eyes wider and wider and I see more and more every time. Most are so easily missed! Beautiful thoughts and words today, Emily.
Heidi M´s last [type] ..Counting Gifts
Hope, I am definitely being challenged by the word this year. It is the word God breathed into my heart and now I am finding Him asking, “Will you trust me?” So many life changes and unknowns right now from my job, to my home (it’s owned by my work and there is talk of selling the houses), to wanting to do what my heart is telling me to do. Thank you for your words today Emily.
Nicole´s last [type] ..Sunny Days
Hope refuses to drown, even under the heaviest kind of broken. Thank God for this. I have been tossed a little this week. I have felt the storm, but the hope is still in my chest and I will be okay. Thanks for the reminder.
David Willis´s last [type] ..Its a Saturday morning tradition…
I can’t even imagine 30 to 40 million people living in one region or city like Tokyo..Australia only has half that number of people in the whole country! I have to trust that God has everything in hand…He knows the times and seasons..He alone has the capacity to care for so many souls and more. I know in myheart that it is not hopeless…that He will hear and consider the people when they cry out to Him…and heal them and their land.
Naturally Carol´s last [type] ..My Small Creative Sewing Space!
“Equip me, Lord. And he gently says I already have.”
How many things do we pray for only to later realize that God has already blessed us with?
There is always hope…even when the bottom seems to have fallen out. We are all walking examples of hope…in our own personal stories, heart ache, lives changed…it all happens b/c of hope. My marriage is only alive today b/c of hope. Not hope in a better marriage, or him to love me more, or hope that he will change…..but hope in the Savior that redeems us. A Savior that brings us grace, mercy, and love. It is only through that Savior, and the promise, and the love He brings, and the grace, and his redemption, and his atoning cleansing love, that my marriage is alive. He has brought hope to my marriage. We all have a story of a broken heart, and the redemption that comes after. If we haven’t made it to the redemption part yet….there is hope (and a promise) that we will.