God Says... His Grace is Sufficient

By Dusty (Reflections on the Life of a Christian)

Have you ever been at the point of saying "I can’t go on?"

I have. What follows is my testimony…

Suicidal

I have been to that place where darkness surrounds and despair overwhelms. I have lived and breathed it.

I have tied the knot in a hangman’s noose and climbed on to a chair. I have secured the far end of the rope to the steel pipes lining the roof of a maintenance tunnel under my college dormitory. I have placed the noose around my neck. I have committed to kicking the chair out from under me… and so end my misery.

It was a place and time when I had lost all hope for a successful future. It was a time when I felt abandoned and abused by all I had held dear.

It was a time when there seemed to be no other way out…

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Fingerprint Friday: Good Days

By Ginny (MAD21)

Family. Friends. Perfect weather. Perfect water. Boat rides. Birthdays. A ton of fun and lots of laughter. Good days. Definitely one of God's fingerprints.

Fellow blogger Beki at The Rusted Chain has a really great weekly post she does every Friday called "Fingerprint Friday." We are to look around and see where we can see God's fingerprints. Is it in nature? Kids? Animals? Anywhere? Go find out where Beki saw God this week, and be sure to check out the other bloggers who linked their stories as well.

Back From Honduras

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

I wanted to provide a follow up to my previous article now that I have returned from Honduras and decompressed. It has been just about a month and truly I am blessed. The trip was everything I imagined and more. Incredibly the itinerary was exactly how I had prayed for it to be. If you followed my blog or wish to view my overall reflections they are there. I did however want to bring some closure to my trip here on this site:

1. Honduras will always have a special place in my heart. The people I have met and become friends with are like family. Gaby, a translator from our 2009 trip, took her own time to meet us at the airport and make sure we got to the hotel OK. We were able to have a birthday dinner with her later in the week and enjoy her company. Our host Scarlett and her daughter Goldie (another translator from our prior trip) went above and beyond their duties. They were our translators and transportation. However on the one free day we had they took us sightseeing and shopping. They also took the time to take us to the Compassion country office in Tegucigalpa which was unplanned.

2. Satan did try to ruin the trip at the beginning. Three of our four suitcases were delayed in Miami. Our daughters suitcase made it but the ones with our clothes and the one with the gifts for the families we would visit spent an extra night. It was just a nuisance but we overcame.

3. Linda is an amazing young woman. She has grown up so much and every time we go to Honduras she gets more beautiful. She is doing great in school, helps out at the project and is part of the worship team. She is learning to play the guitar. Her party was small but awesome. We played a special part in the ceremony and I am sure it was everything she wanted. One of the cool things is (she knows I love Disney) that she used the Disney font on her invitations. It is small things like that that endears us to her. Her home is better than I could have hoped. It is safe and structurally sound. She is my princess.

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God Says... "I will supply all your needs."

By Kely Braswell (Dangerous Breeze)

You say… "I can’t manage."

God says… "I will supply all your needs."

Well, excuse me if I – just for a minute – work out my salvation with fear and trembling. And a little kicking against the goads. A small rant, and a vent on the side.

Just gonna go a little “David complaining in the Psalms” on y’all for a minute.

God, it DON’T ALWAYS FEEL like you’re providin’!

We’re a family of 8, and we’re always right on the edge of, “Uh-uh, these bills aren’t gonna get paid this month!”

“How are we ever gonna finish paying these medical bills off?”

“God, we need tires! And the van leaks oil like we struck a gusher! We need a new dishwasher! There are ants all over our kitchen!

“The upstairs faucet leaks! How will we ever paint our house? It needs it, Ya know! And what about our old, grimy carpet?”

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Growing Where You're Planted

By Pat

My house backs to the woods, which I have always enjoyed. It gives us more privacy, plentiful birds, and more opportunity to view God's majesty in the changing of each season through the beautiful leaves. And as a gardener, it's very convenient for tossing away things I have pulled out of my flower beds.

I happened to notice recently as I looked over my fence that a patch of daylilies I had thrown out had taken root and were growing beautifully, right where they landed. I couldn't remember for the life of me how long ago I had thrown them there, but there they were, strong and lovely, and looking as though they had been planted there on purpose.

I was so amused! I am very particular about the dirt in my flower beds. I buy special soils with certain nutrients to aid the growth and ensure the health of the flowers I plant. I add peat moss. I water, weed and worry over them all summer. And yet, there was that daylily plant, looking just as healthy as could be in the untreated dirt of the woods.

I often wait to do something the Lord would want me to, thinking that the timing is off, conditions aren't perfect, knowledge is lacking. I want the soil I am planted in to be just right. But those are lame excuses when I am asking God to help me to grow. I can grow in any condition, any circumstance, any time, no matter what I am planted in. God doesn't wait for perfection; He creates it. All we need to do is allow Him to nurture us, and He provides everything we need to grow, bloom and thrive for His kingdom. All we need is the honest desire to follow the Lord, and the rest is up to Him.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3)

Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.