Isaiah 51:11

Those the Lord has rescued will return.
    They will enter Zion with singing;
    everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
    and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

Isaiah 51:11

Grief gushed in
Like heavy drops of rain
The lighting flashed
The thunder boomed
Frightening the entire way

Rest rolled in
Like sheltered drops of rain
The lighting flashed
The thunder boomed
Protecting the entire way

Joy trickled in
Like soothing drops of rain
The lighting flashed
The thunder boomed
Acquiescing the entire way

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my inspiration

Joy is not mere jolliness. Joy is perfect acquiescence – acceptance, rest – in God’s will, whatever comes. And that is so, only for the soul who delights himself in God.

Accept for yourself the Fatherhood of God, which is only possible for you and me because of the sacrifice of the blessed Son our Savior. And by the presence of the Holy Spirit within, you will learn to rejoice in the will of God, and nothing else…

Leave yourself open to the circumstances of His choice, for that is perfect acceptance, and rest in the will of God. If you do so, you are not a fool – you in the company of the brave!

For accepting the will of God in this way, “You became imitators of us,” Paul writes, “and of the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 1:6a).

Are you following in their path?

Amy Carmichael, Gold by Moonlight, pp. 74-75.

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my hero

My sweet Dad, John Kennedy, was diagnosed with ALS on July 19, 2022. He is braving the most devastating diagnosis that I could imagine. In prayer, he refers to this trial as “My great hurt” and I never want to forget this.

On Monday, February 6, 2023 (only seven months after my Dad’s diagnosis of ALS), the neurologist told us that my Dad could contact hospice – whenever he felt ready. I need the courage to trust – just like my Dad. He is the bravest man that I know.