Life is Good! -- So What am I Afraid Of?

Ever been going along in your day-to-day life and think, "Wow. Life is pretty good right now!"

I'll bet, if you're like me and so many others, your very next thought is, "I wonder what's going to come along and ruin it?"

Or maybe you don't necessarily have those specific thoughts course through your mind. You just have a sense of something's coming. Life is too good right now.

I think you know what I mean. We rarely feel pure, unadulterated joy. Once we realize we're happy, we follow said realization up with wondering when the happiness is going to end.

It seems I've lately been doing that a lot. I know I'm on the right path in God's will for my life. Is everything perfect? Um. No. But I walk outside, look up at the trees, and smile. I'm happy...Then a "Why Me?" thought pops in my head.

I've struggled for so long to find this space, this peace, this wisdom. I feel it -- almost tangibly -- in my hands. Who am I to deserve this?

I'm a child of the most high God. That's who.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. - James 1:17
God is good. His gifts are good. And He's not gonna change. Nor are His gifts.

Charles Stanley mentions this notion of unworthiness in his book Handle with Prayer:

...the basis of all God's answered prayer is His love for us...According to His love, we are worthy of the greatest gift He had to give -- His Son. After that, anything else we ask for is secondary.

Why do we have so much trouble believing God for the minor things in life? It is [the enemy] who says, "Who do you think you are,...?

To this question there is only one answer: "I am a child of the King. I am so worthy in the eyes of God, He sent His only begotten Son to die for me...

He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed,
shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. - Psalms 126:6
There's a time for sowing, and there's a time for reaping. When it's reapin' time, rejoice!

Shared at April 2015 Chain "Linky" Climb, Freedom Fridays, Friday Favorites, Front Porch Friday, Faith Filled Friday, and Simple Life Sunday.

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Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click the link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! :-) Thanks for reading and following Stephlin's Mountain.

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate: a Book Review

I just finished an inspirational read I was able to get for Free (love that!) on my Kindle Fire.  A 2014 Christy Award nominee entitled The Prayer Box.

Tandi Reese is running from a drug-filled, abusive relationship. She chooses the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a haven for her and her two children. Though she finds herself in a place she once spent time as a child, not all the memories are good ones.

Yet here she is, renting a cottage from Iola Poole, owner of the historical house and property on which the cottage sits. One day, after Iola unexpectedly passes away, Tandi finds herself cleaning out the old rickety home in exchange for rent. After a bit of snooping, Tandi finds a closet filled to the brim with boxes. Each box is filled with letters written by Iola -- letters to God.

All throughout the book, we see Tandi struggle with many emotions that are holding her back from a better life for her and her children. Feelings of abandonment, unworthiness, and the inability to trust are a few at the top of the list.

Through Iola's letters, we first learn about her past. They also provide inspiration and encouragement to Tandi while she works to build a meaningful, fulfilling life with positive relationships. Of course, along the way, Tandi realizes she is not really alone -- God's grace is all around her.

I rarely highlight passages in books, but found myself doing so in this one. Here are a few I wanted to remember and share.

Nothing that had happened since I'd been on this island had happened at random. I'd been given shelter for my family, food to eat, work to do.

Given.

Gifts. I'd wanted to earn my own way, to do this myself, to form a new life on my own, but instead, this had been given to me. This life. This place. These letters.

This revelation.

Prayers are answered in ways we don't choose. The river of grace bubbles up in unexpected places.

(Another!)

Thank you. I wanted to write it on paper and fold it up in a box to remind myself, the next time I couldn't see anything but mountains ahead, that where there's a mountain, there's always a river flowing nearby.

Ultimately the river is the more powerful of the two.

(One more!)

All my life, I'd let the ties of blood control me, limit me, define me, yet I'd ignored the ties of love. I'd shielded myself from the people who tried to slip inside the armor, who told me that I was worthy.

The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate -- highly recommended!

Shared at Simple Life Sunday, Simple Saturdays Blog Hop, Simply Natural Saturdays, and some of these other fine hops.

I was featured!

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click the link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! :-) Thanks for reading and following Stephlin's Mountain.