Oceanskater’s Blog

In the mornings, I try to daily spend some time with God. Today, I read from a little booklet called “Our Daily Bread”. The Scripture was Psalm 27.

To me, it served as an amazing reminder that we have so much to be thankful for.

“The LORD is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid? ” v. 1

It’s a psalm of King David. We know that he went through many trials. But in this psalm, he’s reminded himself of God’s goodness. He’s reminding himself that if God is for him, who can be against him?

“For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock.” v. 5 (AMP)

“Although my father and my mother have forsaken me, yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].” v. 10 (AMP)

A quote from “Our Daily Bread”:

“So let’s look more closely at the psalmist’s hope. His expectation was not necessarily deliverance from bad circumstances but the hope of seeing ‘the goodness of the Lord.’ That’s something we can see even in times of trouble.”

“I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” v. 13 (NIV)

And in the end, he strongly believes that no matter what happens, he will choose to see the goodness of the Lord while he still lives.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to remember all the gifts we have in our lives. It would be very easy to look around and see plenty of things we want that we don’t yet have. Often in life we walk around with the “glass half empty” mentality rather than the “glass half full” mentality. We can get stuck in the rut of constantly asking God for all the things we don’t have rather than remembering to thank God for all the things we do have. Of course, God wants us to be honest in our prayers and He does want us to ask for those things we need, but we have to remember to not get those focused on what we lack that we forget all the good gifts God has already blessed us with.

We have a lot to be thankful for. No matter what trials we are facing today, no matter who abandons us or what enemies we face, we can praise God for life, for breath, for all His gifts, and for His promise that He works out all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). We can thank Him that when we wait on Him, He always comes through.

“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.” v. 14 (AMP)

Roy & I just found out that our friend’s mom has passed away. We’re both very sad about this. Linda wasn’t just a friend’s mom - she was someone we knew and cared about, who had invited us into her home and fed us and brought joy into our lives. We’re trying to rejoice, knowing she’s in God’s arms right now. But it’s still hard. She was young and full of life.

In other news, it looks like they’ve accepted our offer on the condo, which is a total miracle because the other offer was $10,000 more than ours. Still, a lot could still go wrong in these process, so please keep praying. And please pray for Linda’s family - she has 3 sons and 2 grandchildren.

Roy & I had an eventful weekend of looking at potential places to live. It was quite exciting.

I’m so glad that Jill Carroll is home again with her family. That’s a serious answered prayer.

I have 2 prayer requests for the 5 people that read this blog. First, the mother of a very close friend of Roy’s had something like a stroke and is in a coma. Her brain is bleeding and it doesn’t look good. Please pray for her. Roy & I are praying that her health will be restored.

Second, Roy & I are putting an offer on a condo today. Wow! Pretty exciting Pray that God’s will is done.

Thanks!

For those of you who haven’t been following the news story that I posted about last week, the Afghan man who converted to Christianity was cleared of his charges and was seeking asylum in another country. Then he was suddenly released into the custody of his family. The first part was good news, but the second wasn’t, as it had been his family who turned him in in the first place. Then he sort of disappeared. Thank God he’s shown up in Italy.

Here’s the story:

Afghan Christian convert arrives in Italy

It’s 53 degrees in Boston. That may not sound warm to you, but it makes life a little easier, for some reason.

The seminar this weekend went very well. I found it to be so refreshing. We had quite a showing from Alive in Christ, which was of course encouraging since last year, only Roy & I went. My teaching went well, I think. I had a bit too much information, even though I didn’t go over my time. It was just so great to share about something that has made such an impact in my life and changed the way I view myself and God. My prayer was that I’d be able to communicate just a fraction of my passion. I hope I was able to do that.

Some of you know that Roy & I have been thinking of buying a place. We’ve been going to open houses and talking with realtors. Well, I just found out less than 5 minutes ago that we need to move from our current place. Our landpeople (landlady and landman) have decided to sell the house in which we rent a floor. So, it’s either move into another apartment or buy something. Please keep this in our prayers. I never thought I’d be staying in Boston long-term, so this would be a big decision.

And I’ll end with a praise report. Roy & I and a few of my close friends have been praying fervently for a young friend of mine for a while now. He’s been through some rough times. What has been so amazing for me is to see God, one by one, answer all of our prayers. Every single one. Even when things seemed hopeless, God was listening and working hard. Last night, after He responded to yet another of our pleas, God reminded me that He cares even more than I do for our young friend. It’s just been humbling. I have never before in my walk with God seen Him work so powerfully and consistently. Of course, He’s always been working in all things, but I guess I just wasn’t able to see it.

He is God, and He is good - at His core, He is good.

Months & months ago, I heard from my good friend Eva Marie about a little girl named Rebekah who was very sick with cancer. For months, I have been praying for her. And today, I heard the best Valentine’s Day News ever (well, the news was posted on V-Day, even though today is the day after):

Rebekah’s Page