5 Reasons You Can Get Through the Tough Times

My caring friend, a dedicated Christian, introduced me to “Prayercentral.”  It’s an online prayer site established to recharge your prayer life or help you learn how to pray.  

Prayercentral, at www.prayercentral.net, features daily devotionals, prayer tips and inspirational words. Its purpose is to help you build a closer connection with God.

Let’s be honest, we all need a tighter connection with God. This year we’ll face new challenges…tough times. J We’ll need spiritual stamina and mental toughness. Kathleen Dillard, director of Prayercentral, recently shared “Getting You Through It”. Keeping in mind Kathleen’s quoted key truths (below), along with my spiritual insights, you and I can confidently step into 2014.  We can get through the tough times!

Why I Never Stop Praying

 Sleds, saucers, and four rambunctious kids crowded our van. Pursuing Mt. Baker’s 11,000-foot summit, huge snowflakes began to fall.  The higher we ascended, weaving around the steep mountain, on a narrow paved road, the heavier the snow fell. The kids cheered.

Suddenly, the van started to fishtail, tires spinning. The speedometer nose-dived….25 mph…15 mph…10 mph…5 mph…we slid backwards! I swung to the rear and commanded the kids, “Pray!”   Panic triggered my prayer, “God, please keep us from going over the edge. Stop the van!”

We stopped. Our van’s rear wheels teetered on the edge of a 200-foot ravine. Fearful that any slight movement would capsize us, we sat motionless.

Somehow… my husband maneuvered the van to safety. The kids spent the afternoon throwing snowballs and sledding down the base of Mt. Baker! God rescued us on the summit.

God’s chosen people, the Jews, following their captivity and deportation to Babylon, remained prisoners for two successive empires. Meanwhile, their once-beautiful temple in Jerusalem lay in ruins. Years rolled by. A frustrated people must have wondered, will we ever escape this situation? Will our temple always remain in shambles?

 Have you ever wondered if you would escape a situation that seemed destined to destruction? Destined to never change?

How to Live with An Unfair Advantage

Afternoon sunshine warmed Sparta Day’s festivities. The one-mile kid’s race drew a handful of red-shirted 5 through 7-year-olds. Parents busied themselves at forming kids’ wiggling bodies into a straight line.

A shrill whistle signaled the runners and spiked adrenalin. Starry-eyed winners, every one of them, were including John Jr., our 5-year-old son, with spindly, over-long legs. Suddenly, I wanted to scoop him into my safe arms. “Never mind.” I pushed away nervousness. “Let him run.”

 “Get ready, get set…” Bang!

Parents began chiming, “Run fast!”  “Don’t slow down.” “Run faster!”

My husband leapt onto the cinder track about 2 feet from John Jr.’s side, jog-trotting. Just close enough to link hearts.

“Pace yourself. Slow down.” Wise words spoken by a Father experienced at running life’s race.  

This man knows full well about starting too fast, full of optimism. Then bam. Everyday pressures, family problems, unemployment, financial difficulties and health issues take their toll. Weariness and discouragement knock him windless.