Several months ago, one of my daughter’s gave me Ann’s book for my birthday. I have been walking through a desert of which I did not think I would ever come out of, and had reached a point where I was truly wondering if it’s all worth it, wondering if God even cared anymore. After praying for my husband for so many years, and with other circumstances in my life over these last years, my walk with the Lord and my faith have been severely tested. Fast forward to today – my husband remains an unbeliever, and my marriage has been extremely difficult. To say that Ann Voskamp’s book has changed my life would be an understatement! I’ve been a Christian since 1978 – at that time, just 3 years into my marriage. Thank you, Jesus for rescuing so many of us from the clutches of The Accuser, the father of lies, and for using Ann Voskamp to lead the way. Tears still flow, the heavy burdens remain, but I know God is good. I cried out, “This cannot be! I am the child of The King – there has to be something more! Ann has shown me that there is. I have identified so with Ann’s experience of “always the failing”, forgetting”, “yell(ing) at children”, “neglect(ing) cleaning the toilets”, “years,……the pulsing of ruptured hopes”. ![]() Through it all I have known God is sovereign but it wasn’t until a dear friend blessed me with “One Thousand Gifts” that I began not just to survive but to earnestly seek God’s deeper meaning in these trials. The last few years have offered my children and me a myriad of reasons for despair – divorce, betrayal by spouse and trusted friends, diabetes, depression, anxiety, ADHD, school bullying, financial disaster. Blessings to you and your family this holiday season. We only get one go around in this life, and I don’t want to waste any more precious time. (We would not be able to afford it otherwise.) Thank you Margaret, for offering this amazing opportunity to slow down, breathe, and soak it all in. It would be such a true honour and a privilege to receive this study so I can share with these amazing women the incredible message Ann has to offer. We are each other’s rock and support system, but we are always looking for ways to grow deeper in our faith and to find balance between work and family. I can’t even begin to tell you how badly that I NEED THIS… I am connected to a strong group of young women who are also sisters in Christ who are in the same season of life that I am with young children. I saw the youtube video about this study on Ann’s website and burst into tears. ![]() I am tired… Tired of going through the motions without a lot of emotion, and finding (what I used to find) joy in the “little things” more annoyances and frustrations than gratitude and contentment. When each day is just focused on sheer survival of the demands of my children, our household, husband, and business, I find little to no energy or time left in the day to grow deeper in my faith or do anything to feed my soul. I truly (and with a heavy heart) feel like the last ten years of my life have just been a blur, and I have been operating completely in auto pilot mode. I struggle daily with finding joy in the little things, and am truly feeling like I am “missing it”. I am a stay at home mom in Calgary who has a home based business and four very energetic and busy children under the age of six.
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