When it rains it snows

or something like that. Tis the season for being s.t.r.e.t.c.h.e.d. and I don't like it. Or I do. Or my spirit says "Yes" in a way that it seems to have been groaning for something to do to really work and grow as it knows it should, but my flesh screams "nooooo" not again. I just got comfortable in my routine. I just got my coffee and settled into the comfy chair. And so here we are and here we go again. But I wouldn't want it any other way. Because the olive must get pressed for the valuable oil to flow. And I want the good stuff this time. No use going through the trial with a grumpy heart. If I am going to go through the fire then I want to come through pure & valuable not semiprecious. I felt the Holy Spirit speak to my heart the other day "you can either make it through day to day and survive the trial, or you can choose joy and get eternal rewards and still get through the trial. Either way the trial is here."
When I walk in my own strength I will drown. I have had a few close calls too. Drowning in the darkness of my circomstances. The other day at church there was a sermon on JOB and it really hit me hard. I am being drawn to write about my hospital stay and the journey that we called our trip to California. I desire to write the story because it was scary. Because it was hard. And because on the other side of such things I can look into this little face and be thankful.

At one time being seperated from her and Israel I can feel the sorrow of those hurting and sick, afraid and lonely. I can still feel the hospital walls and see the faces. But I can still feel the Holy Spirit that was my friend on those laps around the hospital wing. I can still hear him whisper to me "I have compassion on the multitudes."
As Kurto and I face the trials of today they seem small compared to what we have been through and I want to remember.