#joyinpain

[thespecialoccasion-blog]

We spend the majority of life journeying. We reach our destinations with the inevitable mandate to begin another journey soon after. If this is where we have to spend the majority of our time, we may as well enjoy it...even when there is pain. #JoyInPain #TanishaRonay #TheSpecialOccasion #YouAreASpecialOccasion #IAmASpecialOccasion

[quotidian-perks-blog]

Listen/download: When Trials Come: Resurrection Songs for a World of Suffering by The Gospel Coalition

[thatchickenlady-blog]

Joy in Pain

I usually try to hide the amount of pain I’m in on a daily basis. For me, its not worth it to dwell on the pain, but rather focus on how to feel better and take the best care of myself that I can. Today is one of the bad days. Some days are great and I almost forget that I have Polycystic Kidney Disease and Dystonia.(Dystonia is a very painful muscular disease related to Parkinson’s. Most of the…

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[faith-is-a-must-have]

Been missing this beaut. of a mother a super lot lately.. I remember while someone was watching the slideshow for her funeral they saw this picture and said it looked like me.. years later I see it more & more. And 💁🏻 we're even both wearing turtlenecks.👭💟#joyinpain

[lunamadre]

This is how I do it

This is how I do it

This was originally part of the post “How do you do it”.

I split it into two posts because it was incredibly long.

With the exception of when I am exhausted, sick or coming down from a stressful incident. These are the events I normally think of when asked about the past year.

My husband leading our weekly Bible study.

Celebrating Birthdays at home, at the pizza machine, at the bowling alley,…

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[lunamadre]

How do you do it?

How do you do it?

(This was written before Christmas but I was too emotional at the time to post it)

Over the last few months I have struggled and well honestly gotten angered by the question “How do you do it?”.

I could not understand why people keep asking me how I do it. How do I be a mom to a 5, 3 and 1 year old? How do I run a group home and manage the stress of being “mom” to 2-4 teen age girls? How do I…

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[faith-is-a-must-have]

comin' @ you sideways loving the fact that now with having short hair I can wear my hair down while wearing a turtleneck and it's actually still visible.🙊 I remember my mom used to dress up her turtlenecks by wearing a necklace over them sooo 💁🏻here's to wearing a turtleneck with the necklace that she gave me to remember her by before she passed away. What can I say? Like mother like daughter.👭 I love how God uses even the littlest of things to bring us the biggest amounts of comfort🙌🏼💕😄🐢✨#joyinpain

[alliee-daughteroftheking]

Designed As I Am

God has really been working with me to share my struggles. As an introvert, I love to observe and reflect far too much. I'm always taking things in, but never letting things out. The end of this past semester, the Lord had to remind me there is such a beauty in intimate fellowship. We are supposed to encourage and build one another up! But how are we supposed to do that if nobody is allowing anyone to come along side them to do so...? We are losing an intimate and beautiful aspect of fellowship that desperately need not be lost.

Then I remembered what I created this blog for: to talk about life with Christ! LIFE with Christ as I live in His presence; I sure cannot say I am free from struggle in this life, so why not let Christ be glorified through the testimonies of such. I will say yet again, There is JOY in the PAIN. So let there be joy! - because Romans 8:18.

I have always wanted to go out of the country. "Lord send me here! Lord send me there! I am willing, send me, Lord! Lord, please?"

....

As more physical ailments have set in - that are still with unknown causes - I realized... The Lord has already sent me. I am right where I was designed to be. I have been begging the Lord to help with what I thought I needed to do, but I was (and am) already doing what He planned for me to. I wanted to go far, get caught in wanderlust while spreading His good news in every place except where I already was.

While I wanted to go over seas, God pointed to the highway. "This, travels far. This, is where too many young people from all over the world are forced to travel far. You have a passion to be a fighting advocate for children, you have a passion to fight against human trafficking, My righteous anger burns in you about both; I have placed you as a counselor and you are on my path to do just that."

It's funny, how the Lord works - we know this. I have always said most of my life, "I absolutely love kids! (teaching swimming lessons, interning at a behavioral specialist organization, etc.), but, I never want to work with kids." I never really asked myself why - Why I wanted to put aside a passion that was clearly there; being put in place for the kingdom of God!

I rejoice in how His plans are always greater than my own. But, the struggle? I will never understand why I seem to come into so many physical ailments. A friend of mine and I have joked about writing a list of all the things that are 'wrong' with me, but I just remember Romans 8:18 over and over. God always uses these physical ailments for His glory, and that glory that will be revealed is NOT worth it to compare to the present sufferings. I have seen just glimpses of His glory revealed in my suffering, and He blows my mind within the pain (with just those glimpses!). I cry out to Him, "God, please reveal to me why!" And I get the familiar response, "You are as I have designed you." My ailments have taught me to rely on my Jehovah Jireh so much more deeply over the years.

With all of that being said, I ask you to pray. With each semester that goes by, the older I seem to get - obviously - but I seem to be a twenty-something living in a ninety-something year old body. My doctor tells me that I am too young to be getting all of these old people problems, and that by the time I am up there in years, I will have lived with it all for so long and have figured it out by then, that I will be the best in-shape old person to have lived. Nonetheless, I still look forward to being able to sleep again! And to not be in as much pain, as this has been an ongoing occurrence since January-February; well, almost half of my life, really.

 -alliee-daughteroftheking