In Christ Alone...

....my hope is found.

Is this where I find my hope?  Do I look to Christ or do I look to my circumstances?  When my circumstances are good, hope comes easy...but when circumstances get hard, unfair, difficult, challenging, hurtful, or any other type of negative word you can come up with, well hope is much harder to come by!  Should it be that way?

Well, I think if we are honest...yes, it will be that way!  We live in a fallen world, corrupted by sin so yeah fighting off those negative feelings is not easy to do...finding hope is not easy to see through the storms that come our way. It is NOT easy and we are not promised easy...but it can be done...we can find hope. What will I choose to look at?

He is my light, my strength, my song


Oh what a promise!  When I look through the storm, there is a light to be seen.  Sometimes it comes in flashes or short glimpses...and sometimes it is totally obliterated by the storm...but the light is ALWAYS there.  Strength...boy when hope wanes do I ever need the strength of others around me to help hold me up & point me back to Jesus.  Song...well if we were created to worship, then my song should sing to Him...often when I am the most down (hopeless) a song can boost my spirit or it can bring me down...what will I choose?  If I am choosing Him-then a song to boost my spirit is what I need...one that brings honor and glory to Him, not just makes me feel good!

This Cornerstone, this solid ground


A cornerstone...oh the strength found in a cornerstone...the stability...reliability.  Only my hope isn't in just any cornerstone-it is found in THE Cornerstone-Jesus Christ.  Solid ground...what a wonderful feeling...to know that what is beneath you can not be shaken liked the plates of this world.  Our world can be shaken both physically (in nature) and literally (in our personal lives) However, if I put my hope in Christ alone-I AM on solid ground and when everything around me is shaking-THE Cornerstone, THE Solid Ground will always remain steadfast!

The King's Mountain: Keep Your Chin Up

I originally wrote this blog one year ago today in memory of my friend, Beth...I went back to see where I journeyed from a year ago and realized that I needed the reminder to Keep My Chin Up...NOT because the world tells me to, but to KEEP MY EYES on MY SAVIOR!!!!

So while another year has passed since the world lost a wonderful woman and the heaven's gained a beautiful angel and your loss is still felt here...life DOES go on-as seen in your family: a new business for Vern, a wedding for Cory, a college for Casey & a 2nd hole for Cayla ;) Please friends read on...and be blessed. Thanks!

One year ago today, we lost a wonderful woman,daughter, sister, wife, mother & friend... and heaven gained one beautiful angel. Her life was her family... those she loved the most. I was blessed to know her if only for a few short years. (12 to be exact...and boy did they pass quickly)  Her life was her Lord...whom she loved above all else.

This was so very evident in her life...and her death.  One year later, her children, husband, family & friends still miss her and yet their lives go on... on to do wonderful things and touch the lives of others because of the example she lived out... They don't want her message to die with her... her message (at least to me) was that God loves each one of us and He is faithful no matter what comes our way. Walk with Him for it is the ONLY journey worth walking...no matter where it takes you...even if it seems you've been taken too soon...Keep your chin up...not because your tough and it's what the world tells us... but because it keeps your eyes focused on Him!

"I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."  Could I really? Could I really do ALL things...you see all means...well...all...even death Lord? Yes child, even death. Could I leave my family behind? I really don't know Lord... My child, if I called you home...I know you would come. Please trust me with those you love...I will never let them down.

So... I keep my chin up... eyes focused on my Savior... and when everything around me feels like it is falling apart or spinning out of control... I trust myself into His arms-the creator of the universe, who named every star, knows the number of hairs on my head, and promises He will never leave me.  Well... at least I try really hard to do that!  I need to be reminded every now & then to Keep My Chin Up!

Miss you Beth... know this though... you've left a legacy that will not end!