{"id":565,"date":"2016-02-19T06:19:32","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T06:19:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplymeandjeans.wordpress.com\/?p=565"},"modified":"2016-02-19T06:19:32","modified_gmt":"2016-02-19T06:19:32","slug":"family-storms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/?p=565","title":{"rendered":"Family Storms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"couple<\/a>Steve and I were lucky enough to lead a marriage conference at our church recently.\u00a0 Let me just say that it was terrifying!\u00a0 On the one hand, being with people that we know and love made it easier to step out into something new; but, on the other, they were people that we really know and love so they knew our faults and our screw ups. If they didn\u2019t, there was a high likelihood that they would figure those things out soon.\u00a0 With that in mind, \u00a0it\u2019s a good thing that our philosophy for a marriage conference is to share what we\u2019ve learned through our mistakes and not to act like we have it all together or that we even know what we\u2019re doing half the time.\u00a0 We don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Most of the time we truly desire to follow God in our actions and decisions and we try to serve and love and sacrifice for one another. But, there are those other times in which we become all too human.<\/p>\n

The human side of my heart is sneaky and quick and can high-jack my mind and emotions faster than I can even explain.\u00a0 One minute I\u2019m fighting the good fight and the next I wake up in a daze wondering how I got to a place ruled by selfishness.\u00a0 It\u2019s dizzying really\u2026 how quickly my faith can falter, my love can be eclipsed by anger and my joy can vanish.\u00a0 I would think, after all we\u2019ve been through, that I would be quicker on my feet.\u00a0 However, the truth of the matter is that we have our issues.\u00a0 Everyone does and anyone who says they don\u2019t shouldn\u2019t be leading a marriage conference.\u00a0 I also know that we are called to obedience as believers and if we chose to teach, we are held to an even higher standard. Needless to say, the responsibility of this conference has been heavy on my heart for the last few months.<\/p>\n

But I was honored to give it a shot because I see what\u2019s going on in my life as well as so many others.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired.\u00a0 Somedays, REALLY tired.<\/p>\n

The same goes for many people around me. Tired of the struggle and battle that wages in their families.\u00a0 Not necessarily marital struggles, although that is often the case.\u00a0 But also spiritual battles, hopelessness, heartache over wandering children, strife in family relationships, financial burdens, fear, loneliness, addiction, lack of passion or joy or communication, the struggle of being a single parent, illness …\u00a0 There are as many issues that weigh on our families as there are families – \u00a0and it can take a toll on us.\u00a0 One minute you\u2019re standing in the gap, praying, believing, convinced that God is doing something new and the next you find yourself looking up in the face of an enemy that is laughing hysterically at how easily you were to take down and how the whole family can be taken down with you.<\/p>\n

I hate it.\u00a0 I hate even more that I don\u2019t have an answer for those people that are in this place and asking, \u201cWhat do I do when\u2026?\u201d\u00a0 There isn\u2019t always an answer.\u00a0 And did I say that I hate that?\u00a0 I want an answer for the wife who is in tears over her marriage.\u00a0 I want an answer for the mother who has lost her child.\u00a0 I want an answer for the husband that feels like he\u2019s empty and has nothing left to offer.\u00a0 I want an answer for the wife (or husband)\u00a0\u00a0who has a spouse addicted to porn.\u00a0\u00a0I want an answer for the parent who is watching their child lose the essence of who they are because of the influences of the world.<\/p>\n

I just want an answer.<\/p>\n

But tonight I don\u2019t have one.\u00a0 Tonight I fall on God\u2019s grace and mercy and beg for His forgiveness, His strength, His wisdom, His power, and His redemptive work to move in the lives of His children. I fall on the truth that God\u00a0is always\u00a0faithful to His children. \u00a0And I fall on the hope that our heavenly Father will wipe away every tear that has been shed because of our families.\u00a0 One day, when I see Him face to face, maybe I\u2019ll get answers to some of these questions.<\/p>\n

But, more than likely, looking into the face of such a wonderful Savior, I won\u2019t have a need for answers.\u00a0\u00a0 The fact that He wants me to be part of His family will probably leave me on the floor in a heap of gratitude.\u00a0\u00a0 Me\u2026 all too human, all too frail and all too fallible. \u00a0\u00a0But also a woman that, in spite of all her shortcomings, desires more than anything to love and serve her God and for her family to do the same.<\/p>\n

None of us have it all figured out.\u00a0 Things fall apart sometimes.\u00a0 Life gets hard and we get tired.\u00a0 Our marriages struggle.\u00a0 Our families have difficult times.\u00a0 But I do have one thing figured out.\u00a0 Not that I do it well but I do know it to be true.<\/p>\n

We need one another.<\/p>\n

When life knocks the wind out of us, we need someone to hold us up.<\/p>\n

When we don\u2019t have the energy to try \u00a0\u00a0anymore, we need someone to pray for us and encourage us to stay in the fight.<\/p>\n

When we are afraid and lonely, we need someone who will just be close by.<\/p>\n

When we screw up, we need someone to remind us of forgiveness and redemption.<\/p>\n

And when the clouds part and our lives are touched by joy and peace, we need someone to smile and be thankful with us.<\/p>\n

In other words\u2026\u2026we need family.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steve and I were lucky enough to lead a marriage conference at our church recently.\u00a0 Let me just say that it was terrifying!\u00a0 On the one hand, being with people that we know and love made it easier to step out into something new; but, on the other, they were people that we really know […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":566,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[141,189,331,347,546,554],"class_list":["post-565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-family","tag-difficulties","tag-family","tag-life","tag-marriage","tag-storms","tag-struggles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karenlawson.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}