"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
I Peter 4:12,13
(KJV)
Today is Thanksgiving Day...
that national day that was set aside to commemorate all of our blessings, past, present, and future,
to turn our steps towards home, loved ones, and family,
and to turn our hearts towards our Heavenly Father in order to bow our heads and give Him praise.
There are so many blessings I am thankful for today.
They are innumerable...great and small.
How I thank Jesus for saving my soul and forgiving my sins,
for a loving husband who is dearer to my heart than life,
for a precious son who brings more joy and love to us than our hearts can hold,
for four siblings, their families, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins, and so much extended family who all mean the world to me,
for every bit of health we have,
for our home and physical blessings,
for the amazing privilege of homeschooling our precious son,
for every family member, friend, and loved one who bless us so much more than words can convey,
for the enormous gift of life itself,
and for you...precious readers, who take time out of your busy day to stop here and read the simple words God places upon my heart.
These are the good things.
The pleasant, happy things that put a spring in my step
and bring warmth and joy to my heart.
It is easy to thank God for the good things, is it not?
I know the title of this post is going to seem odd to some of you.
I know the title of this post is going to seem odd to some of you.
Did you read it right?
Some of you will do a double-take.
No, it isn't a typo.
No, I haven't lost my mind...(though sometimes I wonder! :~)
Yes, it has been a hard year for us,
and much of it has been spent in the valley of severe testing.
It has felt very dark and God-forsaken,
and more than once, I have questioned His will and purpose.
If I had been able to capture all the tears that have fallen this year,
it would fill quite a bucket.
The severity of our trials started on February 4th and have continued most of this year.
Perhaps one day I will feel led to elaborate and go into more detail.
Right now, it is too fresh and too painful.
But, do you know what?
Today, on Thanksgiving Day 2015, I am THANKFUL...
from the bottom of my soul...for all the good things, yes....
but, in addition to being grateful for the good things,
I am thanking God for the valley.
Why, you ask?
Because it has been good for us.
Because I feel like God has taken us through a crash learning course.
Because I feel like we have gleaned some of the most profound lessons of our lives.
It has been an amazing journey.
Painful, but amazing indeed.
Valleys stretch us.
Valleys are testing grounds.
In the life of a Christian, tests are important.
How can I be 100%, from-the-bottom-of-my-heart thankful for the darkness?
The deep valleys?
The tears?
The tests?
I think I found a way to explain it through a talk I recently had with "Little Mr. Wisdom",
who, by the way, is not so little anymore.
I think I found a way to explain it through a talk I recently had with "Little Mr. Wisdom",
who, by the way, is not so little anymore.
Homeschooling high school is different than anything we have done heretofore.
It's a whole new ball game.
I am enjoying every, single moment, as I realize these homeschooling years are flying
by way too fast, and there are only four more to go (including this one).
Insert long, tear-filled, mournful, Mama-sized sigh.
How did we get here so fast?
Where have the years gone?
The reality of how quickly our "baby" boy is growing up brings me often to tears.
Dear, precious Lord, help us to get this right.
In child-rearing, there are no do-overs.
No second chances.
No repeats.
World History is hard.
Whew!
I have forgotten so much since I was in school,
and is it just me, or have they made it more difficult since way back when?
And the massive amounts of memorization????
Seriously?
Let me just say, it is good that I am not expected to memorize all of this,
and it is good that they make you do school early in life before your head is so full,
and short-term memory is so....well, short.
And the massive amounts of memorization????
Seriously?
Let me just say, it is good that I am not expected to memorize all of this,
and it is good that they make you do school early in life before your head is so full,
and short-term memory is so....well, short.
We're plowing through it all together, grateful for the privilege and opportunity, and definitely by God's grace, and I am often reminding God of James 1:5, as I quote it verbatim to Him in prayer....
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
That "any of you lacking wisdom" part?
Yeah.
That's me.
In a big way.
I told the Lord in prayer just today that even though I have felt a dire need for Him
all throughout my life, I don't EVER feel like I have needed Him more than I do now.
Not only in childrearing and homeschooling, but in every part of my life.
It seems I need Him more and rely upon Him more
and lean more into His everlasting arms every, single day.
It seems I need Him more and rely upon Him more
and lean more into His everlasting arms every, single day.
In my opinion, it is the absolute best there is.
I know there are many other Christian homeschool curriculum publishers out there
who do just as good a job, no doubt, but A.C.E. will always be my personal choice.
I can't thank God enough that they are still around, and it is really fun working through these P.A.C.E.s with Zach...the very same ones (with updates and revisions, of course),
that I used when I was in school.
A.C.E. designs their lesson plans with several "check-ups" throughout the workbook (P.A.C.E.),
then there is a Self Test, at the very end of the workbook, then a final Test after that.
The student cannot proceed with their work after doing a check-up
until they score their work, then go back and do the corrections,
and make certain they have a full understanding of the material.
After all check-ups, including the last one that comes directly before the Self Test,
are completed and corrected and all material understood,
the student proceeds to take the Self Test.
Once they have corrected any errors, they are then given permission to take the final test.
One of the things I love most about A.C.E. is that they provide every possible opportunity
for the student to fully comprehend what they need to know before ever requiring that final Test
to be administered.
Today, we have struggled.
Due to the increase in volume and difficulty of high school work,
we fell a couple of days behind in World History and Biology.
Zach was having a hard time with the final check-up in World History,
and was filled with dread over thinking about the Self Test, then the Final Test that were to follow.
I finally told him to just go ahead, take the Self Test, and do his best.
"The Self Test will reveal your weaknesses, then we will deal with them before taking the Final Test",
I told him.
I told him.
The impact of what I had just said caused me to stop swirling the wooden spoon through the pan of goulash in front of me on the stove,
as I realized these were not my own words at all, but had been prompted by the precious Holy Spirit...maybe not as much for Zach as they were for me.
"Tests reveal our weaknesses, then we can deal with them,
before taking the final test."
I repeated it out loud....to myself this time.
So, this is the purpose for our tests...in life.
We wonder sometimes, don't we?
Why things have to be so hard?
Why we feel we can't catch our breath from the last hurdle
before another one comes our way?
Why we face such adversity?
Why? Why? Why?
"Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ..."
I Peter 1:6, 7
Did you catch that "if need be" part?
Though now, for a season, if need be, we are in heaviness through various trials.
Why?
Because at the very end of life, we will stand in a "courtroom", before the ultimate Judgment seat, and face a righteous Judge.
One Who knows our hearts.
Sees us inside and out.
We will, individually, stand before the One Who created us,
and we will face the ultimate trial when we give account of how we lived this life.
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;
that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad."
2 Corinthians 5:10
In the words of Hank Williams, Sr., our main trial is yet to come.
These trials we are facing now are preliminary trials.
They are tests to reveal our weaknesses and give us ample opportunity to do something about them before we ever approach that final trial at the end of life.
God would not be a fair and righteous Judge, if He allowed us to skim through life
on a bed of ease, all the while harboring things in our lives and hearts that would prevent us
from making it to Heaven.
So, He allows "check-ups" and preliminary "Self Tests" to bring dross to the surface.
Then, there are those heavy-duty ones...
you know...the ones that knock us off our feet and onto our knees,
bringing us face-to-face with our own mortality...
the kind the Apostle Peter was referring to when he said,
"...think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you..."
the ones that hit us with such force that life screeches to a halt,
and we are forced to stop and consider.
The extreme testing valley my little family and I have walked through this year
has knocked us to our knees more times than one.
The fiery trials have forced us to stop...and consider.
The preliminary testing has accomplished its purpose.
"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
Some are smaller trials, "check-ups", if you will...
things that make us stop and take pause long enough to correct small errors God has brought to light through those "light" trials.
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:17
(Emphasis added.)
Then, there are those heavy-duty ones...
you know...the ones that knock us off our feet and onto our knees,
bringing us face-to-face with our own mortality...
the kind the Apostle Peter was referring to when he said,
"...think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you..."
the ones that hit us with such force that life screeches to a halt,
and we are forced to stop and consider.
"In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider:
God also hath set the one over against the other..."
Ecclesiastes 7:14
The extreme testing valley my little family and I have walked through this year
has knocked us to our knees more times than one.
The fiery trials have forced us to stop...and consider.
The preliminary testing has accomplished its purpose.
"Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby."
Hebrews 12:11
We now rest in the aftermath of this awful valley, and we have reached the "nevertheless afterward". all glory be to God.
And as we rest, we look back, and we realize the purpose for our test.
There were weaknesses in us that were unbeknownst to us, but not unknown to God.
The tests revealed these weaknesses and brought them to light for a purpose...
so we could deal with them now....while there is time and opportunity to make necessary adjustments.
When I look at the valley in this light, from this angle, I say, from the very bottom of my soul...
Thank You, Jesus!
I am reminded of this old song written by Dottie Rambo.
There were weaknesses in us that were unbeknownst to us, but not unknown to God.
The tests revealed these weaknesses and brought them to light for a purpose...
so we could deal with them now....while there is time and opportunity to make necessary adjustments.
When I look at the valley in this light, from this angle, I say, from the very bottom of my soul...
Thank You, Jesus!
I am reminded of this old song written by Dottie Rambo.
If video doesn't load, click here.
God knows how hard we try to please Him.
He knows our hearts.
He sees our integrity.
He is now preparing a Heavenly home for us,
and He knows that in order for us to enter and take possession of that holy place,
we must be holy.
So, He refines us through the fire.
He purges us by way of the valley's narrowness.
He allows us to be tested, severely, at times, in order to reveal dross,
so we can see it and deal with it.
It is not His will that any of us miss Heaven.
"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance."
2 Peter 3:9
After we pass through such testing valleys, we can often look back and realize
the magnitude of the good we have gleaned through our trials.
The other night, the three of us were in the car, and this song came on the radio.
If video doesn't load, click here.
Oh, my!
I was crying so hard and so caught up in my own tears that I could barely see the road,
and it took me a while to realize that both Kevin and Zach were crying just as hard.
We were all so overcome with emotion as the powerful words to this song written by Sandy Blythe
seemed to have been written specifically for us.
How is it with you, my friend?
In the midst of your gratitude this Thanksgiving, do you find yourself in a hard place?
Are you now in the fiery furnace of trial?
Does hope wane dim?
Do you wonder why it seems God hides His face?
Are you walking through the valley low, with no glimmer of His light?
He is with you, dear one.
He knows what you are facing.
He understands.
He hasn't forsaken you, regardless how dark your life has become.
He is there.
In the valley.
One day, you, too, will see this valley from the Shepherd's point of view,
and as He holds you close, He will make all things clear to you.
Remember this...
the teacher is often silent during a test.
Author Unknown
I trust that no matter what is going on in your life,
you have a wonderfully blessed holiday.
May you never forget how very much you are loved.
Happy Thanksgiving!!