Three Days from Nowhere

In the book, Believe That You Can, the author, Jentezen Franklin has a segment entitled, "Three Days from Nowhere." I was curious what this meant, but when I started reading, I realized that I too, have been in this place. To help you understand what this means, I will give you a few quotes from the book.
"Sometimes when you're 'three days from nowhere,' you are in a mind battle. You're confused. You don't know where God is. You don't know where you are. You know where you're going, but this doesn't look like you're supposed to be at this time in your life. At this phase, you thought you would be further along. Instead, you're 'three days from nowhere'! Everybody has his or her trial of a lifetime. The other trials are just faith boosters to get your immune system up. Then comes the big one, the trial of a lifetime. But it's the trial of a lifetime that leads to the experience of a lifetime."

Have you had your trial of a lifetime? I have...in fact, I've had two!

The first was the loss of my precious baby boy mid-way through my first pregnancy.
And the second was learning of Audrey's rare skin-condition when she was only four months old.

At both of these times in my life, I was so lost in confusion and disbelief, so lost in my fear, that it was so hard for me to realize that God was with me. In this period of my life, the one thing I wanted was to have a baby, and to have a healthy baby. My loss caused me to fear I would never have a child, and then when I did (with Madison) and had another (Audrey)...the health of my baby was in question. I was, at both of these times, in a place I never thought I'd be, or wanted to be.

But...I can honestly say, that I am blessed because of both of these situations.

At this time in my life right now, I know quite a few people who are in their own "three days from nowhere." They are wanting to have a baby, or wanting to find a marriage partner, or wanting a better job. They are grieving the baby they lost, or the baby they fear they will lose because of a fatal prenatal diagnosis. They are facing the anniversary of their child's death with sadness and unimaginable grief, or trying to explain to a older child why God has taken the sister or brother they thought they would have someday. All of these places are hard places to be. These are the places in your life, when you feel so low, that you cannot see the light at the opening of this deep, dark pit.

But, praise God, that there is LIGHT there. 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Thank you God, that we will not be in this dark place for long. That YOUR light will shine for us, so that we can see our way out!

I love this verse, 1 Peter 5:6, "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Isn't it so comforting, that even in our deepest pit, God will call us out and lift us up? And our suffering and sadness will not go on forever.

1 Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

In due time, gives me such comfort. While I know that those times in my life were the hardest, those times where I felt stuck in one place, desperately wanting to be at another place, were the times in my life where God taught me so much. I've shared this quote before from Franklin's book, but it is worth repeating, "I believe God sometimes holds off on answering our prayers quickly because our faith grows so much between the time we ask God to come and the time He actually does."

This season that you are going through in your life right now, will no doubt seem like one that you are forced to "hibernate" in. But...in due time, God will call you out. You may someday know exactly why you were in this place, or you may never know this side of Heaven, but you will certainly know that God had you in this place for a purpose.

In my new Beth Moore study, "Beloved Disciple," she says, "One primary reason Jesus takes us places we've never been is to show us that He's not like anyone else....His will always has purpose. Sometimes we go our own ways, and God has mercy on us and shows us something there. Other times we beg Him to allow us to go a certain place, and He consents. Still other times God takes us places we never intended to go and reveals Himself to us in ways we didn't even know He existed."

I wouldn't have chosen the difficult trials of a lifetime that I have experienced, but I honestly thank God for them, because out of them have surely come the greatest experiences of a lifetime. For it is out of these difficult, tough situations, that I have felt the hand of God. I have experienced God cupping my chin with His strong, yet oh, so soft, hands, lifting my eyes to His, and saying gently, "I am with you. You are going to be okay. It's all going to be okay. I am with you, and I will NEVER leave you."

We might be going through our worst time imaginable, but we can take comfort in knowing that God will be going through it with us. I want to encourage you, that no matter what place you are in right now, pray that God would reveal Himself to you. Pray that He will show you a little beauty in the bleak landscape. Remember the cliche, "If He brings you to it, He'll see you through it." I wanted so much during these times of my life, to just get on with things, to be at the other end of the spectrum, but I am thankful that God kept me long enough to teach me. Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."

Dear Heavenly Father,
My heart is heavy today with thoughts of my friends who are hurting. How I remember that hurt and how fresh it seems. Lord, I thank you that no matter where we are, You are always with us. You will comfort us, let us grieve, lift us up and carry us out. Thank you for keeping me and teaching me.
I love You, Amen.

Please Pray

(Update - just a quick thanks for prayer for Grant today. He made it offshore safely. Thanks for praying!!)


This is just a quick post asking for prayer.

Most of you know that Grant is working offshore for Chevron and will be doing offshore rotations until April. He flies by helicopter to and from the rig when he goes.

Yesterday there was a helicopter crash, killing 8 people, and severely injuring 1, that was flying to a Shell platform (although they were from a contract company other than Shell). Two of the men were from Morgan City, others from FL, TX, and AL.

Just please remember these families in your prayers, and as Grant leaves to go offshore tomorrow morning, please ask for God's safety in delivering him to the platform.

As you would imagine, hearing something like this makes me nervous AGAIN. When he first started flying offshore, I would be so nervous until I heard he made it safely, and after him doing it several times, and me getting used to it, I just didn't think about it anymore. Well, now I am thinking about it again. And nervous!

I didn't want this post to be about me, because I know the family of those 8 need so much prayer - so please lift them up in your prayers as well.

Dear Lord,
Calm my own fears tonight, and be with Grant tomorrow as he leaves to go offshore. Please provide them safety as they travel. Lord, tonight, I lift those families up to you who have lost loved ones on that flight yesterday. What a tragedy. I pray that You are already in their life working with them and healing them, and comforting them. But if they do not have You in their hearts, I pray that someone will share YOU with them. What a horrible thing to go through without the hope You can provide. Be with Grant as he goes tomorrow, and bring him home safely to us. I love You, Amen.

A New Year

So...it's the New Year. 2009 has come! And with it the expectation for better. Better! A better body, a better job, a better attitude...whatever the "better" might be for you...I bet you are hoping for a better year.

To me, New Year's Day is sort of a weird day. I've found myself in tears all day, emotional for several reasons. New's Years Day has always been sort of melancholy and somber for my family growing up. My father's dad passed away during this time many many years ago (I never was able to meet him), and so the day has never been one of great celebration for our family. Sure there was always some fireworks on New Year's Eve, but I always remember looking at my dad on that day, and wondering what it was like for him to find that his dad had gone to "lay down" and had never woken up. A heart attack.

And then, three years ago, my dear sweet grandmother (my mother's mom) passed away on December 29th and she was buried New Year's Eve. So, while it is fun to celebrate the end of a year and look forward to the next, there are painful reminders of those not with us any longer.
Yesterday, we spent another great day at the Ford's with Grant's family, and while we had a great time, there was also sadness to be spending our first New Year's Eve without his dad being there with us.

Even though the day is strange for me, I too, am wondering what I want to "better" in my life. There are so many things that are on my wish list, what I want to have, what I want to do, things I want to see...you know the drill. I find that I always seem to have such big dreams, and a day or two will pass, and I'll find myself falling back on my promises to myself, and rather than getting back up and trying again...I just sit down. I think to myself..."Well, if I cannot even stick with this for several days, how am I going to make it a year with my new resolution."
And I really do know the reason I am not consistent - and it's because these are MY wants for my life, rather than what God wants for me. We don't always have the instructions or the "how-to" book to carry out our dreams, so we just give up.

Now don't get me wrong, I am all about reading the directions before you try to do something. In fact, I roll my eyes at others who think they can do it without the instructions - because 9 times out of 10 it isn't done right, if it isn't by the rules. You always end up with all these extra parts that you think you don't REALLY need, but it isn't very long before the "thing you are putting together" falls apart. So directions are necessary. But they are best done in steps.

Those steps would be best called, STEPS OF FAITH.

I have a lot of dreams, but one really big one. And while I have had this dream for so long, I've not reached it, because I fail to believe that it can be done. I want all of my questions answered, the whole picture in view, before I will begin the first step. And to do what I want to do, (or whatever dream you want to accomplish), you have to have faith.

I have just finished reading a fascinating book, "Believe That You Can - Moving with Tenacity Toward the Dream God Has Given You," and it is a great motivator for accomplishing this dream God has called you to purpose. In it the author writes, "God will never give you the whole thing worked out ahead of time. He just tells you, 'Go. I will fill in the details.'" "The reason so many people are 'stuck' where they are and they never go anywhere is that whenever God has told them to do something, they have pulled out their long list of questions before responding in faith. ... If you wait until every question has been answered before you move, you'll never do anything."

Maybe you, also, have a dream that you want to accomplish. Maybe you are paralyzed by fear along with me that you will fail. And guess what...we are sure to fail, if we don't even try! So...I am hoping and praying that this year, I will work on the vision I feel God has for me. The dream that is so big, that I cannot accomplish on my own. God's dream for my life.
That is my resolution, that I will walk out on faith and God's provision alone. That whatever He has in store for me, that I will trust Him to bring it to pass.

I'll leave you today, with one last phrase from the book and hope that you will find as much inspiration by it as I had.

Imagine, you're called by God and hand-crafted for a specific purpose at precisely this time and in precisely this location! Wow! You came precut to fill a particular place that nobody else could fill. You were selected.
So, stop trying to be like somebody else! If you give up being who you are in order to become like them, you'll end up being somebody God doesn't need one more of. He made you in a precise way, for a precise purpose, and only you will do. Think about this: regardless of what you like or dislike about yourself, you must be OK because God chose you. Stop doubting yourself or competing with others. Nobody can take what God has reserved for you! Today you have a choice; either let others determine your worth, or let God.
In Genesis 1:31 we read, "Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good." Before you were born, God saw you. He knew the specific purpose you were designed to fulfill, so He provided you with the gifts you would need. Then, He looked at you and said, "Very good."

My prayer for all of you, is that you will listen as God makes His vision for your life known...and that you will step out in faith to accomplish what He has called you to do.


Dear Lord,
My dream is too big, and too out of my reach to accomplish it alone. I don't know how to even begin to make it happen, but I pray that if this is from You, then You will help me bring it to pass. Help me to obey without hesitation, and to live a life that says "Yes and Amen."
I love You, Amen.