Perfect Hiding Place

“All who are oppressed may come to you as a shelter in the time of trouble, a perfect hiding place.”

Psalms 9:9 TPT

I wrote a previous blog about our families recent camping adventure. What an adventure it was! Last night God dropped a visual in my mind about this whole experience. 

Wednesday night a storm hit and boy did we ever go through a storm! The weather conditions were not favorable at all for us! We were camping in a tent with rain, wind, thunder & lightening to deal with. Then if that wasn’t enough, rain starts coming in through the roof of our tent! Things were definitely not comfortable for us and it only seemed to get worse! Talk about stressful! Soaked, muddy, grouchy & depleted of all joy were some of the results of this storm. The storm definitely put a damper in all of our grand plans!

But this is what God hit me with! There was a major storm going on outside and we knew the storm was going to continue on into the next night. Do we stay in our tent, where we are in danger of all the conditions going on around us? Or, do we retreat and seek refuge in a safer place? 

Thursday night the weather conditions were exactly the same: Rain, wind, thunder & lightening! There was ONE major difference though! We were no longer in our tent! We had moved to a place of safe refuge. We didn’t remain where we knew there was danger. We didn’t remain where we knew our safety would be compromised! 

The weather conditions were the same as the previous night. But you know what made all the difference? We were safe inside our camper, sleeping in our comfy bed. The storm was still raging on outside, but we no longer felt threatened by it. We had moved ourself to a safe place. 

The same applies to our own lives. Battles & storms rage all around us. Beating us down, playing with our minds, stealing our peace & robbing us of joy. Leaving us feeling soaked & depleted! 

But we have a choice! We can remain out in the elements & be battered by the storm, or we can recognize the storm going on around us and move to a place of safety! 

When we are going through storms there is no better shelter, no better protection than our Heavenly Father. 

So, if you are in a storm, go to your Heavenly Father. Seek shelter in Him in your times of trouble. He is the perfect hiding place. 

“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

“God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but He has!”

 “yet he has never left himself without clear evidence of his goodness. For he blesses us with rain from heaven and seasons of fruitful harvests, and he nourishes us with food to meet our needs. He satisfies our lives, and euphoria[a] fills our hearts.”

Acts14:17 TPT

Today marks the 2 year anniversary since my Grandpa Miller passed away.  It brings back so many feelings and memories. I loved him so much and so did so many others! One memory it has brought back this morning is something he used to always say to us. Which was something along these lines, “God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!” He always got choked up when he said it. Had bad things happened to my Grandpa & Grandma? Yes, they had a death of a baby, they went through many times of cancer and broken bones and surgeries. But he chose to see the blessings and not complain. I will always remember that about him. 

It seems funny to me that this weekend, of all weekends, we chose this one to go camping as a family. Growing up, that is something that we ALWAYS did with my Grandpa & Grandma, every summer!  And what a camping adventure this was! 

Our family decided to go to Spirit Song Festival at Kings Island this year, but hotels were just way to expensive, so I had an awesome idea. “Lets tent camp! It will be fun” I said!  As Sprit Song drew closer, the weather forecast became worser (if thats even a word). So we decided to go a day early so we could get the tent site set up before it started raining. We got to the campground and it was a beautiful evening.  We were even able to make Smores and have a failed attempt at making popcorn over the fire. 

Then bedtime came, and so did the adventure! It decided to start sprinkling, but it was bedtime, so no big deal. But then I made the mistake at looking at the weather radar. What we had to look forwad to was rain and STORMS ALL NIGHT LONG! So we got into our tents, Bryce & Sarah in theirs and Jason and I in ours. The rain and wind began to pick up and before we knew it, Jason and I began getting sprinkled on…. in our tent! We thought maybe the wind was blowing in the rain, so we closed the windows, but still, we continued to get sprinkled on! As the rain turned from a sprinkle to a down pour outside, the intensity of the “sprinkles” picked up inside too. At this point it was midnight and we could not sleep! Then, when we think it surely can’t get any worse, the thunder and lightening started and woke up Sarah in the tent beside us! At that point all Jason and I could do was just look at each other and laugh!  There was not much we could do t that time of night, we were pretty much “sitting ducks”, so we just covered ourselves up as much as possible and finally went to sleep around 2:00!  We got maybe 4 hours of sleep that night! 

We woke up the next morning and the rain had cleared and we were ever so grateful! We even made a big breakfast with our propane stove!  Things were beginning to look up for us and we were excited for the full day at Kings Island.   Then we go to start our van and it doesn't make a sound, not even one light came on! DEAD BATTERY! Add that to the list of things that can go wrong when you go camping! REMINDER do not leave your trunk open when setting up a tent site!!!!

We finally got to Kings Island and even though there was a 100% chance of rain, we were hopeful for the best! The kids got a lot of rides in and were having a blast! Then the heavens decided to open! Fully open!!!!  A Flood Watch was even issued until midnight. At that point, as I was walking back to our van my hope and joy were washed away with the torential down pour! My poncho was no longer “ponchoing” and I WAS SOAKED!!!! I was not a happy girl and I just wanted to cry! Then Jason began talking about back up plans and looking for a hotel for the night. Which was a smart idea, but all I could think about was the money we had already paid for our tent site and how we were going to pay for a hotel for 3 nights.  But, reluctantly I began to look at hotels and I almost book 2 different ones, but something kept holding me back.  

Everything was in our tents at the campsite and we didn't know what it was going to be like when we got back. Finally, Jason got me calmed down and we started thinking clearly. We decided to go back to the campsite first and survey the damage, then go from there. As we pulled into the campground, I knew it was God because I wasn't rational enough in those moments. The campground was supposed to be sold out, but I told Jason why don't we go to the office and see if there any openings came available for a trailer or a cabin.  Praise the LORD, a trailer was available for Thursday night and Friday night! And even better yet, they would transfer the balance from our tent site to the trailer site! 

But the adventure wasn't done yet…..now it was time to tear down our tent site….in a torrential down pour! From all the rain, our tent site was a mud hole! By the time we were done, Bryce & Jason looked like Rambo and I was soaked, even more, if that was possible! I wish I had a picture for you all because IT WAS HILARIOUS!

I can look at this camping experience and see UTTER DISAPPOINTMENT and one chaotic moment after another or I can look at it and chose to see the blessings. God showed up with a blessing, many blessings. Even when I was pouting, cranky and all my joy was washed out, God still showed up with blessings! Things could have turned out even worse for us. 

As we were sleeping snug in our beds in our cozy camper on Thursday night, listening to the rain pouring down and thunder and lightening outside. All I could do was thank God for His blessings!  It reminds me of what my Grandpa Miller used to always say, God has always blessed us, I don't know why, but he has!

Dig Deeper

Dig Deeper

Lately, God has been speaking into my heart about His desires for our relationship with Him.  He gave me a glimpse of what His plans are for us. The glimpse was an urgency that as ladies, we need to go deeper in our relationship with God. But, I wasn’t really sure where to go with it. What did it look like? How do we do that? 

Then God gave me another glimpse, which was this quote. 

“God does not want you to try harder, He wants you to trust Him deeper. Stop trying. Start trusting. This will change everything, in you.” 

Matt McMillen 

I instantly fell in love with this quote and I have re-read it many times because it is such an awesome reminder to me. By nature, I am a control freak and a doer. This past year, God has taken me on a journey with Him. Some things I have learned (and sometimes the hard way) are to trust Him, to rest in His presence, that I don't always have to be doing things, and that I don't have to be in control! So freeing! 

One night as I was trying to sleep, God gave me another glimpse. God began whispering things to me and I had to immediately write it all down - as quietly and quickly as possible, so I wouldn’t wake my husband! 

We sing and proclaim all the time about our love for God and His love for us.  At that moment, this is what I felt like God was saying to me: “So what is the next step?” What He dropped into my heart was this, “Now is the time for us to grasp HIS love for each of us. Let HIM take us deeper. Trust HIM to lead the way. Now is the time to take action. And sometimes the action is to surrender, to stop trying to do it all yourself. Let God begin doing it for you. So, surrender your shovel! Let Him dig for you! He has so much more for you!” 

When I woke up the next morning, one of the first things I saw was this quote: 

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” 

George MacDonald 

Wow! What a strong statement! It definitely made things clearer to me. As a mom, I love my kids more than anything! However, there are times, they do something that causes me to not trust their actions or intentions at all! Does it change my love for them? - No, but it can change how I view them. It changes my trust of them. Ladies, it is so easy for us to sing songs about Gods love. We raise our hands as we are singing and worshiping God. We love on God and we let Him love on us. But when the last note is played and we step out the church doors, sometimes those feelings of Gods love for us begin to fade away. Why? We know that God loves us, but when it comes down to the details of our lives, sometimes we just don't trust Him. Things have happened to us or family members that may have lessened our trust in God and we can begin to question His actions and intentions towards us. God wants our trust! God deserves our trust!

I am more of a visual person, so lets imagine this as a peat pot that is planted with wildflower seeds. 

The peat pot represents where we dwell. We choose where we dwell and we choose what fills us. Does God dwell in you? Have you allowed Him in? Is the condition of where you dwell favorable for trust to take root, and for God to take you deeper? Have “trust issues” held you back from letting God in completely? Grasping His love for us is the fist step! Now let’s take it a step further. We need to grasp His love so that we will WANT Him take us deeper. And now that we have begun actually grasping His love for us, that is where the trust can come in, so that we will LET Him take us deeper. Let the walls of doubt and mistrust crumble around you. I feel like this has been my cry to God lately: 

“Take me deeper, show me more.Even when my mind says no, stop! 

Have my heart remind me to say yes!” 

We need to continually trust God even if that means we have to continually remind ourselves to do it! 

The wildflower seeds represent seeds of trust. Trusting God with our whole heart so that the seeds of trust can be planted in our dwelling place. It is so important to nurture the seeds with good soil so that the roots can begin to grow down deeper. Leaving the seeds in this seed packet does not fulfill the seeds purpose! They will not yield beautiful flowers if they remain in this packet. You have to open the packet, take the seeds out, dig down deep & plant them in good soil. When you do, the results are beautiful flowers! 

You need to be able to put soil over your seeds, so thats where the shovel comes in. The shovel represents all the things that we need to lay down and surrender to God! 

As I was looking at the picture of the shovels, a story came to my mind. Last summer, my Grandma’s house was needing work done on its foundation. My family decided that we would do the work ourselves. I went over to help dig around the outside of the house. What I soon found out was this was not just a “hole” I was digging. We had to dig 4 feet down and about 3 feet wide for a stretch of about 10 feet. Words to describe this task were blisters, sweat, dirt in every crack and crevice, sore muscles, fatigue and the list goes on and on. It took a long time to dig that trench! I had never been so worn out in my life! 

As I looked at the picture, I could only imagine how much more work it would have been if I only had this little shovel. I would not have gotten far at all; it would have been impossible. Thankfully, with this big shovel, and with the help of others, I was able to do so much more. I was able to go so much deeper! Without this big shovel I wouldn't have been able to break through so many objects that were in the way and reach my goal. 

Ladies, this is like our relationship with God. We go about our days with our little shovel, digging our way through trying to complete our plans and obtain our goals. But it seems to take so long, and we realize we aren’t making any progress. Then we finally stop, exhausted and worn out and finally our take our eyes off of our plans and goals and look at God. He says, now that I have your attention, look how much BIGGER my shovel is! What a visual! 

Luckily, we don't have to go through life digging our own way with our own little shovel. Ladies, we have access to a big shovel! Compared to God, we are so small! Our plans are so small and His are so big! Our ways are so much harder, His ways are so much easier! Our dreams for our lives dim in comparison to His dreams for us! We need to quit doubting and start trusting! We need to quit trying so hard to make our own way and start surrendering to Him! Let Him dig deeper for you! 

How do we do that? Surrender your shovel! If you want to go deeper, you have to give God the shovel. You have to give him control. Then watch and see what happens. You will go deeper than you ever imagined. Further than you ever thought you’d go. 

We show our love by allowing God to dig beside us/with us. But we show our trust when we put down our shovel, surrender and allow God to dig for us. Trusting that He will get us the rest of the way. 

What are things that keep us from surrendering? -Preconceived notions, pride, lack of vision of God’s plans. We don’t want to give up control. We don’t trust His timing or his plans. Or, feeling that God has let you down in the past. 

What keeps you from surrendering? What is holding you back from going deeper with God? At this time we are going to invite you to come up. We have some peat pots already planted that you are welcome to take. But, if you are able, we would like you to take this opportunity for yourself to grab a peat pot (your dwelling place), and with God beside you, grasp your shovel, fill it with good soil and plant your “seeds of trust”. Plant those seeds of trust so that your roots can go deeper. 

What happens when we Dig Deeper in our relationship with God? We are changed! Not negatively with sweat, blisters, dirt and fatigue; we are changed for the better. In the best kind of way! When we begin trusting and surrendering, we will begin seeking God in prayer and worship. We begin quieting ourselves so that we can hear from God. We begin hearing God whisper into our hearts. We begin looking for God’s fingerprints all around us. As you begin trusting God deeper, you will ask God to take you deeper. You will want Him to take you deeper! And HE will take you deeper. 

The other night I was praying and God dropped the picture of a peat pot into my mind. It’s just a plain pot with soil being all we can see. We fill them with soil, dig down deep and plant our seed. Do flowers bloom immediately? No! We still only see the plain old peat pot with soil. So much brown! Not beautiful at all! But we know something that others don’t know. There is a seed in there. A seed that promises to grow into a beautiful flower! 

When we allow God to dig deep for us, we wont always see immediate results. Sometimes there is a waiting time, a transition time. Is the seed still there? Yes! Don’t grow impatient and begin digging up the seed that God planted to make sure it is still there. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see these beautiful flowers right away. Don’t begin to doubt that the flowers will never grow up out of the dirt. Whatever God has planted will produce bountiful, beautiful flowers. But only in His timing. 

In our lives sometimes all we see is this boring, brown peat pot & soil. But we can rest assured that if we have given God the shovel and have allowed Him to dig for us, that we will see the beautiful flowers rise up. 

When you begin to dig deeper in your relationship with God, those seeds of trust are planted. You will begin to see new life come up in you! You will see desire replace defeat, joy replace sorrow! You will see love replace heartache and you will see trust replace doubt! You will see Jesus rise up in you; it will be beautiful!