don't lose heart

"therefore i tell you, do not worry about your life,

what you will eat or drink;

or about your body, what you will wear.

is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?

look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

are you not much more valuable than they?

can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

and why do you worry about clothes?

see how the flowers of the field grow. they do not labor or spin.

yet i tell you that not even solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

if that is how God clothes the grass of the field,

which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire,

will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?

so do not worry, saying,

'what shall we eat?'

or

'what shall we drink?'

or

'what shall we wear?'

for the pagans run after all these things,

and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well.

therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

each day has enough trouble of its own."

~matthew 6:25-34

wow... what a long day! i had meant to get to this post much earlier. i feel like i am falling behind in my workshops and blogging. but i had some things that i had committed to that had to get done today... wrapping up a wedding invitation design for a friend, and two blog banner designs for two blog friends {one old and one new!}

everything went swimmingly, i got it all done, and i was proud of how it all turned out! like i said, long day... but good day! and i think it was a good thing i was busy. after yesterday, i need to keep busy and not have time to worry. not that the day didn't start out with some worrying.

and worrying is so very needless {see verses above}. it's just not helpful to anyone! especially me and baby-b. so, i sort of needed a little sermon. and i got it, too. from none other than my sweet mama. sometimes it's the last thing we want to hear... a "sermon" from our mother. but today, i really needed her words of admonition and encouragement... even reprimanding {for worrying when i should not be adding stress on baby-b}.

we got off the phone, and minutes later, she called again to have me turn on the radio and listen to this message by nancy leigh demoss from her don't lose heart series. this one was called renew your perspective. 

if you are feeling worried and burnt out, i VERY HIGHLY recommend you listen to it! it was so very good. it was as if every single word of her message specifically addressed every single thing my mom and i talked about this morning... all the things i have talked about here recently. and i REALLY needed that encouragement today!

well, before this post gets too long, i just wanted to say, today was much better. i renewed my perspective and chose not to lose hope. and my mind kept going back to the verses that b. called me into his "man cave" to read to me when he was doing his daily bible reading a few days ago... the verses i quoted above. i've heard them a million times. but each time, they are just as wonderfully fresh and helpful as ever before. for some strange reason, i have to constantly be reminded of these truths.

and my mind has also been going back to another verse... one of my favorites:

"you keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you." ~isaiah 26:3

that's good, no? i find it to be true when i put it to the test. when i am focused on God and intently trusting him, i find i have such indescribable peace. it's when i get my eyes off of him and back onto my problems, that i start to get all worried and hysterical {*wink*} again.

well... to make a long story short, i am sort of flip-flopping yesterday's and today's picture winter themes. today's theme was "signs of life". i found it very appropriate to submit one of my photos from yesterday's post for the prompt today {for obvious reasons}.

and very ironically, yesterday's theme of "warm your heart" went very well with what i have felt is the theme of my day, today... "don't lose heart". i was sort of run-down yesterday, so i chose to submit an old photo for the workshop. but i'm making up for it today with my group of heart-themed photos here:

God has provided through caring people. we have food on our table {thanks to countless people too many to list}...

and juice in our fridge {thanks to those same people}...

and lots of borrowed or gifted maternity clothes. {thanks to jill and and angela!} we shall not want.


i have much more to say about the connections i have recently made through my blogs and these workshops at another time. but quickly, i wanted to say a special thank you to a new blog/workshop friend, who sent me an e-card today with some hopeful words. it quoted a bible verse that said,

"let him have all your worries and cares,

for HE is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you."

~1st peter 5:7 {tlb}

i needed to read that. "he is ALWAYS thinking about you."

couldn't resist adding this at the end. remember b's "hi" message for me? i turned it into a heart.

i hope you have read this all today and found some hope and encouragement, too.