Happy New Year!

We are beginning a brand new year filled with adventure, danger,
and excitement. We can look at it with fear and trembling or
rest in the blessed hope that only Christ gives.

The last year, 2012 is behind us. For our family, we saw a lot of sad times,
intense moments, harried times, but we also had moments of
laughter and happiness and made some wonderful memories.
A friend once told me that life is what you make it to be. If you want to be
sad and lonely, then that is your choice. If you want to be happy, it is a choice
that you make. Every moment is a choice. When we choose to follow Christ
we can be assured of true happiness in spite of the circumstances.

But what about things that happen beyond our control?

• Tragedies happen to everyone.
• Death snatches our loved ones and we mourn for their loss.
• Job security is a thing of the past.
• Unexpected things happen that drains the checking account faster than you can blink an eye.
• I am sure you could add to this list of things that happened already.

Remember Who is in control here. God is never taken by surprise.
He knew what was going to happen before it takes place. He will not allow
anything to come into your life without His knowledge. He knows
how much we can take and He will not allow things to totally break us.
Sometimes we may think we cannot take any more, but through the
difficulties, we can see His hand in the worst of situations. It doesn't
matter what your struggle is, He has your eternal good in mind.

Sometimes we do not understand what God is doing in our lives.
We cannot see through the veil of darkness.  Beyond that veil that
is so dark lies Paradise! Paradise-- where God dwells--- will be our final
resting place, not the cold, damp, dusty earth here below.

One day, I was talking to God in my quiet time with Him. Let me share
a portion of what He said in my prayer journal.

"Every trial that you win becomes like a diamond and glistens in the noonday sun.
When you look back, you will see where those diamonds are. Your pathway is strewn
with diamonds of victories. The tears that you have shed for others glisten like the
dewdrops on roses in the early morning sunlight. Every prayer that you have prayed
for others shows beauty beyond compare. Every kind deed that you have done shows
splendor and beauty beyond compare. I take the mundane, difficult things in your
life and turn them into beauty. But all of this does not happen unless you patiently
go through the trials and tests that I send your way to strengthen you. 

When you feel discouraged, look back at the pathway that I see...strewn with
diamonds and other costly gems bordered by beautiful roses and flowers beyond description.

Yes, life is hard for the believer, but don't look at it that way. Look for the beauty
that I am creating in you. 
Your path of endurance glitters in the noonday sun so that others may see it and
 find their way to where I am. 
I am where you will be one day... I have prepared a place beyond your wildest dreams.
So, endure! I will be with you and deliver you when you call on Me. Trust brings results...wonderful results for all eternity! " 


So whatever happens in 2013 will prepare us for Paradise forever!


Happy New Year!