Weathering the Storms of Life

Last year was a different year for Tim and me. In the fall of 2016, Tim was offered a job in South Carolina. Our first instinct was there was no possible way we could leave our family in Kentucky.

God had different ideas.

We couldn't fathom God would ask us to move at the beginning of our empty nest years. But He did. So, we moved. March 1, 2017 was our first offical day living in South Carolina.

Two big lessons we learned this year were if God calls you need to say yes. He doesn't promise it will be easy to obey his call, but He won't leave or forsake you.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 3:16 NIV

The other lesson we learned, the Holy Spirit will go ahead of you. If you're called to minister to others, He will prepare them for you. So many people tell me how much Tim has touched their lives since we moved to South Carolina. He's a man of integrity and tries his best to be a representative of God's light to others. It's been a hard year for many reasons. We faced challenges. But we've persevered. We even weathered a hurricane scare.

Lamentations 3:21-24 ESV "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him.”"

God is good and merciful. We're thankful for 2017, and we're looking forward to an even better 2018.

Hope

I was blessed to spend the week after Christmas in Kentucky with my family. During this time, Brooke helped me pick out pictures of dogs for my new stories and we named them. I was impressed how much thought she put into the process. It was fun working with her.

Brook and I also discussed picking out a word at the beginning of the year and focusing on it and God. We discussed a few possibilities and she nudged me to picking Hope. I've picked the word hope another year, but we can never have too much hope.

1 Peter 1:3-5 says, "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."

My hope is in Jesus, and I look forward to what God has in store for me in 2018.

Yucky Yellow Relish

I'm sure you've heard the saying, no good deed goes unpunished. I'd like to share a story that exemplifies this saying.

Some of my first memories are of going to my dad's drug store in Owensboro, KY. They had a soda fountain and made deliveries. It was always fun to go visit him and Mom often let us sit on the spinning stools at the fountain and order a special treat.

When I was eight-years-old, we moved to Elizabethtown, KY where my dad bought a drug store on the town square. My dad has a huge heart. Customers loved him. The bank tellers and even other pharmacists respected and loved my dad. To this day, my dad has a story or joke for every situation. And he doesn't know a stranger. When my youngest son was playing tennis in high school and college, a few of his opponents met my dad before meeting Scott. Like I said, he doesn't know a stranger.

But I digress. My mother ran the front end of the drug store while we were in school while dad took care of the pharmacy. My brother and I loved to go down to the store when we weren't in school. I learned how to use a cash register and make grab bags at the store. There was also a storage basement where Chris and I would play. We could also walk to the library or run to the bank for change from the store.

Many of Dad's customers were farmers or some people struggling financially. Sometimes they couldn't afford their medicines. Dad couldn't let a person walk away if they needed a prescription. He'd say they could pay him later. Sometimes they couldn't. And sometimes they'd give him things like jars of yellow relish. Yuck. But we ate it. I don't know if Mom really liked it or if she was being kind. I followed her lead though and ate the yucky relish.

One thing I learned from this was it pays to be kind. Dad didn't make a lot of money at the drug store, but he made a lot of loyal friends. Both of my parents have a huge heart for others. I hope my heart for others shines like theirs does.

Jeremiah 9:23-24 New International Version
This is what the Lord says:

“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.