Week Seven 9-10-2006

 Happy Sunday to all! 

I apologize for the tardiness of my thoughts this week.  I have been not well and was unable to sit here and type until today.  I have been thinking of you all and as always you each remain in my prayers.  My mom told me a few weeks ago about an inspiring sermon given at her church.  She quoted verses from 1 Kings 19:4-8 along with 2 others.  I remember her excitement as she worked to apply what she learned to her everyday life.  She enlightened me about how Elijah was experiencing what we all do, a valley.  We all have hills and valleys we travel through.  When we come down from the hills, the peaks, we are typically tired and feel unable to go on and that is when the devil pounces on us.  That little stinker is exactly how 1 Peter 5:8-9 describes him, “like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” and he wants to push us down and make us feel we cannot pull back out of the valleys, the ditches to get back to the road we are traveling.  I like the way the Bible is constantly reminded us that other Christians are going thru the same thing.  It helps me to say to myself that it may be rough but others have gone thru it and survived by faith and I can too!  We not only need to remember what we are all each experiencing but also that we can turn to each other in our times of weakness, when stumbling through a valley, we can turn to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ for strength, inspiration and love.  We can also always turn to our heavenly Father and He will either deliver us directly from it or guide us and strengthen us to move thru it.  It all comes back to His plan for us, and how He has that plan in place to give us hope and a future.  He knows we need Him and we also need some tangible assistance, friends and family to help us stay strong, to pray for each other.  When we are up on those peaks in our lives we need to draw from those experiences the strength and store them in our hearts to reach for when we are weakened and fall into a valley.  I know I have been fighting a valley of my own with this sinus infection.  I cannot say I stayed 100% strong and positive, I know there were a few complaints on my part, aches and chills, and the like.  However, for the most part, I was thankful for what I could find in the experience...thankful that in the 6 months since I started my allergy shots this is the first sinus infection I have had {I routinely in the past would have been sick at least 3 times in that time-span}, I was equally grateful that I listened to God's wisdom and to my body and took myself to the doctor on Friday before it got so bad that I miss multiple days of work.   Beyond those I was additionally thankful that I got this now as opposed to 2 weeks from now when we will be heading on vacation to IL to visit family and friends.  That's a lot of thankfulness and there were more on top of those but I don't want this to be all about me.  So as we head into this week I pray that each of you may enjoy your peaks and find ways to be thankful even in your valleys.  I pray that you all will remain alert against the enemy's lion ways and remember that your brothers and sisters in Christ are not only here for you but are experiencing their own valleys as well.  I pray that you stay strong spiritually and physically and when you feel tired that you lean upon God, His word and His children - because together we can all hold onto our victory in Him.  I additionally pray that God surrounds you with His love, favor and blessings this day, this week and always.  Have an awesome week ahead!
Love through Christ,
Niki

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