On Loss...Daily Devotionals...and Inspiration

I am part of two different spiritual groups in my town.

One is "Mosaic Moms" which is a small, intimate group where we share prayers...our struggles...dreams and truly let our guards down...I love it.  It helps me to become closer to God..to Jesus and to remember to walk in his light.

The other group I belong to is much larger and part of a national organization in fact called MOPs (Mothers Of Preschoolers) It is a really cool group AND they even let you stay in the group when your child hits Kindergarten and beyond.  In this group, we sit at tables and we do share prayers and desires and whatever is on our heart.  This group also has different speakers, activities and projects and it is healing and fun.  I am making some great friends in this group and I am grateful.

Through this group, I learned of a young family in our town- parents in their early 30's with 3 little ones, all under the age of 5.  The husband/dad just passed away suddenly one month ago from a pre existing heart condition.

Awful....unbearable...how can she go on?

Well...I will tell you...she is doing just that.

Nicole Warner's name keeps showing up in front of me...various people have mentioned her...I have prayed for her in church and I believe there is a reason for us to connect.  She reached out to me on Instagram so we connected there and then I reached out to her on Facebook to connect.  Just trying to support her....but I didn't know how at first.

Then I found her blog.  She is a blogger like us.  She blogged about fashion, kids, etc...and now she writes about so much more.

She was going to cancel her blog host because as she put it, "how can I write about these trivial things anymore?"

God made her continue writing though and I am so glad he did.  What I am reading and seeing in her is blind faith...true faith....living in him and trusting...

I was finally brave enough to send her a private message and her note back was so kind but you know what really resonated with me?  In the eye of tragedy, she knows and sees him.  As she said, "God has been so good through all of this."  Outstanding....actually no words...think on that.

She is choosing joy...what a wonderful example for her children

Half of the time she doesn't want to get out of bed...but she does....I am so inspired by that...by her and by the faith.

Every morning, I go between my daily devotionals/bible readings and writing in my blog...my favorite way to wake up (and yes that also includes coffee- today it is PB&J flavored) :)

This morning's gospel reading is Mark 8:27-33. Jesus is explaining to his disciples  that he must undergo great suffering and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.

It rings so true today for us...for Nicole...what profound meaning we have for ourselves and for the lives he has given us.  From this suffering, will come eternal life.

I am gaining inspiration from Nicole and striving to be more like her.  You can read her blog HERE