SOMETIMES WE NEED REMINDERS

Do you ever feel like you are sort of gridlocked?

Like nothing in your life is really going anywhere?

Not that everything sucks, but, you sort of have several doors open, and you're just kinda hanging out waiting, but nothing's really coming to fruition?

Well, I kinda feel like that.
And I really struggle to let go and release control {that I never really had anyway}.

This verse from Psalms always helps me to calm down and realize that I need to just wait.

Be still.

Stay calm.

And listen - without distraction.

God will act when it's time.

And, really, he is likely already acting, but we can't see it yet - like planting a seed - we can't see what's growing until it sprouts and is visible to the naked eye.

I was making this yesterday before I received my friend's response to an email I'd written her {as I bawled} about how I just feel purposeless, like I should be doing something, but what? That the thing in my heart that I feel that I want in the most desperate way, is just not happening. And neither are any of the other things that I apply for, or look forward to.
As I was finishing this up, I received her email, and she said something that really resonated with me: {While I feel like God forgot about me, and nothing is happening} she said that instead, maybe God is removing all the distractions in my life so that I can be still and listen.

How ironic, right?

He speaks to us, just gotta make it a point to listen.

I realized that I am half-way praying to God, but I am not really giving up any of my control issues.
I am not being still.
I am not waiting.
And I'm not trusting, if I'm being honest with myself.

So, here it is. My reminder.

I do think that I want to add "Psalms 46:10" somewhere along the bottom.

Making things is very therapeutic for me.

I love to just turn on an instrumental station on Pandora and just create.

{I really like Classical for Studying and Instrumental Hip Hop.}

 

Almost any age could do a project like this one.

I simply used:

- an artist's canvas

- bits of paper and thin printed fabric

-glue mixed with a dab of water

You basically want to cover each piece of paper/fabric front and back with the glue mixture.

I did mine in stages, letting the lower layers dry before I added the wording, but it's a good idea to cut out all the pieces you think you'll need before getting started so you don't get glue everywhere.

{I used my fingers instead of a brush to apply the glue.}

It will look cloudy as you work, but it will dry clear.

You could use any bible verse, or quote that means something special to you. Or, even if you just wanted to use images. It's a blank canvas - do your thang!

Happy craftin', y'all!

And just be still. Answers don't come overnight.

{The more reminders I can give myself, the better.}

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And on a related {for me} note, a friend shared this article with me. It speaks about how to understand and "handle" that friend of yours who is struggling with infertility - meaning anything from "We can't have children" to "It's taking us a much longer time than expected" to "We have suffered loss" to "We are finally pregnant now, but we went through so much to get here, and I am still scared of what might not go as it should" ... Desperately wanting a child and struggling to have one, or losing one, or both {sometimes repeatedly} is a very, very painful and scary place to be, especially if you have no children at all.

 It is extremely difficult to be faced with others who have been luckier and have a child or children of their own. It's not that you aren't happy for them, but it's more a reminder of what you still don't have. 

It's important to remember that if you haven't been there, you won't get it, and that's to be expected. You may say and do things that are like a kick in your friend's stomach - and you would never see it that way, and you would never do it on purpose. However, your friend who is struggling may not feel comfortable in certain situations and may distance herself. To me, the article hit the nail on the head. It's not about you. One thing that you can do for your friend is pray.

Here is the article.