when tragedy strikes
why suffering?
the suffering of fools
temptations, tests, and trials
why does God test man, part one
testing and the education of life
what my cat taught me about testing, and trusting
why does God test man, part two
we are the clay
judging suffering
when we suffer: a warning
help when we hurt
flip the switch
the poetry of drawing near
hearts wounded by suffering
I am a quilter. And I prefer the look of hand-quilting. Now I hate to wear thimbles when I am quilting. I cannot feel the needle coming through the layers when I wear a thimble. Thus I am on a never-ending search for a better thimble.
One year I made a quilt for our church bazaar, which was to be raffled off through the sale of tickets. It was a king size: huge. And I did not have the luxury of completing it at a leisurely pace. This was the quilt I decided I would quilt without a thimble, LOL, so that I could more easily feel the needle coming through the layers.
Each time that needle came through, it left a little prick on my finger. After a few days of quilting, my finger was hurting. Thimbles were looking more and more welcome and less and less cumbersome the more I quilted. But then something happened to my finger. The skin became hard and calloused, and I lost feeling in that fingertip. I was able to continue quilting without a thimble, because the needle pricks ceased to hurt.
Now I don’t recommend quilting without a thimble. After the quilt was finished, it took weeks and weeks for the callous to wear away and the feeling to return to that fingertip.
But I learned then that even little tiny hurts to my heart, when there are enough of them, combine to make a large wound, if they are not healed by forgiveness, yieldedness, and humility toward the Lord right away. And that large wound is so painful, that in an effort at self-preservation, my heart
hardens so that the pain ceases to pain me.
pride: the hidden problem with hardness
portrait of a yielded heart
the poetry of a yielded heart
comfort when we suffer
taking comfort: psalm 42
the poetry of taking comfort
comfort, comfort, o my people
comfort as a mother comforts
a rabbit trail
the joy of intimacy
the poetry of intimacy
God’s comforting presence
why don’t I feel God?
christians and suffering
back from the abyss
Okay, okay….I'll spend some time this morning worshipping at the feet of Jesus. I received a new worship cd in the mail yesterday and today's as good a day as any to try it out. (Can you "try" worship cds out?)
Happy now? 🙂