The Refiner's Touch

Just thought I would share this story that was sent to me. It is SOOOO encouraging!! and gave me chills at the end...

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three they came across verse three which says, "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week the woman called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that, in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest so as to burn away all the impurities.


The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she thought again about the verse, that He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver. She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. For if the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's the easy part -- when I see my image reflected in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep His hand on you and watch over you until He sees His image in you.

Coming Home to a Sweet Face

This past week at work is what I usually call my "bad work week" and that's simply because of the way my schedule is. I have a really awesome schedule, but on this particular week in the rotation, it just feels like I can't catch a break! That's because I work a 4 day (night) weekend, then I'm only off for 2 days and then have to go right back for 2 days, so sometimes it's tough that week to be able to catch up on sleep, do things I WANT to do etc. Anyways...the point of this blog is not for me to complain, but to say that I am SO thankful for my Father in Heaven who chooses to bless me and give me little "surprises" even when I complain or don't seem very thankful. One of those came in the form of Natalie's nephew, Bennett (I've pretty much adopted him as mine too). Thursday morning I came home and he was here because he had spent the night when Nat. As soon as I walked back down the stairs, he was waiting for me and gave me a HUGE hug. I had so much fun eating breakfast with them and cutting up. This is what I came home to on Thursday morning:

So when I get home from work on Friday, Bennett wasn't here right when I got home, but about an hour or so later, Shelley (Nat's sister) shows up with Bennett AND Brooks! Double the FUN! Let me tell you, we had a chaotic house that morning because Natalie was baking/decorating cakes, Bennett was running around vacuuming (yes, the kid LOVES to vacuum!) etc. Shelley had to run to the store and left us in charge of the boys and it was all great and dandy until Bennett decides he's gonna sneak in Natalie's room, pick up her cell phone and somehow manage to call Chris (Nat's b/f) on speakerphone! When I realized what he was doing, I was trying to get the phone from him before anyone answered (mind you, I'm trying to hold a screaming baby in the midst of this). Chris answers, I'm trying to get the phone to tell him what's going on, (Brooks screaming), I drop the phone ON Brooks (he's still screaming) and am finally able to walk into the loud kitchen where Natalie is busy mixing, baking, decorating etc to hand her the phone. Needless to say, we all walked away without injury, but I sure broke a sweat! haha! It really was fun having the boys for the day and when it ends like this....you can't help but smile :)

God is GOOD!!

"When we expect to be satisfied with the basics, God

will often surprise us with treats."

--James MacDonald

Jesus, Take the Wheel

I found this quote the other day and when I came across it, it really struck me in a weird/neat way. It says,

"An evidence that our will has been broken is that we begin to thank God for that which seemed so bitter, knowing that His will is good and that in His time and in His way, He is able to make the most bitter waters sweet." --Nancy Leigh DeMoss

WOW! When I read that, it made me think about certain things in my life that I have tried to control. When I try to control things, or do things my way, it ALWAYS ends up a disaster! Sometimes we wonder why certain things happen to us or we ask God "Why did you do this to me?" or "why can't I just have THAT?!". We question "why do bad things happen to good people?" Well first of all, we live in a fallen world and are all sinners with a devil that will stop at nothing to keep up from having a relationship with God, so of course there are going to be bad things happening to us all the time. The good news is seeing God's amazing grace IN those situations we seem to be thrown into. This quote to me, describes exactly what God's grace is all about. When we thank Him for being the amazing God that He is during our rough times, He is able to teach us things through our hard times. We learn, we grow and we come out of the valley being a better person, a stronger person and having a stronger relationship with God. Sure, it hurts like heck while we are going through trials, but when God takes that situation and makes it "sweet", that's his amazing grace poured all over you! I guarantee you, that if you look back over the last few years of your life (or longer), you will be able to see so many times how God took that situation and taught you SOMETHING. It may have been something so small, but my theory is, if you go through something and you don't learn anything, what's the point? We don't always understand God and why His timing is SO completely different from ours, BUT we can rest in the fact that He IS God and His ways are always best. They may not always be the easiest, but the best.

"Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand all the time."--Oswald Chambers

There have been PLENTY of times that I cannot for the life of me understand why I am made to wait for certain things, or why certain things happen to ME. But what I have to constantly remind myself of is that God is in control and if I let him take the wheel of every situation in my life, He won't steer me wrong...

Ok, on a different subject 2 Sundays ago one of my very best friends (and roommate) got baptized! She recently joined our church (First Baptist Church of Opelika) and since she was a member of a Methodist church before, it was time for her to get dunked! I love this sweet girl SO much and don't know what I would do without her in my life (and house)! Her little sister's best friend got baptized on the same night!! Praise the Lord x2!!

Watching their baptism made me think of one of my favorite songs right now. It's called "Washed by the Water" by Needtobreathe. They are AWESOME!! check it out!