Finding Good in the Midst of the Hard

Horses, like humans, have distinct personalities. Toby, my first horse, has always been sassy and full of zip, but he's slowed quite a bit. He's more than thirty years old now, and his personality is a little more zap than zip. He's slower to come up than he used to be and his final days are near.

When it comes to eating, he's especially slow, and it shows in his gaunt physique. I've added extra feed, wormed him more often, checked his teeth. No change. He's always been thin, but he's gotten thinner as the years have passed. "Just like me," Sam always said. "We're both thin. It don't matter a bit." 

Most of the time, I feed the horses together in one trough at the edge of the pasture. The younger horses eat quickly. Toby chews on every bite. It takes him a while, and he's often at the trough long after the other horses have wandered away. Hay's always available, so he's never without something to eat, but I've worried about him. 

When single-digit weather came, I moved the horses to the pasture behind the barn and started feeding them in stalls again. The first day, the young horses were finished eating long before Toby. I waited a bit to turn them out, and Toby finished his grain.

Last night, I dumped feed in Toby's pan and ran my hand down his side. He was still lean, but his ribs weren't quite as prominent. He'd gained a few pounds since he'd been in the barn. "Hey, Toby, I think the freezing weather has helped you, old buddy." He kept his head in the feed.

The cold snap brought low temperatures, ice, frozen pipes, and extra work, but the effort hasn't been wasted. Toby's a little better. It's a bit of good in the midst of the hard.

I've been through plenty of hard times in my life, but one thing's been true of every difficulty. There's always something good in the midst, IF we're willing to look for it.

Today, let's spend some time considering our own difficulties. What growth has God brought from it? How are we becoming more like Him? How has blessing come from the hard? Let's look close to find the good, and be sure to thank Him for what He has done.

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Romans 8:35, 37 nasb

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In case you missed it, here's the link to yesterday's post: The Method in the Madness and Learning from the Land

Friday Night With Friends: A New Beginning

Our Friday Night with Friends guest blogger is Kathy McKinsey. She's a fellow writer with a remarkable story of perseverance and grace. You will be so blessed by her story. Be sure and give her some encouragement, too. Enjoy!

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I am almost fifty-five years old, and I believe God has given me a new beginning.

Three years ago, an accident left me with a brain injury. I had to quit work, and since then I’ve often felt unneeded. Always a busy person, I suddenly did not know what I could do of any use to anyone else.

For the last month or more, I have a new spring in my step.

I have been blind my entire life. I never considered myself special, but I believed I lived an energetic, independent, constructive life. After my accident, I suddenly had more disabilities to deal with. I became angry and hurt, and believed other people saw me as disabled far more than when I was “only visually impaired.”

I’ve discovered who dropped this heavy weight of “disability” around me.

It was me.

I decided to give in to all the multiple disabilities. Even as I struggled to find new ways to use my life, I kept reminding myself to allow for what I couldn’t do anymore.

I have much less energy, and I have difficulty with balance. So I let my family do many things for me which I could do myself. I didn’t pick up much work around the house. I worked on my writing and on my certification as a braille transcriber and proofreader, but I told myself it was okay if I didn’t feel like doing much of those things with any strong or regular effort.

I have hearing loss, trouble with memory, and difficulty completing sentences and finding the right word. So I allowed myself not to be n many groups outside the home, not to try to carry on conversations.

All of these difficulties are true, but I decided I could use them to settle back and not be much of a participant in life. I was basically a sit in my easy chair kind of retired lady.

What changed a month or so ago? We bought a dishwasher, and I decided to start doing the laundry again. Seriously. I know it’s more than that, but it’s amazed me how doing these household chores has renewed my sense of being useful.

And my writing.

When I was a teenager, my dream was to be a writer. I sold a few short stories and poems to magazines. I was an author.

Then for more than thirty years, I allowed school, raising a family, and work to convince me I didn’t have much time for writing. I told myself that I’d take it up again when I retired.

I’ve always heard that God may not answer our prayers as soon as we want, and maybe not in the way we think he should. I don’t remember if I prayed much about writing when I was a teenager, but God has certainly made my dream come true much later and in a much different way than I imagined.

When I couldn’t go back to work, I realized that now is my time to write.

For the last three years, I’ve worked on short stories, articles, and started a couple books. I’ve joined a critique group, and I take classes online and read books about writing. Over the past year, I’ve had three articles accepted by a magazine. Again, being disabled, I figured this was good enough. I didn’t need to put any more effort into it than I felt like. Relax and take it slow.

A couple months ago, a publisher asked to see a children’s book I sent them a query for.

This sparked some motivation in me to work more seriously and diligently as a writer. Stretch my limits, work more hours, take some risks, boldly ask God to bless my writing career.

I may never publish a book. My writing may be only for me, my family and friends, and my critique partners. But I’m going to put a new effort into it. It’s going to be a job that I put energy, time, and effort into.

Before my accident, I wasn’t conquered by disability because, with much support, I didn’t let it keep me from doing the things I wanted to do. I wanted to show my children that a person with a disability could be successful. Now I want to show them that disabled person doesn’t have to give up when confronted with new obstacles.

At some points of the day, my mind races—with things I have to do around the house, writing projects I want to work on, research I need to do, critiques I need to finish for others. I’m not retired anymore.

Another result of my accident. Because of nerve damage, one eye needed to be sewed almost entirely closed, and one side of my mouth doesn’t lift. Vainly, I’ve worried that my face doesn’t look very appealing. But today, I was able to laugh about it with my husband Murray. “A wink and a crooked smile. Most people have to work at that, but I can do it without even trying.”

I know I’ll probably still have times when I’m discouraged and don’t feel useful. But one thing I know for sure, and thank God for. I can still be productive, happy, and I don’t plan to retire for a long time.

James 1:16-17:  Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Psalms 73:26: My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

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Read more by Kathy at her blog:  http://kathymckinseyauthor.blogspot.com

#persevere #adversity #writerslife #powerofGod #JesusChrist

Adversity

“Jesus answered, ‘It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.’”  

John 9:3 NASB

When the child was born, there was great anticipation and great joy, until it became obvious that the much wanted son was blind.  Blindness meant that he would never have a job, a family, or  a home of his own.  He would never support himself except by begging.  Someone had sinned, or so it seemed, and sightless eyes were the punishment.  Those eyes remained sightless for many years.  The family remained in darkness, for they simply did not understand.

Finally, Jesus arrived.  His disciples, too, thought that the man’s burden was caused by sin.  “Whose?” they asked.  Jesus explained that the blindness had nothing to do with sin, but was simply an opportunity for God’s works to be displayed.  It was a demonstration that was not yet complete.

The blind beggar was just trying to get enough money to make it another day.  He probably never saw his life in terms of the miraculous things to come.  His parents probably did not either.  No one saw anything miraculous in his position by the temple that blessed day.  No one but Jesus.  When Jesus looked at the beggar, He saw a miracle that had been in the making for years.  It came to fruition that day, and the beggar’s sight was restored.

Do you have adversity in your life?  Does it seem to be never-ending?  Sometimes adversity is prolonged so that God’s perfect will can be accomplished.  Try looking at your situation from His perspective. Maybe what you have is not adversity, but a miracle in the making.