In The Valley

Well I am here..Can you believe it??  I don't really need a answer.  I am glad to report I am alive and well and I have actually missed the blogging craze.

You may think the title of my blog will include this huge valley I have been in and how I have managed to survive.  I have not been in a valley but I have been a pit dweller ever since my trip to MT.  The trip was great and I loved every minute with my family and my husband's week of teaching was great.  Thank the Lord 12 kids accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.  The pit dwelling came before we left.  I didn't realize until today that I was actually pit dwelling instead of being in a valley.  The Friday we left for MT my husband's work van was stolen right out of our driveway.  The van was recovered a few hours later without my husband's tools.  Every last one was gone.  Thirty years of adding to and collecting for his livelihood gone...Hmm really Lord right on the day we are to leave for MT (a trip involving ministry)???  I am not getting it at the moment.  We move forward to Friday afternoon and as I am checking in for our flight for the early am I have encountered a huge snag....YOUR FLIGHT HAS BEEN CANCELED...CONTACT THE AIRLINES....really Lord... a hail storm in Denver...49 planes damaged...10 days out with flights...the second scoop of the shovel into my pit.  As I was waiting on hold for 1 1/2 to find out what we could do about our flight I begin to pray....Lord I can deal with the flight and I can even deal with the possibility of not going to MT...but the stolen van is hard to deal with.  As I am waiting for the super nice airline rep. to find a solution to our dilemma I begin to see the Lord working things out and I feel peace that we will get to MT in a timely manner.  Frontier airline reps are the best.  I shelved the stolen van incident for another day.  The enemy continued to fire darts at us all week and we weathered all of that ( that is a story for another day).  A week later as we were traveling home I began to think of all that was waiting for us at home...mainly things to do with the van.  I also began to sense a new fear creeping in ever so quietly.  I was so bent on this becoming a valley that Lord would walk me through...problem is I stopped walking...I got stuck.  You know feeling sorry for us and being afraid to go home.  My friend Cindy prayed for me one night for protection and to come against that spirit of fear...it worked for a little bit..until I decided to go deeper into the pit and rely on me instead of Him.  Our Pastor is doing a series on Psalm 23.  We were on vs 4..you know "though I walk through the valley...,  I won't be afraid...your rod and staff comfort me..."  I thought boy I have been in a valley...whew glad the Lord showed me that.....no the Lord showed me I have not been walking I have laid down and acted like I was finished.  I have not allowed his rod and staff to comfort me.  I have not allowed his presence to give me comfort..I have been hanging out in the pit.  The epiphany I had was when Pastor said there is always a valley in between two mountains.  It's in the valleys that we gain strength to get to the next mountain top.  I have been leaving out the moving part of the verse.  I am so thankful I have a Pastor that allows the Lord to put motion to the Word.  I appreciate the challenge God's Word provides in my life to keep me moving.  Don't get me wrong..I have not been depressed, but I have been just kind of walking in a fog...not really seeing all that God has been trying to teach me.  I also read in I Peter that the trials only last for  awhile and then He restores us... Restore now there's a word of hope... I have a lot of friends and family that have been in deep valleys and are trying to move through.  There is that mountain on the other side.  I think we only think we see Jesus on the mountain like Moses...but Jesus never leaves or forsakes us and that means in the valleys and the pits ladies.  God does not give us a shovel to dig a pit,but he gives us His hand to lead us through the valley...Being in the House Of The Lord has been awesome today and I am thankful for the valleys..so ladies keep on moving.  You know another thing about valleys is that  they are green and lush so we can gain rest as well as strength...I am so thankful God knows me through and through and He still loves me and still tells me "come on Kelley let's hold hands and I will take you through..even if you want to sit down and quit...God is great!!!

On a lighter note I get to start keeping my sweet Piper tomorrow.  She brings such joy to me and I can't wait to spoil her rotten...well maybe not rotten(just kidding Erica).....What a great way to start my week.