I haven't written for a while mostly because my pregnancy was getting harder, and then I had my baby 4 weeks early. Now he is over 2 months old and I've had some postpartum depression. A friend recommended I read The Hiding Place. I was reluctant at first because I already knew the story of the fleas and wasn't sure I wanted more detail about the atrocities of Nazi Germany. But now I am so glad I have read this amazing book. So many things in this book were lessons I needed right now.
The biggest lesson I took from it is "There are no 'ifs' in God's Kingdom." This statement, found in a few places in the book, to me epitomizes trust in God and the bigger picture that only He sees. This is something I have struggled with over the years. I want to be in control of my life. I want to know everything will be okay. I want to lay out my days and know that nothing will interfere with my plans. As a homeschooling mother of now four children this just isn't possible. Some things can be planned but most things can't. Most teaching comes at times when I didn't plan it. Most outings are interrupted or postponed by something or another. It can be hard to not get caught up in the 'ifs'. If my kids had been spaced farther apart.... If my husband had gone to college after high school instead of working retail.... If we had made better choices financially when we were a young married couple and had less debt.... If so many things were different how would things be better or worse?
But when you see that there are no 'ifs' in God's Kingdom and instead of dwelling on 'ifs' you just have pure gratitude for everything God gives you, life is so much better. Life is full and exciting! Gratitude for both the good and the bad, and trust that even the bad can be turned into good by God were the lessons I was taught in such powerful ways from this book. I think it will become an annual read for me. So many things would be good to be reminded of, and maybe next time I will have a different take away message. But this time right now I need to just trust God's plan for me and allow Him to work out the details in my life like only He knows how.
If miracles happened even in Nazi Germany, then why not for me right now?
