I have not blogged in almost a month. There is no time in my day to do all I would like - I am currently trying to finish all of our house renovations, get my husband ready to go to Florida, plus plan our homeschool year, plus get us packed. And all of the stress and upheaval in the past several months is definitely affecting my girls - lots of behavioral stuff, etc.

But all is not bad. Praise the Lord, He who began a good work in us is faithful to complete it! And He is able to do immeasurably MORE than anything I can ask or imagine. And my little brain is not that capable - so to think that the best plan I can come up, He probably has something better. The mountain in front of me seems way too huge to overcome - we have SO much to do in the next weeks, but like a friend encouraged me, "You can only eat an elephant a bite at a time." And so with the Lord's strength, I am attacking all I have to do in little bites!

I have noticed a pattern in my thoughts:

• This is just too hard
• When in the world will this all end?
• I am going to lose it!
• I am so tired - if I can just get to Florida...

And this morning, I was studying Joseph in my Patriarchs study by Beth Moore. And in the lesson on his temptation by Potiphar's wife, although totally unrelated, she made the comment that we should prepare in advance our reasons not to give in to temptation. And that led to me thinking about my thoughts - I am not deliberately keeping my eyes on Jesus; I am not stopping those thoughts - I am giving in to them, to despair, to discouragement. NO! So I listed all of them, and then I listed Bible verses that refuted those thoughts. Want to see my list?

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.

John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who comes to Me will never be thirsty."

Ephesians 3: 20, 21 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory...

Philippians 2:14 Do everything without complaining or arguing...

Philippians 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always.

As dh would say, "Them's fighting words!" And it has to be a fight, to stand firm - it has to be a deliberate thing, to practice controlling my thoughts, to purposefully set my mind on Jesus. I have been wallowing in a defeatist thought-life, and it has manifested itself in my physical self - stress, upset stomach, and in my relationships - snapping at the girls, worrying, resentment. You get the idea. But we serve an Almighty God - and He is so able to help us through anything that is in our faces, so I don't have to just limp and crawl to the end of this stressful time, I can get thru it standing firm, victorious over my worry, doubt, fear.

So now, I have to practice all of this - to rest securely in Him, not giving in to those worrisome thoughts. And this blog will be a reminder, and I plan on keeping those scriptures handy, to strengthen me anytime I feel weak!