Tag: God

God Is Faithful in All the Details

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

I wrote this Monday and am just getting around to posting.  For those who do not know, my son suffered a traumatic brain injury while attending camp at JH Ranch in California on July 28, 2014.  It has been a rough road at times during his recovery, but God time and time again shows himself faithful!

I know some of my posts are long, but if you never read another one, please read this one! If you doubt there is a God, or you doubt that He could love and adore you, please be encouraged and take hope from what happened to me today.

It all started two weeks ago. I was sitting outside the Newk’s on Highway 280 having lunch by myself. A very attractive woman who was older than me approached me and said; “Your hair is so cute. I have not lived here long, do you mind telling me who cuts it?” I told her I would as I was scrambling for my phone that I could not readily find. I told her to write her phone number on my napkin, and I would text her the information.

After she had left I found my phone, and I texted her my name and the name and phone number of the friend who cuts my hair. She texted me back right away and told me she was so grateful to now have a place to get a good haircut. I responded to her “God is good all the time.” A few minutes later I get another text from her asking me if I would be willing to have lunch with her. I felt there was a bigger picture-God’s picture- being played out, so I said SURE!

Last week, she texted me and said she had gotten her haircut by my friend and she was anxious to have lunch. I told her I could not go last week because my sister was in town, but could the next week. She responded, “How about Monday,” and I agreed.

Today was the day! To be perfectly honest, I was feeling a little blue this morning about some circumstances. I prayed and told The Lord I was not feeling like going to lunch today, but if it was His will for me to go, to make it happen. I still had a sense there was a story unfolding. Not long after my prayer she texted me to confirm.

We meet today at noon. As we were standing in line to order, she said to me, “You have no idea who I am, but I have found out who you are.” Now a statement like that immediately made me a little nervous! I awkwardly said, “what do you mean?” She told me when she was getting her haircut, my hairdresser was talking about me (not in a bad way), and she told her just enough that she learned who I was. She then told me, “I work for JH Ranch, and I was standing at the lake the moment of your son’s accident. Immediate tears!

She went on to tell me that she and the other staff around the lake knew it was serious, and they all dropped to their knees in prayer. I now am crying hard. She felt bad, but I assured her this was a good cry. A cry of, Oh what an awesome God I worship who orchestrated this whole meeting. A God, who knew just what I needed today. A God, who blows me away, with His love for me. God is good, and He does care about every detail, even my melancholy, Monday morning.

Needless to say, we did not eat much. She shared so many stories with me that filled in what has been a lot of blanks for over a year now. I shared with her all the mercies and miracles we experienced after the paramedics had taken Carter from the ranch.

She also told me that she had initially passed me outside Newk’s that fateful day. She noticed me, and something inside her tugged at her heart, “Go talk to her.” Then, after she received my last text, again she told me she felt that nudge, “Invite her to lunch.” All along she didn’t know why but she has learned to be obedient to those promptings.

This divinely designed encounter was one of the most beautiful gifts I have ever received. I will never forget today! God can love you like that too, friends. I am a sinner who needs grace every day and every hour. Still, He adores me and today he blew me away with his faithfulness and love. Thank you, LORD, for loving a sinner like me. I ask you today to shower your affection on all my friends, reminding them WHOSE they are.

A Prayer for Replacing Panic With Prayer

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

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Father when things do not go according to plan as they often do not, I am prone to a default reaction of panic rather than a posture of prayer.  Panic leads me to fear and worry sending me spiraling away from You.  The further I become from you, the more responsible I feel to make life work on my own.  In my busyness to “manage” life, I become so distracted with misguided priorities that I neglect my time with you.  As your word recounts in Luke, call me “out of the kitchen” as you did Martha.  Place within me the heart of Mary that desires to sit fully surrendered at your feet and bask in your presence.  Amen.

Are You Waiting?

- dannalundstrom

  
Are you waiting?
I am a fairly patient person but when it comes to waiting on matters close to my heart, I am a work in progress. Waiting for answers to my desperate prayers, especially the ones I have been praying for a long time challenges my patience and tests my faith every day. (Psalm 119:81)

I am learning to train myself to remember that my wait is God’s welcome. It is His invitation for me to grasp a deeper dependence on Him, strengthen my trust in His plan, not mine, and to spend more time in His presence. Also, I have come to realize that when I am waiting, He is working in me the most. He is pruning me and perfecting His plans for me.

God answers some prayers immediately. Some take us through many intervals of being on hold. I think in one way or another we are all in a season of waiting. I am practicing being grateful in my wait because I believe God’s word. (Lamentations 3:25)

I know that His timing is perfect even when it looks imperfect to me. I am practicing praising Him in my waiting because I am certain it is a conduit He uses to work all things for my good. (Romans 8:28.)

Sometimes my wait ends in an outcome that my earthly eyes view as unfavorable, but God has eternal eyes, and I trust His superior vision above my self-centered sight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

If you are in a time of waiting, do not let it be wasted. Practice prayer. Practice trusting that God is perfecting His plan for you. Lastly, practice praising Him for the good things He is doing for you that no man can immediately see or imagine. It will transform the weariness of your wait, and give greater purpose to your grueling pause. (Psalm 33:20-22)

Keep fighting the good fight, friends!

The Angel of Adversity

- dannalundstrom

 

Perfect love permits pain.   1 John 4:8 says God is love.   God permits pain.   No one can estimate the profit of pain until we have journeyed far enough through it to see the distance we or our loved ones have traveled.   God being sovereign could stay our suffering, but it would stifle His ultimate purpose.   Only Divine love is steadfast and strong enough to allow the angel of adversity to remain until her work is done.   Whatever pain you or a loved one are carrying today, rest assured it has an eternal purpose.   It is not your job to understand it, just to stand still under it and believe God’s promises that have been given to you.
Father, I confess that the pervasiveness of pain and suffering around me sometimes leads me down resolving roads that maximize me and minimize You.   In my flesh, solving feels more productive than being still.   Remind us all today that it is in pain we find purpose and in stillness we discover strength. May we rest along the restless roads of life and leave the resolving to You, the true healer of all affliction. Amen.

Our Steps and Our Stops Are Ordered By The Lord

- dannalundstrom

 

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Psalm 37:23 says, The steps of a man are established by the LORD. Over the weekend, I was reading, (I have forgotten which source), and it noted as He orders our steps, so He does our stops, also. I love that! If you feel stuck, stopped or in waiting, rest in peace that your pause was purposed by God. You are right where He intends you to be, and you need only be still, listen and wait. Happy Monday, friends!

A Prayer For Aching Mamas Today

- dannalundstrom 1 Comment

Father you know we mamas are creatures who crave constancy not change.   When it comes to our children, our hearts are never more troubled by the trials of transition.   Tis the season of so much change, God. Our babies are starting kindergarten, entering high school, arriving for their senior year and launching off to college.    As our lives are fluctuating, our familiar is becoming foreign, our normal is becoming new and our usual becoming unknown.   It feels as if pieces of our lives are changed forever. They will never be as they were again.   It is the dying of a chapter that is so deeply rooted and known that it is painful to imagine how life will look moving forward.   We are challenged to hold gently and fondly to what was so that we may courageously embrace what now is.   Give us the grace to be more than conquerors in all these circumstances of change, Father.   May the faith that lives in our hearts be bigger than the fear that lurks in our minds.   Bless our children.   Insulate each and every one of them from head to toe in your cloak of protection.   Remind us mamas that we have raised them to run this race with determination not retreat in doubt.   There will be trails, and there will be triumphs.   May we and our children know that disguise in all our disappointments are Your appointments.   Give us the courage to not look for life somewhere under the sun but in someone above it-You, Father.   Amen   P.S. Father, please bless all our special teachers and administrators.   Refresh them daily with endurance, compassion, empathy and love.

Watering Our Souls

- dannalundstrom

 

I have found it challenging this summer to keep my plants alive. I do not remember a summer so hot and dry, and it has been problematic for beautiful, flourishing plants. I have to admit, it isn’t just environmental conditions that are to blame for my struggling plants. Some days I have been too tired to water. Some days I have been too busy, and some days I simply forget.

When I have not consistently watered my plants, pruned them, and removed the debris collected from blowing winds and storms, the neglect presents itself fairly quickly. They lose color, droop, shrivel up, and quickly begin to look dead. The result is they reflect very little of the artistry that is inherent to them. 

I am always amazed that despite how desperate and lifeless they can become, returning to consistent watering quickly restores them to their natural beauty.

Last night as I was struggling with the tedious task of watering it occurred to me that like my plants, my soul is a garden, too. It needs constant attention, nourishment, pruning and debris removal. Without it I also become spiritless, worn out, and my life becomes more reflective of my dying flesh than the good and right image I was created in.

There is good news and bad news when it comes to maintaining both my plants my soul. They are not efficient jobs, but they are very effective.

That is the presenting problem today, though. Our world thrives on efficiency. We are oversaturated with to do lists; commitments and days planned so tightly; there is no white space on the calendar. As the scorching sun shrivels plants, stretched schedules suffocate souls.

When I am too busy, I am not available to God. Unavailability for God shifts obedience from Him to me. When I am operating out of obedience to self, I have little need for a Savior. Without a Savior, I am simply a dying plant starving for living water.

Consider Prayer Before Panic

- dannalundstrom

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The way we are wired is an indicator of how we react, but it does not have to be a dictator.  Being in touch with our tendencies is very helpful in maintaining stability.

This morning as people are defaulting to our natural fear mode about a “possible” Ebola patient at UAB, why don’t we take a moment and consider prayer before panic.  Pray for the patient, the family and all health care workers involved in this persons care.  So many times our fears never become a reality.

The media feeds fear. Be aware of what is going on to an extent, but fix your thoughts on a God, who is over ALL things, knows ALL things and is faithful through ALL things.  

Whatever situation you are facing today, possible Ebola, a dreaded diagnosis, broken relationships, God is not surprised.  He wrote the story, and He knows how it will end.  Do you trust Him?

The biggest battle we all face is the one in our minds.  Sometimes we become hostages to our thoughts but we are not helpless against them.  Consider prayer before panic in all situations.  It makes all the difference.  I know this because it is a discipline I had to learn, too!

Philippians 4:8 ~And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

ALL THINGS

- dannalundstrom

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Dear friends,

Remember every situation that comes your way today, tomorrow, and beyond, God has a promise for it that is ALL encompassing for those who love Him.  There are no exclusions, and it is so steadfast that it is substantial enough to console, energize, revitalize and sustain us through every valley we walk.  Romans 8:28.  ALL THINGS.  That one little, three letter word, ALL, makes my life so much lighter when I keep my gaze focused there.  It is not a promise of instant relief, but infallible redemption.  May you find rest there today.

The One That Will Never Change

- dannalundstrom

It was June, the summer of 2005. We were preparing to move from Hoover, Alabama to Vestavia Hills, Alabama. Carter was six and Macey four. This particular week, the kids and I were participating in Vacation Bible School. I had made a deal with them that if they learned our new address and phone number by the end of the week, on Friday after VBS we would get ice cream. Every morning on the way to church and every afternoon on the way home we practiced in the car over and over again.

Friday morning came and along our drive I asked Macey, “what is our new phone number going to be?” She answered with ease and efficiency. Then I asked Carter, “what is our new address going to be?” He too answered correctly and promptly. A silence fell over the car until a little voice piped up from the backseat. In the most curious of tones, Carter asked, “Hey mom, I was just wondering, what our new last name is going to be?” After I had caught my breath from laughing so hard, I explained that there are some things we are born into, and they never change because they were given to us. I am not sure my answer made sense to him, but it seemed to satisfy his curiosity at the moment.

Carter and I have had to ponder a similar question a lot together over the past year. His life was changed forever one year ago today, July 28, 2014. All of our lives were changed. Despite all the redirections, again I can tell Carter, some things will never change because they were given to us. The One we did not earn that was given to us for free will never change.

Although our physical locations may change, and we change, our identity as a child of God will never change. The moment we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are adopted into the family of God. Our identity, as his beloved son, or beloved daughter can not be altered by circumstances. He delights in us on our best days, and just as much on our worst days. No amount of good works or model behavior can earn us His love. They were imparted to us when we chose to believe. Ephesians 2:8-10 ~God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

What a gift we have in Jesus. I cannot even fully comprehend the depth of His sacrifice. He has been a faithful friend to us through the hardest of times. It is not because we have Him that our lives are easy. It is because we have Him that our lives are changed for the better. He brings purpose to our pain and consistency to circumstances that continually change.

Last night I was replaying the last year in my head. I never knew looking back on my past tears would bring so much abundance to my present years. Situations that seemed like the hardest of times were in many ways the sweetest of times in retrospect.

Suffering is the soil most fertile for growth and change is often God’s conduit for the cultivation of hearts. We can joyfully and fully embrace our struggles because we later find we have walked out of them having found our greatest strengths.

We are all still works in progress in our family. It is a cradle to the grave process, but we can rest in the assurance that it is as it should be. Thank you Jesus for loving us in all our brokenness. Remind us everyday to rest in what was given to us and will never change-You. This picture is a side by side taken one year apart.

This week we have been at the lake surrounding ourselves with friends who remind us most of the love of Jesus! Thank you all who have joined us this last year and this week. We love you!