deep{er} #2: reflections [post1]

Hello, friends:)

**After 8am EST- please click HERE for my Imagine Crafts video and project! 

First of all.... THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for your encouragement from my last deep{er} post HERE! WOW! I never expected so many of you to leave comments! Praise the Lord! 

And please know that I'm praying for you!!! If you ever need prayer or if you are going through a similar situation, please leave a comment or email me {savannahland2 at comcast dot net}! I want to lift you up!!! 

So this is my first real deep{er} reflection post... and let me tell you- this is harder than I thought it would be! What do I share? What do I write? Will anyone understand what I'm saying/reflecting on? Is this even a reflection!?!?! 

I've got even more questions going on in my mind as I write. I am praying that this touches someone and that writing these posts gets easier! LOL! 

UPDATE: Last week, I was a bit ambitious with my goals! This is what I wanted to accomplish- 

1. To pray daily and spend time getting to know God (again). I want to meditate on who He is... I need to remember He is almighty.... amazing... in charge...etc. 
2. I also want to finish a couple of other studies before I dig deep into His Word. I want to start slow and get back on track before I dig really deep! ***Every day I do 2 studies: The Power of a Praying Wife and 3 Minute Devotions. I highly recommend both books! More on each of these studies later! These are on-going studies. I would like to finish the last three chapters of When Life Is Hard by Dr. James MacDonald. I started this as a study with a friend, but due to schedule conflicts, we never finished. I want to finish it before I start my next deep{er} study.  

I would have to give myself an 80% on these goals! I'm in need of meditating on scripture daily more, and I'm STILL NOT done with finishing the When Life Is Hard book. I completed chapter 4 (which is what I will reflect on this week)... but I failed at getting deep in the Word. I did write some notes in my new Bible....and I did read Acts 17-21... but as for really digging in... I missed that last week. Fingers crossed I get some time this week to do that! 

REFLECTION: Before I get into my reflection... I think the Lord is speaking to me. I'm not kidding when I say EVERY (E-V-E-R-Y) single devotion, mailer, podcast, etc. that I've heard or read this past week was about prayer! That's one of my goals.... and I'll touch on that more later, but I couldn't believe how many times I heard something on prayer this past week. David Platt, Nancy, Leigh DeMoss, Dr. Tony Evans, Chuck Swindall.... they all were talking about it! I can't wait to listen to these podcasts again! 

Ok--- back to my reflection, I finished Chapter 4 of When Life Is Hard, and I want to share my thoughts: 

• This book has me thinking about my trial and situation again. I know that Trav and I did everything biblical when dealing with it, and I believe 100% that we are obeying God and following Him in our next step. That doesn't mean that I wasn't hurt... or that trials won't hurt us. And I guess it hit me this week that I've never really been through a trial like this where I was so depressed and lost hope. I lost so much in this trial... and I even fell from the Lord. I pushed Him aside. I didn't want to talk to Him or cry out because this situation had been going on for about 6 years... why cry out more? And then again... if I cry out and God asks me to move or change "my plan".... that would be the WORST! I know that's foolish to think but that's what I thought. I now know that God's plan is BEST and that I need to use this trial and situation to glorify Him. The purpose of this trial is to change my character and to point others to Him. That being said... I'm glad I'm getting back on track. 
• In the chapter, it states "There will be a time when there's no more time". {Psalm 95:7} I don't want to waste ANY MORE time! I need to be a living example of submission to God, as well as a "true Christian" (living what I believe-- side note: I feel like there are so many fake Christians- I want to be real and give my life completely to Jesus so that when people see me... they know who my Savior is and see Jesus in me).. ok what was I saying? LOL! OH! I need to be a living example of submission to God and real because there are people watching me as I go through this trial. Unfortunately, I didn't handle the beginning of our trial that great. I stated earlier that I was super depressed and felt alone. I focused on ME. I need to focus on JESUS! I can't look back... I need to press on and go forward! This trial is hard but I have Jesus and Travis with me--- I WILL get through this, and I WILL come forth as gold {Job 23:10}.

It's kind of funny that I end with the verse from Job  This past Tuesday was my birthday, and Trav gave me the most amazing gift. He is so thoughtful!!!! He presented me with a necklace that was created by Peaces of Indigo on Etsy. The gold bar has filigree on one side and has "I will come forth as gold" engraved on the other side. There is so much more meaning to this necklace- the chain, the trial, the homemade design, etc. I love love love this necklace! It's exactly what I needed to lift my eye off of myself and on to Jesus. THANKS, Trav!!!

My goals for this week (this week we are on vacation so my goals are simple):

1. To finish Chapter 5 of When Life Is Hard
2. Continue to pray/read my devotions daily  

I pray that this post has blessed you ❤️. Remember, if you need prayer, please contact me {savannahland2 at comcast dot net}. 

THANKS so much for stopping by today! Be blessed:}