Unending Grace

Unending Grace

Fighting for faith,

In moments like these,

Wondering if we’ll have the strength,

To keep on keeping on,

One step, one breath at a time.

There’s times in life that seem like one step forward,

But ten steps backward,

Reeling, spinning out of control,

Lord where are you?

 I need you!

Please, my heart and my soul cry out,

How much more can I take?

But alas, I remember the Gospel,

The stakes oh so high,

Jesus pouring His heart out to the Father,

“Lord let this cup pass, nevertheless, not my will but Yours be done.”

The King of Kings and Lords of Lords,

Humbled to the point of death on a cross,

A death He did not deserve,

Bearing the wrath for my sin and yours,

Slowly, slowly suffocating to death…

My mind wanders off again,

Careening out of control,

With questions, what ifs, and whys,

Pleas thrown towards the skies…

Does He really hear?

Does He really care?

Does He really understand?

Is He really near?

Will He carry me through and keep me until the end?

My feelings can go reeling,

Questions without answers,

Prayers without end,

Life seeming to make no sense,

Just one trial after another after another,

Wave upon wave,

Storm upon storm…

Lord, please take this thorn,

“My child be still, my grace is sufficient for you…

For my power is perfected in weakness”

O Lord, I am so weak,

So frail,

Barely able to lift up my head,

Let alone run the race that You have set before me…

This valley is so deep,

That mountain so high,

How can I possibly carry on?

What is the purpose in all of this?

So many questions,

So few answers,

But I have to keep breathing,

Taking each day second by second at times,

Crying out to the One who sustains me,

Loves me,

Died for me,

And WILL complete the work He began in me,

No matter how hopeless a day may seem,

He still reigns on His throne,

A throne of grace,

Unending grace poured out for you and me.

Rachelle Thomas  

The Dash

     I remember hearing some time ago about our headstones and how we have the date we were born, a dash, then the date we die, and the person talked about how important that dash was.  That dash represents all of who we are--our entire life in one little symbol.  I've shared before how much I love analogies and how God uses them to communicate His truths to us in His Word and how He has made my brain to think in analogies or come up with them and put them to ink and paper for others to read and hopefully be encouraged or gain an insight that they didn't have before.  I've been doing a lot of thinking lately.  Jordan and I are walking through a difficult situation and then yesterday a fellow PCDer in her 40's lost the battle for life waiting for a lung transplant, which had been preceded by another PCD family giving birth to a little one that did not make it.  There's another PCD Mom whose 12 year old son continues to be in and out of the hospital and her older son has another rare disease that causes him to have seizures all the time.  My joint pain is continuing to get worse and I'll find out next week at my follow up Rheumatology appointment whether things are pointing towards Lupus or Rheumatoid Arthritis or another auto-immune disease.  As I said in my previous post, life on this sin-cursed planet is difficult and challenging and if we focus constantly on the sin and the effects of sin and forget to move from that to God's grace that conquered that sin, we can be in a downward emotional spiral pretty quickly.  

     At times like these in continuing challenging circumstances and losing someone to a disease that you have can be very intimidating.  But thankfully God has been gracious and has placed godly friends around me and great messages from Pastor Joe each week to encourage my heart in just the right thing at just the right moment.  God is so good and gracious and when we can move our eyes from looking at our circumstances, however painful they may be, to looking to Jesus, the Author and perfecter of our faith, He gives us that supernatural peace and joy that nothing can take away.  Right now life is hard, but God is still reigning on His throne and causing all things to work together for our good and His glory.

     Times like these also make me treasure those little moments in life all the more.  I remember to appreciate the little things, to love deeply and run at life with all I have, by His strength and grace, doing the work that He has for me in my time left on this earth.  These moments remind us just how precious that dash is--and how much life we have to live, no matter how many aches and pains we may be feeling or the difficult circumstances we find ourselves in.  We simply have to keep looking up to the One who holds everything in His hand, has a reason and a purpose behind it all, and keep running the race that He has set before us...after all that race, with those specific peaks and valleys, is the race that will make you the most like Christ and bring Him the most glory--no matter how hard it is to keep taking those steps forward, when everything in us wants to give up and go home to be with the Lord.  He promises that THAT DAY IS coming, and one Day we will be free not only from the penalty and power of sin, but the very presence of sin and all its effects--o to imagine how amazing heaven will be!  Come quickly Lord Jesus!!!!

     Thank you for all of you that continue to pray for Jordan and I's journey on this earth.  Life continues to present us with challenges--"regular" ones and unique ones related to my health and his, but I'm so thankful that we both know Jesus and can draw on His strength and draw closer to each other and run this race together--our marriage hopefully being a picture of Christ and His bride, the church.

     We were blessed recently with some of our closest friends coming to visit us, Jeremy and Jenn and their little guy Landon and were able to get away for a couple days with them to Glacier National Park--and we even saw a moose!  We were able to manage several short hikes and got to see some amazing water falls and just be out in God's glorious creation--something so beautiful, yet it doesn't even begin to compare with what we will see in heaven one day.  Hard to imagine as some of the sights were just absolutely breathtaking!  I was also able to enjoy the State Fair with some of my friends here the last couple of days and go on some fun rides--one that I was literally shaking when I got off, but I'm still glad I decided to go for it, although not sure I would do it again unless someone went with me! ;)  Although there's a part of me that still wants to skydive at least once, so we'll see if that can happen one of these days.  

     I'm also enjoying having my horse up here and being able to work with him and the dogs....teaching Roxi that it's NOT ok to heel my horse, although every fiber of her being tells her that's what she's supposed to do.  ;)  She's doing really well with listening to me and obeying my commands and learning to keep her focus on ME and not be distracted by her surroundings...yet another neat picture of how our gaze should be fixed on Christ and not be distracted by the waves of the storm as Peter was when he was walking on the water towards Christ.  He was doing it until he took his eyes off Jesus...then he started to sink because he was afraid of the waves.  The storms of life can be intense, but He WILL see us through and keep us until that Day!  

Here's some pictures to enjoy!

Group shot in front of falls on St. Mary Trail 

Jenn, Landon, and I at a local cafe 

Got Jord to do some kissing pics in front of the Great Falls! 

One of my favorites of Jord and I!

Landon's first ride! 

Have a great week living out your dash!  

For His glory alone,

Rachelle :) 

   

Grace for the Place

     Life on this sin-cursed planet is often full of difficulty and hardship.  Jesus promises troubles in John 16:33: "In the world you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."  Praise God, Jesus left glory and came to earth to live a perfectly obedient life and die a death that we deserve and take the eternal wrath of God in my place so that I might have everlasting life and hope during this life.  Sometimes those mountains seem so tall and those valleys so deep.  Our church here hosted a conference in February and I recently grabbed a copy of the messages.  It was done by Dr. Stuart Scott who has been counseling and on staff with MacArthur at Grace Community Church in LA for many years.  He did a message on "God's Grace in our Difficulties" and I just listened to it this morning--so encouraging!  

     I know that because we are all human, any of you that read this suffer through different trials in life.  Some are short seasons while others are lifetime difficulties that will never go away this side of heaven.  Praise God for those that know Jesus the promise is that one Day there will be deliverance from these trials in life, but right now, instead of deliverance, God may be calling you to greater dependence IN the trial, instead of getting OUT of the trial.  The message was from 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

"And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness."  Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

    This is one of my favorite passages of scripture, and one I have run to often throughout the trials of life.  Here is some of what Dr. Stuart Scott had to say.

5 Lessons to live by grace and learn contentment in an ongoing painful trial:

1) Realize that God's goodness is the soil where humility or pride can grow. (Anything above hell is a blessing!) (Deut 8:6-17)

2) God always has the perfect remedy to keep us from potential uselessness/fruitlessness (Psalm 119:71, Lamentations 3:32, 38, Romans 8:28-29)

3) The most common and natural response to trial is to request deliverance (verse 8).  **Paul directly prays to Jesus** (Jesus prayed that way in the garden of Gethsemene)

4) Often God's reply to our petition may be ongoing suffering to magnify Christ best, and bring the most glory to our Lord. (verse 9) **Sufficient is first in word order**

5) Our resolve, by God's continuing grace is to be one of embracing God's will with joy.  We resolve to rely on His strength in our weakness.  Jesus and all He is goes beyond all that I am afflicted with.

Other quotes from the message:

"The Lord needs our weakness, not our strength--our strength is often Christ's rival, while weakness is His instrument."

"Ask yourself, 'In the midst of my sufferings, how can I love and serve others?'"

"If we are not heavenly minded as God's people, we will be of no earthly good." ~Richard Baxter~ (Who had severe health issues from age 21 on...at 32 was told he had several months to live, so started studying heaven...he wrote down all that he could and it ended up being 500 pages.  He also lived to an old age, way beyond what the doctors told him, but his health trials were what kept him humble and dependent on the Lord.)

     This message was so convicting and encouraging that I couldn't help but share it with all of you.  I'm not sure if there is a link online or not, but if there is, I will post a link to the message here.  

  In His Mighty Grip,

Rachelle :) 

Been Awhile :)

     Wow, it has been awhile since I last wrote.  So much has happened...that cold/virus thing lasted for two weeks but thankfully I was able to make my scheduled flight to AZ to meet my nephew and see friends and family.  :)  The two weeks flew by and there were many people I still didn't get to see and then we moved my sister-in-law up here.  Mom and Dad T. were here for two and a half weeks and they helped us get Kerstin all settled and do some projects around the house.  While they were here Jordan had some training out of town and I was able to go with him so we were gone for another 4 days.  Got back and two days later I flew back to AZ to get my horse up here with my parents.  After a lovely delay of taking 3 hours to get Buddy in the trailer we were on our way and arrived this last Thursday and ended up going non-stop getting a shed converted to a shelter for him, along with a corral, and a fence around the property we are renting that the dogs can enjoy.  It is SO refreshing to be able to let the dogs out and not scream my head off at them to come back and watch as Roxi heads towards the highway we live nearby.  

     Parents are an incredible blessing...and having back-to-back parent visits we got a LOT of projects done.  So incredibly thankful to them for their hard work and energy and continuing to push until the project is done so things are easier for us when they head back home.  :)

     It's such a blessing to have Buddy here...it really hasn't sunk in yet.  I also have been going, going, going, and I re-read my last post and it was a good reminder for me that I really DO need to slow down and get some rest the next couple of weeks so I avoid that "PCD Hangover" that is no fun.  :)  

     I'm looking forward to this next season of life to see how God will use my passion for horses for His glory--He is already beginning to answer that prayer as a friend from church is an Occupational Therapist and there is a place in town that she volunteers at or wants to volunteer at that uses horses for therapy and she wants to learn about horses so I invited her out to share Buddy and my knowledge and love of horses.  It's pretty amazing because ever since I was 13 when I got Buddy, one of my life long dreams has been to have a ranch/stable with horses and a therapy type program for children and adults alike with special needs/disabilities or even those who just need a change of scenery and refreshment.  Within three days of bringing him up here, God is opening a door for me to help in that area indirectly and for that passion and desire to show others the love of Christ through the amazing animals He has created to glorify Himself.  I am in awe and so thankful that my prayers are being answered!  

  Will update more later and continue to write but in the meantime here are some pictures from my June adventures.  :)