Thursday, February 25, 2016

Quick Update & Some Resources

Hello friends,

I hope this week finds you improving in health and remembering your blessings. =) Seems like the last few months have been the hardest of my life. But even in intense trials, God continues to give good gifts, and for that I'm thankful.

Quick update on our house: the mold has been remediated and the house passed mold inspection, hooray! =) Now it's on to the necessary repairs (wall, floor, etc.), cleaning, painting, and more. It seems like such a long process, but we thank God that at least we are making progress. Thank you for your encouragement and prayers through this challenging season!

Here are two helpful resources I've come across lately, that I wanted to share.

1) My friend Martha recently wrote an insightful post called "Sickness, Disaster, Death and Satan." I appreciated her insights into an often puzzling topic. I hope you'll be blessed by her thoughts.

2) This week I read a great article by Dr. Josh Axe about 10 "Health Foods" you should never eat. I thought he nailed it with this one! I totally agree with this list, and I think it's very helpful since there's so much mis-information about some of these foods. Please read and pass it along to others as well.

May the Lord bless you and keep you, may His face shine on you and be gracious to you, and give you His peace.
(from Num. 6:24-26)

-Joanna

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Please Don't Judge...


Please don't judge the fashion choices of the woman wearing white capris and a men's flannel on a cold day in February. It may be the only clean outfit she has.

Please don't judge the woman in the yogurt aisle muttering to herself and reading every label twice. She may just be trying to find some semi healthy food she can eat without cooking.

Please don't judge the woman who cuts you off in traffic, changes lanes three times and finally turns left. She may be having trouble breathing, trying to stay calm and just find a place where she can roll down the window to breathe some fresh air.

Please don't judge the woman in the laundromat sticking her head in every washer and dryer, making faces and sneezing. She may be using a laundromat for the first time and trying to find a machine with the least amount of fabric softener and other smells.

Please don't judge the woman in the car next to you at the stoplight with the radio cranked up and tears rolling down her face. She may be fighting an intense spiritual battle and trying to overcome with praise.


You've probably heard the saying:
"Be kind always. Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about."

It's so true. And I think it's in the hard times that we learn compassion for others. We wouldn't want to try to explain to a stranger some of the crazy things we have to live through. Let's show grace to others in even greater amounts than we need ourselves.

So when you observe a person who looks or behaves oddly, maybe you could turn to Jesus and say a prayer for them. If we learn to practice this, I think we'll be amazed how many people will come up to us and thank us in heaven. =)