With the holiday season, my sweet husband took some much deserved time off - and being the woman I am, I HAD to honor his time at home! Which means no blogging, no Facebook, no emails...
But now I'm back! Thanks to all who put out the All Points Bulletin for me - sorry to leave with no notice! {As it turns out, the length of this post will make up for my absence!}
So anyone who has been around here for a while knows that late November/early December met our family with some very difficult situations to trudge through...though I have left no details (to protect my loved ones) let me say it has been one of the most difficult end of years that I have seen in a long time!
God has already brought us a long way...and I trust He will bring us to completion! Tomorrow I will post a page {listed as Confessions above} describing one area where He has brought unbelievable refinement! I won't be linking to this page via Facebook - it's a personal, deep waters, kind of issue. Feel free to visit here to read, but I'm not "advertising" per se!
As Christmas drew near, I found myself walking through the season with a less than motivated spirit! Still celebrating all that Christ is to me, but the extras just weren't there! Praying and praying and praying for renewal - but God intended more!
Then this morning - with the downpour of the earthly rain, I felt the downpour of God's sovereignty! On my way to Bible Study {the one I honestly had to convince myself to get out of bed for} our local radio station announced my daughter Stephanie's name as the name to call in to win the Name Game! With a frantic search for my phone, I sent up a "please let us win" prayer! Dial...busy! Dial...busy! Dial...pause..."please let us win", I implored...ring..."Hi! Who's this?"
We won!!
As I described my sweet Stephanie, I couldn't help but cry! God, in one of the littlest things, let us win! He answered my prayer! I know - pretty insignificant, right? Not this time! Words cannot explain how it felt to feel Him say, "I hear your prayers Lora. I hear you!" {To be honest - I don't even know what we won...just that God had heard and answered...}
Fast forward to worship time during our Bible Study and what song begins to play?
{Click here to hear the song!}
In this song there is a great verse that says: "Lift your voice, it's the year of Jubilee!" YES!!! It's the year of Jubilee!!!! It was all I could do to contain myself in this group of put together women!
2012 is my year of Jubilee!!! Bring it on!!!
So to start off the New Year I'd like to introduce to you the newest addition in our family!
On January 3rd @ 9:23AM - River Evelyn Haertel was born!
Here's Papa holding his sweet grand baby!
{His shirt reads: Changing The World One Diaper At A Time}
Praying for all of you that this is also your year of Jubilee!
Thanks for stopping by! Be Refreshed!
Congrats to you and the family! She is precious.
ReplyDeleteSo happy your day brought you into the Joy that passes all understanding! You are one beautiful person my friend and I am glad to hear that your heart and spirit were lifted! Grand baby is beautiful! Would love to see you! XOXO
ReplyDeleteT. Wedell
What a little beauty she is!! That's awesome!! Love the T-shirt too. This was so encouraging. I too had felt God telling me awhile ago that this would be a Jubilee year also, then wondered if it was really God or just what I wanted to hear. I felt that renewed in my spirit as you talked about it. So thanks for the confirmation! It's so hard to go through difficult times, but sooooooo beyond description when you see God working in your life! Blessings to all!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could have cleaned her face up a little more though! :) Ahhhh, but what's a baby without a few crusties?!
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