Remembering...The beginning of the Journey...

I have to admit...it is hard to see God in things...in the world. The way people think about each other...treat each other. Take this picture for instance. This is Plunder Palace. If you're familiar with the place...if you pan out from "GOD"...there's a bunch of junk...clutter...chaos. It's hard to focus on God amidst the chaos...but He's there. I love the visual...the connection to life.

Maybe it's societal, cultural...attitudes...whatever you want to call it...we don't really look for God in things. We get caught up in the clutter most of the time...I just as much as the next person. We tend to forget about God's presence...in situations...circumstances...the fact that He's really in control. Not us. Hard to admit....

Also...our perspective may cover our eyes so we only look at the world in a certain way...in a way that doesn't think or believe that God acts anymore...focused on the clutter...the peripheral...that miracles are only stories from the Bible. I had this view of things...and this is where we continue Sarala's journey.

My prayer-life...faith-life...began a journey during the time that Sarala was in the hospital that continues to this day. We were being told all of these terrible things...and...you could say they were "reality"...but at that point I decided that it wasn't a reality that "had" to be.

A question began to surface...why do we have to accept this? Why can't she get better? At that point our prayers turned towards action...pleading with God to act on Sarala's behalf...heal her.

I was soaking up everything...connecting with God like never before. My prayers...worship...reading took on new significance. I began to read into the book of James. James...after a greeting from James...starts out as below:

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
James 1:2-8

God has a way with words. He's also merciful, loving, powerful...listening...speaking. It's up to us to pursue a relationship with him. This can only occur through Jesus. What an amazing gift...grace...salvation through the blood of Jesus...bled on the cross over 2,000 years ago. This time of Easter...celebration...God is present...more present than what we think...and Jesus is alive....

Sarala is a miracle. The way God moved during her 67 days in the NICU is utterly amazing and has given Sarala a powerful testimony to God's love, action, mercy, and redemptive power.

Have a blessed Easter weekend!