Someone very important to me has an eating disorder. It’s been going on for a while. It’s so hard not to be able to help. To feel helpless in a circumstance like this is heartbreaking.  Some days feel worse than others.

Loving through difficulty is part of the Christian walk.

When life brings the storms that rage and rock my world Jesus is my shelter. It’s not just about finding a place of safety and surety. It’s about finding peace and purpose. And confidence in our ability to love others despite the hurt or frustration they may cause. It’s part of our Christian walk whether we want it to be or not. We can embrace the love that God wants us both to experience and share or we can ignore it and never enjoy the freedom and peace that Jesus offers us. It’s a hard kind of love really. It’s a self giving and self emptying love.

Jesus is my shelter through times of difficulty.

I am learning that if I shelter myself with Jesus I don’t have to be helpless. There is much I can do. I can pray. And though I may not be able to change my circumstance, I can be grateful for it. Yes, grateful. Even for the parts of my life I don’t like and would change if I could. For some reason God allows the bad to mingle with the good and knows we can survive it, perhaps even be better because of it. It’s not that I enjoy difficulty, I don’t. But I can learn to see the difficulty as a means to growing closer to Jesus each day. Learning to pray more. Depend on God more. To realize I have very limited ability and even less courage and strength without Him. Therefore, today I can be grateful for the storm that is raging in my world. Somehow the rain it produces will bring forth life. I trust that God is protecting me though it all.

It’s been a bad last few weeks but I am grateful today for:

• My son loosing his job. Yes. I really am because I know he will get another and this one will be more permanent.
• My daughter moving back home. I have really missed her.
• An upcoming deployment. There will be good that comes from it. Jesus has my back.
• Being prompted to draw even nearer to Christ. Sometimes you need to be brought to your knees in order to truly pray and be grateful. Storms are good for that.
• Finding joy and purpose in today. Sometimes seasons of life are better taken one day at a time.

Maybe not the typical list this Thankful Thursday. But I think it’s one of my best:)

Wishing you joy always in this season even when it’s stormy.

Is there someone in your life today who is hard to love? Do you understand what it’s like to feel helpless? How do you cope with your limitations? Can you find a reason to be grateful for even those things which trouble your life? Please share and lets encourage one another.
Also linked up @: The Better Mom, Cornerstone Confessions, The Time Warp Wife, Hip Homeschool Hop