When Sorrows Like Sea Billows Roll

Hey everyone!
I hope your new year is going splendidly so far...mine certainly is! :) A few weeks ago, a friend from a church I really love asked if I could write a post for their ladies' newsletter. I was thrilled for the opportunity! If you have time, you should definitely check it out online at Grace and Honor...they have articles for women of all ages and stages of life. I've really enjoyed reading them! I wanted to include the post that I wrote on my blog as well, so here it is. ;)

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Do you ever face something in life that looms over your heart like a black cloud? Perhaps it's a tough decision that you desperately need wisdom in. Maybe a time of grief or pain over losing someone you love, or sorrow over family and friends that have turned away from following God. It could be a time of upheaval or change...we ladies sure do love change, right?

Not.

For me, change is a struggle. I know that God is at work, and that everything will turn out for His glory if I am following His will. But when I am here and now, in the thick of it, change is hard. Life can be challenging and scary at times. It is not fun to go through trials, to make difficult choices, or to have someone dear to me pass on to be with The Lord.

Sometimes, when facing these looming issues, it's so much easier to be brave and strong during the day. There are things to do, places to go, people to see. It's not hard to keep myself distracted.

And then comes the night. Stillness closes around me, and with it, the difficult thoughts I've managed to push away all through the day. Fear knocks hard at the door, demanding entrance into my mind. After all, just look at how big and scary this thing is! The weariness of the day tugs at me. Tears begin as a dull ache deep inside--yet another obstacle to grapple with. Sleep won't come, not yet. A choice faces me, and I have to decide which path to take.

From all around, my thoughts are crying at me to follow them. "Break down, have a good cry! Overthink this situation! It's natural that you should worry about this, it's a big deal!" Their clamor can almost drown out the still, small voice of The Spirit.

Praise God, in His mercy He pulls me back from the path of my own fearful thoughts! If I make the choice to pause and listen, He brings dear, familiar words back to my mind, words I memorized long ago... "Be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10) "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." (1 Pet. 5:7) The echoes of His voice grow stronger. "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deu. 31:6) "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Is. 41:10)

His precious promises flow over me in a healing flood. The sinful thoughts, full of worry and care, are completely crushed by the weight of God's perfect, eternal love for me. As I seek His face, He is so faithful to bring comfort and peace!

When I can't rise, He lifts me up.

When I am grieving, He comforts me.

When I am afraid, He calms my heart.

When I sin, He convicts and cleanses me.

When I'm confused, He gives me light and wisdom.

When I cry out to Him, He hears me.

When I am overwhelmed, He strengthens me.

When I feel lost, He brings me home.

"Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

His strength, not mine. His robes of righteousness, not mine. His thoughts, His plans, His ways.

Not mine. Never mine.

In His presence is fulness of joy, and the emptiness of grief has no place. In the palm of His hand is perfect peace, and turmoil no longer tears at my heart. In His Word I find the wisdom and strength I need, and confusion disappears. At His throne of grace I am accepted through the blood of His dear Son, and rejection by people here on earth is irrelevant. In His embrace is deepest comfort, and the ache of tears fades away.

His plans for me are just, holy, and right. I don't need to know what the path looks like around the bend, because my Lord is holding my hand and asking me to simply take the next step. As my Shepherd, He knows exactly which steps I need to take as He grows me and draws me nearer to Himself. In the darkness and unknowns, He shows me treasures and reveals His perfect holiness. He goes before me, leading the way.

Tomorrow may hold blue skies or gray, rough roads or easy. That's in His hands.

But tonight, I will take a breath, give this to God, and go to sleep.

Mykaela

2018 Here We Come!

Isaiah 43:18-19 Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Happy New Year!!!
Thank you thank you to all of you awesome people for bearing with me as I went MIA for such long stretches! :D What an amazing year 2017 has been. Looking in the archives on this post, where I looked back on 2016, and this one, where I set new goals for 2017, it is such a blessing to see all the ways God has worked. 

I want to quickly go through my goals from this past year, since a lot of you helped keep me accountable for them! ;) 

1. Learn Something New
Well, I definitely accomplished this one! I switched jobs, from the library (which I'd done for three years and knew well), to a Sew and Vac store, which is extremely different from anything I've ever done before. Every day I am finding new things I'm still ignorant about at work! ;P Also, I picked up watercolor painting as a hobby. I'm still at a super beginner level, but I love doing it! New mediums for hand lettering are always nice. ;)

2. Read through God's Word at least twice.
I sort of did this...I went through the whole Bible in 90 days, and I went through the New Testament at least 3 times, and the Psalms many times. So while I didn't get the whole Bible done twice, I definitely kept busy on it, which is always worthwhile. :)

3. Save money when I can.
I did ok with this one, but the missions trip made a large dent in my savings. ;) Which was absolutely 100% worth every cent, so I have no regrets. 

4. Maintain my weight.  
This stayed pretty consistent through the year, and I kept very active, so yay! :)

5. Pick up a new instrument. 
I didn't get around to this one, sadly. :( I couldn't find the right instrument for the right price. I still want to do this soon!

6. Build up my hope chest as I'm able.
This did not happen at all. :/

7. Pray much more. 
While I have SO far to go in this area, I definitely did grow in prayer this last year, with The Lord's help.

8. Write out my songs. 
This didn't happen either!! :'( Ugh...

9. Witness verbally more.
This went up and down...I did better sometimes, and other times I failed completely. Still working on it!

10. Start each day out with gratitude.
I didn't keep the gratitude jars going, but I kept on doing my daily journal of my favorite part of the day. :) God is so good!


This year I was able to fly across the globe to Fiji and Samoa, meeting so many precious friends through the miles. I also grew older relationships...Abby Geist and I spent the entire three weeks of the trip in each other's company 24/7--and didn't hate each other afterwards. ;D My awesome friend Kimberly left to live in Taiwan for 6 months, meaning that our communication was slowed considerably. :( That turned out with one happy consequence...Janan, a dear friend of Kimberly's that I hadn't gotten very close to yet, was able to talk with me a lot more, since neither of us could chat with K as much as normal! ;P As a result, our friendship grew greatly, and I am so very blessed by her. :) I was able to go to Jenny's graduation, which was awesome, as well as spend a day with her family at a lovely cabin in the woods, just before Christmas! I am deeply grateful to God for all of my sweet friends, too numerous to mention here, who love me for my weird crazy self, and don't judge me TOO harshly. ;D

Like I said above, I swapped jobs, which was a bit of a scary decision. I don't sew, and all I know about vacuums is that they suck. (Sorry, bad pun there. ;) However, I have some awesome coworkers who are so gracious to put up with me and teach me all the things I am confused on. Which is a lot. I'm enjoying learning a new line of work, though. :)

One exciting thing that has happened this year is that we have set up a plan for teaching a Bible institute in Jamaica! My dad is heading down there today, actually, and every other month someone from Bible Baptist will be heading down for a week to teach another seminar. We are thrilled that God has opened this opportunity! Jamaica is steeped in doctrinal confusion, and the churches there are in desperate need of good Biblical training. Please pray for these efforts!

My goals for the upcoming year overlap a bit with last year's goals, so I won't expound too much on them, but simply list them out as I wrote them on a slip of paper in the early morning on New Year's Day. :)

• Read God's Word at least 3 times.
• Memorize 12 chapters of Scripture-one per month, perhaps?
• Be very careful about saving money.
• Pray for at least 30 minutes per day, growing that throughout the year. If I don't set specific goals on this, it tends to slip, sadly. :'(
• Write for at least 20 minutes a day.
• Learn a new skill (trying again with the instrument idea, but it might end up being a language or something. ;)
• Spend less time on my phone.
• Cook on a much more regular basis. I bake ALL the time, but I don't make "actual food" as much as I should. ;P

I am praying that God will grow me throughout this year, prepare me for whatever comes next in my life, and teach me to live to the fullest every day that He gifts me with. Praise The Lord that He gives second (and third and fourth and fiftieth) chances, because I am so flawed! I know I'm going to mess up and miss some of these goals, but God willing I will strive towards them! :) 

What are some of your goals for this year? Do you like setting goals at all? Let me know in the comments, and as always...THANK YOU for taking the time to read my humble little blog!! :) You all mean so much to me. God bless you!

Mykaela