As I sit at my mom’s desk, looking out the window, listening to the wind howling through the trees and the rain vigorously falling, I can’t help but notice how the weather matches my heart.

The saying goes, “When it rains, it pours” and today, that feels truer than true.

Trials like rain have been pouring for years now, one after another, and sometimes overlapping, leaving me soaked and weary to the bone, physically tired, and often feeling alone. While my heart knows better, because God is with me every moment of every day, there are aspects of the trials that I have to physically walk alone. For example, the current journey I’m on with my Mom; while we have each other, and have leaned on each other for forty years, we’re still on two different journeys together. This is her cancer journey, and this is my caregiver journey; while parallel, they are distinctly different, leaving both of us to walk a portion of this alone. Another example is my amazing husband, who is at home with our fur babies, 1,300 miles away.  While being insanely supportive, loving and compassionate, the distance leaves a void in both our hearts as he carries on with life at home, alone, and I care for my Mom, alone; again, two distinctly different journeys.

The howling wind, amidst the rain can sometimes be dark and bleak, reminding me of how the Devil hisses discouragement and lies, making me feel weak, incapable, unloved and undeserving of good things. #butGod in His faithfulness, whispers truth to my heart through His Word, reminding me I am loved, He is with me, and that I have everything I need for what I’m facing.  I am tasked with choosing what to believe: Truth or Lies.

I’ve been working through my friend Holley Gerth‘s latest devotional, Strong Brave Loved and today’s devotional from Chapter 15, Live True, really hit home. A few quotes are:

I have come to understand God says mercies are new every morning because that’s how often we need them.

Sometimes I don’t feel it; my emotions can take a long time to catch up with what’s true. What matters most is that I keep coming back to the One who came for me.

What we really long for in all our longings is God himself.

I am God’s daughter. I am beloved. I have everything I need for whatever I may face.

Today I can walk in the truth of who I am and Whose I am.

{All Quotes from Strong Brave Loved, Written by Holley Gerth}

These nuggets of truth serve my heart like a warm blanket on a cold, rainy day. It’s tough to be in the middle of a downpour, with the wind cutting to the bone, with no one to provide an umbrella. #butGod in His kindness and mercy, outstretches His hand, scoops me up in His arms, and holds me tightly, as He whispers that I’m His daughter. I am beloved. I have everything I need and I can walk in the truth of who I am because of Whose I am. He truly is all I need and what my heart longs for most.

The rain may not stop, the howling may persist, but my heart can rest assured I am safe in the arms of a Savior who won’t let me drown. The tears may fall, and the loneliness may cut deep, #butGod is with me and He hasn’t allowed the rain, without having a plan to get me through the storm where I’ll find His promise like a rainbow in the sky. I may not know the future, but I know the One who holds the future because He’s holding me in His arms.

#trulyblessed #trulygrateful #butGod #StrongBraveLoved