Hardest Days

I think days like today are the hardest for me, and I think the same must be true of anyone who lives far from family.  I see the posts and the pictures of my nieces and nephews growing up and I'm missing it.  My best friend is planning her wedding and as if that wasn't stressful enough, she is dealing with some very stressful family issues, and I can't be there for her.  It's so hard to feel so isolated from people I love so much.
I am so thankful for technology that allows me to have pictures and to call and talk to them and hear their voices.  That I can get a text with silly pictures of my niece, a phone call with my sister in law and then my niece which lasted an hour and a half, Facebook which allows me to see the growth of the little ones, that are growing and changing so fast.  I am writing this with tears in my eyes because I miss my family.  My heart aches to hold them in my arms and spoil them rotten.
But then I have to stop and look at the facts of my life.  I know that my enemy is pacing around furious at me because I am learning to walk in the freedom that God has set before me.  Last week I was able to for the first time share my story for the women at the mission, and I got to pray with them and I believe that God used my story to touch some of their lives.  It was so powerful. Then last night I was able to have a 3 hour conversation with a dear friend of mine who needed to hear what has been going on in my life, because she needed hope that the same can happen for her.  I was able to love on her because of what I am learning.
The enemy likes to get us focused on the hard parts of our days and the hard days in our lives.  And we as humans fall into that trap all to often, because it's easier to focus on the bad things or the things we feel we are missing.  And when he can get us focused on those things we forget the glory of our God.  We forget the many things that God has added to our lives, things we didn't deserve, but God our FATHER has given them to us because He loves us.  So, our choice is what are we going to focus on?  Am I going to focus on the fact that my family is far away and I miss them?  Or am I going to focus on the good in my life?  Like the fact that I have great relationships with my family even though they are far away, that God has given me another family here in New Jersey that has accepted me as their own complete with a couple of young girls that I can spend time with and invest in, and that God has brought me to a new place of freedom that I could never have experienced unless I walked the path He called me to walk.
So tonight as I choose to look at the positives I extend that challenge to you... Are you going to choose to focus on the things you don't have that you desire or are you going to focus on the goodness of our Father?  We will not make the right choice all the time, I know I don't, but every time we choose to look upward at our Father and thank Him for the things He has given us, we win a victory over our enemy, and that makes it easier to do again!  I challenge you to look at your own heart and your own choices and choose this day whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15)

As always if you need prayer or just to talk reach out to me crucibleandcrown@gmail.com