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Peace with God

In 1990 my husband left for the United States to set up a ‘new’ life for us. In order for us to save some money for the new home, I had moved back in with my parents. My dad had been sick for years with cancer. He was always in good spirits, no matter how he felt or how sick the chemotherapy made him.

I remember the day Daniel and I left Germany. My dad and I sat down in the waiting room of the airport to have a heart-to-heart talk. Looking into my dad’s sad eyes, I knew it would be the last time I see him this side of heaven.

He died a month after we had left.

After receiving the call at 4am on March 23rd 1991, I was angry at God, the world and myself. I cried for 3 days. How could a loving and just God take a man who loved and served Him at a age of 52? How could I, his daughter, leave Germany knowing that 6,000 miles would be between us? Why was I not allowed to leave the US to attend my dad’s funeral? I was heartbroken for years.

It took 6 years and a Sunday sermon to get over the death of my dad. That particular Sunday morning, God spoke peace to my heart; that one day I shall see my dad again, celebrating new life in heaven.

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” ~ Romans 8:28 (ESV)

Word count: 259

This short memoir is my submission to Mary DeMuth’s 259-WORD MEMOIR KINDLE CONTEST in honor of her new book “Thin Places“. The contest runs until tomorrow night, February 12th, 2010 – still time for you to enter :). To find out more about Mary’s new book and the contest, please visit “Thin Places Blog Tour“.

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New Things for February

Wow – I can not believe that January is almost over…There are some really exciting things happening in February around here and around the blogsphere…

First – as you have noticed I changed my blog-face again. As you remember I had three designs in mind before I make the final change from “Outdoorsy”. This new theme is called ‘Letter Frame’; still a clean look, but with a little more personalization: the photo on top is my personal favorite I took last year. The only thing I do not like about this theme is that I don’t have a twitter button. But then again, I don’t post too much on twitter 😆 .

Second – starting Monday, Laced with Grace is giving away two CD’s from a wonderful Texas group called “Church Chix“. I had the opportunity to get an interview with a long time blogging friend of mine and the bass player of the group. I hope you will stop by to check out the group and enter your name to win one of two CD’s.

Third – my friend Marsha from Marsha’s Musings is starting a new series: “Pursuing Love“. The study is based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. I hope you will be able to join in every Monday. I am looking forward to the 14 week study of a very important passage penned by Paul.

Fourth – I will have a guest blogger on Monday, February 1st. I will team up with Karon Phillips Goodman to bring you a blog-tour of a different kind. Guess what the title of the book is…”Unafraid” – hm, I guess that God really wants me to be fearless this year — stepping out of my comfort zone; pressing forward to become the woman I can be with His help…

Last but not least – I am blessed hosting you for Thankful Thursdays in the month of February.

Thank you for stopping by today…Remember: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~ Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

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Processing Haiti’s Earthquake

“The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
~ Psalm 9:9-10 (ESV)

Sometimes it takes me days to process world events. You see, I really don’t watch news — there is so much hurt all around. Now you are thinking that I am totally detached from the world — well, I am not. I do have a network which informs me about things that I care about — like the earthquake in Haiti this past week.

As I had mentioned on Monday that I don’t have answers for the things that happen — to individuals or the world as a whole. I often ask God: WHY. Why do some of my friends have to go through same really rough times. Why do children suffer in the US and across the globe. Is God silent in times like these? The answer is no – He is not — He watching and He answers prayers…

In the case of Haiti: I knew that Haiti was an impoverished country; many Christian churches have established missions in Haiti, or send missionary teams. Other Christian organizations like World Vision, Compassion, or Samaritan’s Purse support especially children in Haiti. What I didn’t know how bad the conditions really are. Did you know that the average wage in Haiti is only $560 per year (if I read the statistic from UNICEF correctly)? That only 50% of children are educated? Wow – that just blows my mind…

You see, God is not silent in times like these. He rallies people around victims like in Haiti. If you read the headlines: Christians come together as a whole to help; many countries dispatched rescue helpers.

AND God used the Haiti earthquake to remind me how blessed I am and that I should be grateful for each day He gives me…

“I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
~ Psalm 9:1-2 (ESV)

Lord of Heaven and Earth. I thank You for hearing the prayers of Your people. Lord, I thank You for waking me up. I am grateful for each day You give me this side of heaven. Lord, open my eyes to the needs of others. Your heart is so tender and I want to be used by You to make a difference. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. ~ Amen

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Pardon the Dust…

…around here (sidebars are still being worked on). As I had mentioned on Saturday, I am working on getting a face-lift for my blog. I have found a wonderful site that offers free-templates: Templatelite. However, with the ‘free’ comes a price – I can’t remove the credit links on the bottom. So…before I make a switch (and pay hard-earned money to remove the credit links) I am testing out some templates over the next 90 days.

Why testing? For one, I can not pick between 3 themes I like. I would like to ‘test-drive’ all three themes over the next three months. I need to know how user-friendly the theme is to my readers, and how well the theme ‘plays’ with my plugins…

The first theme I am testing for the next 30 days is called “Note-Paper”. I like the clean look; I am able to customize the header; I like how the sidebars do not look so cluttered (I am a little strange about clutter – just ask my beloved 😆 )

Let me know over the next 30 days what you like or don’t like about ‘Note-Paper’…