God is Good

When I think about the seemingly negative things happening in my life and all around me during this time, my chest constricts and it becomes hard to breathe. My heart feels like it's going to explode with love, sadness, compassion, guilt, and sympathy. At the same time I feel completely helpless and I can hardly bear it. I suppose this is normal. I constantly have to remind myself that God is good, one of the things I learned at The Village. God speaks through Matt Chandler, the head pastor, in a way that young people can relate to and understand, which brings me to my first request. Matt is having surgery today to remove a brain tumor they found last week after he was taken to the ER when he collapsed from a seizure. Please pray for him and his family, for comfort and ease through this process, and for wisdom and steady hands in the surgeon.

Please keep Hope, Peyton, Evelyn, and Hadley in your prayers during this time too. My brother-in-law passed away in mid-November, and it's a difficult time for the family as a whole.

Grandpa Troy is not doing well and is being tested for bone cancer today. Up one day, down another, as GG says. Please pray for healing and comfort.

There are a lot of negatives that one could focus on, I think. I get dragged down sometimes by these thoughts, as one understandably might. I am comforted in the thought that I have Bryan, who is my best friend, to go through these times with. Don't get me wrong, I'm not Debbie Downer all the time, just on occasion when I think about all of this happening simultaneously, and especially during the season of joy and giving. I am thankful for the life that I have and the people I get to share it with. I am thankful that God gave me something I can get lost in and forget about the rest of the world, and that's my drawing and painting. I appreciate the little things, like when I get a call from Brit about a story that only I will think is funny. God is good for providing all of these comforts, and He always has a plan.