Saturday, January 22, 2011

Hope in the Lord

My devotional guide's verse this morning was Hebrews 10:23.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.


The guide asks me to think about a time when I felt God had let me down. And I think of the hard times I went through last year. I really never through that time felt let down by God. I felt let down by my disorder - by the meds that are supposed to be keeping me well. But no, I never blamed God or felt He should have prevented it all from happening.

Today my husband and I are just very grateful that I've stabilized and am able to live normally again. I can see that God planted a creative pathway within me to live a healthier life, a life not focused to such a huge degree on one thing - Living Room. Not that Living Room isn't important to me. It is. But now I'm spending more time cooking and looking after my husband, something that had been lacking for awhile.

My cookbook project may seem like a trivial thing, but the good it's doing me and my husband is huge. I look forward to cooking and enjoy looking for recipes and making my grocery lists. What was a chore has become a hobby again. It has helped lift me out of depression and given me something fun to give my energy to. I fully believe that God planted the idea for that cookbook within me. It's the creative pathway He showed me to a healthier balance. And - most of all - this makes my husband very happy. He feels like he's got his wife back.

God is faithful.

4 comments:

Nancie said...

Dear Marja,

Amen! God is faithful!

I have been thinking of you and praying for you. I am so thankful to God to read that you are well now and the Lord has used the cookbook project to strengthen you. Glad too that you are enjoying the project and cooking, and your husband is happy :)

I have a good news to share with you. Guess what? My bipolar blog has been featured in a local newspaper in Singapore! And some readers have written to let me know how they appreciate my writings.

I just posted the newspaper article on my latest post. The Canadian lady mentioned in the article is referring to you :)

I thank God for enabling us to "meet" through blogging. I have been greatly blessed by your life and your writings, and of seeing how our Lord has strengthen you and keep you close to Him. Your prayers and encouragements have been most valuable to me. Thank you for making a difference in my life.

I pray our Lord will continue to strengthen you and bless you in whatever He calls you to do. May He continue to bless you and your husband.

With warm regards,
Nancie

marja said...

That's so wonderful, Nancie. Congratulations! So good that people are being made aware of your blog! That they are able to read about the hope you have in the Lord.

Yes, it has been good to "meet" each other and to be able to encourage each other in the way we have done and do.

Praying for you.
With love,
marja

Spin said...

AWW!! That makes me smile from ear to ear. I love to hear you are doing well, and cooking for a man does tend to make them happy! :)

You are right that God IS faithful. In all the things I have gone through in the past year, I still have not felt let down by God. A friend asked me if it has affected my faith in God, and, honestly, it has not.

I am still loving your cookbook idea, and I think it is great to be able to pour energies into something with a result you can be proud of.

Much love to you.

marja said...

Hey Spin! I'm glad you love the cookbook idea as well. There's nothing better than making a hobby out of what would otherwise be a chore. So good how God leads, eh?

Love, marja