I wish I could say that I went on yesterday to live in victory and walk in peace with my children.  Apparently they didn’t get the memo that we were starting fresh, so when I left the computer and their attitudes were still as crummy as mine had been when I sat down, I confess that I fell into despair again.

Matt came home at one point during the day and pointed out that what he had read in yesterday’s post and what he was seeing dragging around the house with the long face were not the same person.  😦

Some days you lose the battle.  Yesterday I lost.  I was tired and gave up.  I appreciate the comments and encouragement that many of you shared with me; they were and are a blessing.  My rational side knew the truth yesterday, but my emotions got the better of me.

But this is the beauty of grace.  Today is new.  A good night of sleep, a cup of coffee, and time in the Word, and I feel stronger.  I still quiver a bit at facing today, still feeling the bruises and tender from yesterday’s struggles, but I am ready to start again.  I am encouraged.

I read this today in my quiet time:

Steel is the product of iron plus fire.  Soil is rock plus heat and the crushing of glaciers.  Linen is flax plus the water that cleans it, the comb that separates it, the flail that pounds it, and the shuttle that weaves it.  In the same way, the development of human character requires a plus attached to it, for great character is made not through luxurious living but through suffering.  And the world does not forget people of great character.

Some day God is going to reveal this fact to every Christian:  the very things they now rebel against are the instruments He has used to perfect their character and to mold them into perfection, so they may later be used as polished stones in His heaven yet to come.

~ Streams in the Desert, December 2

And this Scripture reading went along with it:

For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.

~ Hebrews 2:16

Lonely as I may feel some days, I am not alone.  And the struggles we face, the girls and I, are not without purpose.

Have a blessed Thursday, friends!

By His Grace ~

~ Sara