1. It reminds me that no matter what is going on in my life, God is there and He is at work in me. So often it feels as if nothing were changing, yet it is.

2. Psalm 13 has touched my heart for years because of the way David’s sorrow changes into sureness in God just because of Who God is. He starts with sorrows but sings to God at the end. Psalm 13:5 “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.”

Exodus 2:24
God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

Psalm 12:5
“Because of the oppression of the weak and the groaning of the needy, I will now arise,” says the LORD. “I will protect them from those who malign them.”

Exodus 22:27b “When he cries out to me, I will hear, for I am compassionate.”

1 Samuel 1:12-17

As she kept on praying to the LORD, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long will you keep on getting drunk? Get rid of your wine.”

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the LORD. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”

Psalm 10:14
But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

John 16:20
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

3. I am in the midst of that spring. Often I find myself growing impatient because all of the things I had hoped would be restored are slow to come, yet I am in awe of what God has done that is so good. My soul gets weary, but He has the strength I need. Everyday miracles exist all around me.

5. Word picture of Aslan: Golden perfection, warm, loving, life itself, gentle voice, tender eyes, mighty paws. greatest hope. reason to seek the good in life.

I love the saying about courage and so agree. At the beginning of my winter, it was that small voice that told me to just hold on for one more moment and, as I did, the Savior moved in “the moment” and lifted up my battered heart. Like you and Dee, I had not ever heard about the blueprint in the Psalms. God is so amazing!

There have been some great Narnia quotes and images.

Tammy began on Psalm 30 but most of you have yet to start, so I’ll do another post to take you through it a bit more slowly.

I am going to spend some time with Psalm 30 now but I’m afraid it will have to be kind of split up because of my work schedule. I hope there is a kiss from the Word here for me too. Blessings to you all and good night.

5. It’s been awhile since I read the Narinia series and I don’t have the books at hand for a quote. But I think of Aslan as the Restorer. The scene where Aslan speaks privately with Edmund after he has been rescued from the White Witch played in my head today. We don’t hear what Aslan said but I imagine it this way. “I believe you have learned a great deal from your experience. You made an unwise choice and suffered greatly for it. You are back where you belong. It happened. Move forward. I’ll never mention it again.”
I think that sticks with me because of my experience. I ended up in an emotionally destructive relationship because I ignored the gut feeling not to marry my ex-husband. I rebelled and told God I knew what I was doing. I USE TO BE a stiff-necked hard head. In my prayer journals from 1994-2008 I have the faithfulness of God recorded. Because I was being held captive by deception during that time there was so much I could not see. Once the veil was removed and I began facing everything in God’s strength, He slowly began a healing process. Many childhood wounds are now scars. It took God 13 yrs to get me to the point of admitting I needed help with my life. I had to see that I could not fix anything. The number one lesson I have learned is: GOD MEANS WHAT HE SAYS!

6. As I began medtitating and memorizing Ps 30 the word foes in v.1 played over and over in my mind. I asked who my foes were and when the anwser came it made perfect sense. My foes are the generational sins of my family. Four generations of women have suffered domestic violence. I chose to break the cycle. V.3 “O Lord, You brought my soul up from the grave. You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.” also grabbed my attention. Here’s why:On Jan 28, 2008 I left my home because my husband had threatened to take my life. I returned 3 months later and 6 wks after returning was when I learned the truth about my marriage. I shed rivers of tears for many months but the days of mourning for my dead marriage are beginning to be a distant memory. I’m beginning to feel alive again.
For a long time I use to feel guilty for still being alive. Over half of the women murdered in the U.S. were trying to leave abusive relationships. I stopped feeling guilty after I heard a survivor of 9-11 attack on the Pentagon speak. He stated that he was still alive because God still had work for him to do. I’m still alive because God has a plan. I want to live the abundant life Jesus promised.
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