The light at the end of the storm

When you see this picture, what is the first thing that you think of? I took this yesterday when I was driving home from St. Louis. I came through some pretty nasty storms, but each time I got to the end of the storm, I got an amazing display of God's handiwork. It was so beautiful that it made me forget how bad the storm actually was. Before, the wind was blowing and it was raining so hard that I could only see a car length ahead of me. There were a couple times where I came close to hydroplaning and at times I wondered if I would actually make it through. I did a lot of praying and I felt at peace even though I had no clue what was going to happen in the next seconds, minutes, or even the next hour.
Every time, God brought me through safely and I realized, that this picture is like the storms of life that we go through. They aren't easy, they can be stressful, you may panic that it's too much, but God ALWAYS brings you through. What I love so much about this picture is that it can have so much meaning. You have the storm, but then you also have the light at the end.
In life, we go through many storms. Some harder than others, but every one of them teaches us something and in the end, we know that God was always there and He was the one gently guiding us through the entire time.
As I was driving through the bad part, I couldn't help but think how much I hate driving in storms. They really aren't the funnest thing and there was one point where I wished I never had to drive through a bad storm again. The storms we go through in life, are God's way of teaching us something. We may not know at the time why He is doing it or what is the purpose, but we do know that we can count on Him to guide us. He never gives us anything that is too difficult to accomplish. By His strength, we can get through every storm no matter how hard it may be. We shouldn't hate something just because it's hard. Instead, we should realize where our strength lies and depend on that to get us through.
The light at the end of the storm is like God's promise of being there for us. When I drove through and made it into the light, it shone through so brightly that I was almost blinded by it. (Literally, driving west when the sun is setting is pretty difficult because of the sun being right in your eyes). As the sunshine poured through my windshield, I felt safe, happy, and couldn't help but feel God's love for me as He had brought me safely through yet another storm. Even though that was a weather storm, it's the same for the storms we go through in life. God's love wraps around us and we feel safe and secure.

Sermons to start you day :)

Alright. So, I thought I could at least keep up with posting once a week, but clearly that didn't happen. Better late than never though, I guess. :)

A habit that I have recently started, is to listen to an Alistair Begg sermon while I get ready for work in the mornings. Most of you probably have time in the mornings to get up and have a quiet time to read you Bible. I'm usually up by 5 to shower and get ready for work, and so I don't think I would be very awake if I got up any earlier and tried reading (that usually puts me to sleep). So, my solution to the problem was to listen to sermons while getting ready. Make the most of the time you have right? :) It's actually been a huge motivator to get up that early. Normally, I have an extremely hard time getting up and I just want to ignore the fact that I have to work. Now I actually look forward to getting up because I love listening to the sermons. I just realized that I must sound like a commercial to you all.... Really wasn't planning to sound like that. In all honesty though, you guys should listen to Alistair Begg's sermons, just because they are that good. :) http://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/call-potential-drifter/. This was the sermon I listened to this morning, very good and a reminder we all need. Also, another one that I really liked was this one: http://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/dangers-jealousy/. So, you should check them out. The sermons aren't too long, just 30-45 minutes. Oh, and it's great to listen to them while driving. :)

Well, that's it for now. I was going to write more, but I'm at work and I'm going to eat some lunch and then work on homework. Fun! ;)