{"id":449,"date":"2018-10-06T11:34:20","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T11:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shop.honestreflections.net\/?p=449"},"modified":"2019-12-10T08:43:35","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T13:43:35","slug":"new-every-morning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/2018\/10\/06\/new-every-morning\/","title":{"rendered":"New Every Morning"},"content":{"rendered":"

“The steadfast love of the\u00a0Lord<\/span>\u00a0never ceases;[\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/span>his mercies never come to an end;\u00a0<\/span><\/span>they are new\u00a0every morning;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>great is your faithfulness.”\u00a0 Lamentations 3:22-23<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/em>
\nGod has a way of taking my breath away like no one else.\u00a0 We are camping in Bedford, PA this weekend.\u00a0 A gem of a campground we found last year called Merritt Pond.\u00a0 It’s nestled in a valley, a man made duck pond.\u00a0 Run by a family.
\nThe owner is very precious to me, although I don’t know her well.\u00a0 She drives around on her golf cart, taking care of her campers.\u00a0 When I met her last year she had just lost her father.\u00a0 He used to help her run it.\u00a0 They were out working on the property, fixing water lines.\u00a0 He was finishing up a job, told her to go on to the next one.\u00a0 She did.\u00a0 He never came.\u00a0 When she went back looking for him, she found he had gone to be with Jesus.\u00a0 He had had a heart attack and was gone, just like that.
\nI have never forgotten her story.
\nThis morning, when I walked out of our camper, it took my breath away. The picture I’m posting with this doesn’t do it justice.\u00a0 The peace and tranquility as I gazed out over the foggy pond went directly to my heart.\u00a0 I was instantly reminded of the scripture above.\u00a0 I felt God’s presence surrounding me.\u00a0 I’m so grateful His mercies are new every day.
\nI was born and raised in PA.\u00a0 Even though I’ve lived longer in VA, PA is and always will be my home.\u00a0 When I come to this area, when I hear the PA accents I instantly feel safe.
\nIt is in PA where I learned community.\u00a0 You always hear “it takes a village”.\u00a0 It does.\u00a0 I was born in the village of Tidal.\u00a0 I’m spending this weekend with lifelong friends from there.\u00a0 They are friends that live over seven hours from us, yet when my brother’s son died they were there.\u00a0 When my Mom died, they were there.\u00a0 They were also there for the weddings, the birthdays and the celebrations.\u00a0 It takes a village that shows up, no matter where you’re from or how big it is.\u00a0 The key is showing up.
\nGod’s mercy is new every morning because He shows up every morning.\u00a0 More than anything in the world, that is what He wants us to do.\u00a0 Show up.\u00a0 Show up and meet with Him.\u00a0 Show up and meet with others.\u00a0 We don’t have to have the perfect words, perfect actions or perfect whatever.\u00a0 All we have to do is show up.
\nI have dear friends who tragically lost their son in February.\u00a0 In the seven months since, I have consistently heard my friend say, “Just show up.”.\u00a0 That is all he wants for his village to do.\u00a0 Show up for him.\u00a0 Be there for them to help get through the tough days.\u00a0 Be there for them as they adjust to this new normal in their lives.\u00a0 Just show up.
\nI’m studying Job.\u00a0 I’ve found that as I go deeper into ministry I encounter suffering here on this earth like I had never imagined.\u00a0 I’m searching for answers to the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” I get asked it so often.
\nI don’t have the answer to that question.\u00a0 I have found what you do though, when it does.\u00a0 You show up.
\nThat’s what Job’s friends did for him when he lost everything.\u00a0 They showed up.\u00a0 For a week, they all just sat in silence, not speaking.\u00a0 There weren’t words that describe the depth of grief that Job was experiencing.\u00a0 There weren’t actions that could take away the pain.\u00a0 There was just presence that in the midst of the loss of his children, his livelihood, his health he was not alone.
\nI’m just starting into the part of the study where they start talking.\u00a0 They probably should of stayed silent, but that’s for another blog.
\nFor today, just know God showed up.\u00a0 He’s there for you.\u00a0 His mercies are new.\u00a0 He loves you.\u00a0 If there’s someone in your life hurting, just show up.\u00a0 You don’t have to say a word.\u00a0 Just be there for them and let them know they aren’t alone.
\n 
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The steadfast love of the\u00a0Lord\u00a0never ceases;[\u00a0\u00a0his mercies never come to an end;\u00a0they are new\u00a0every morning;\u00a0great is your faithfulness.”\u00a0 Lamentations 3:22-23 God has a way of taking my breath away like no one else.\u00a0 We are camping in Bedford, PA this weekend.\u00a0 A gem of a campground we found last year called Merritt Pond.\u00a0 It’s nestled… Continue reading New Every Morning<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","without-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1528,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449\/revisions\/1528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.honestreflections.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}