Stay in Today

Well, I didn't do a very good job of "staying in today" when I wrote my last post as I struggled through the emotions of reality setting in. But I realize it's all part of the grieving process, and I am thankful to know that God knows my frame and remembers that I am dust (Ps. 103:14) when I have days like that.

I read this verse on Thursday, and I love it:

"You who have made me see many
troubles and calamities
will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again."
Psalm 71:20-21

The Psalms are so good. I've buried myself in them these past couple of months. So many of the emotions I am experiencing, David (author of most of the Psalms) so eloquently puts into words, and he claims such beautiful promises and truth. He will revive me again. He will bring me up again. He will comfort me again. It just doesn't get much better than that!

Here's a look at the past couple of days...

David surprised me on Thursday night, and we went and watched a symphony at the U of A. I've always wanted to see a symphony! It was a fun night night out with my love.

We celebrated Tony's birthday yesterday. Honestly, it could have been a totally crappy day - but we did our best to make it a good one. David and I went over to Tony's house around 11am and brought him his favorite birthday cake for a late breakfast - Tony is a rare breed who loves his dessert for breakfast, and heck, it's his birthday so he can do what he wants! His mom used to always make him this cake for his birthday, but she is now in the nursing home, so I decided to give the recipe a try. I was a little nervous about it because Grandma's cooking has always been pretty darn good, but thankfully, I think it turned out to be a success!

Devil's food cake with the yummiest fluffy white homemade icing!
Delicious, if I do say so myself!

Bryan and Jenna and the boys came over for dinner last night. Jenna and I prepared my mom's famous brisket meal for Tony's birthday. Every Sunday our family gathered for lunch after church, and my mom made brisket, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans and rolls - some downright good home cooking right there - and she was the best at all of it! So again, it was a little intimidating to tackle such a meal - we had some big shoes to fill. But Jenna and I high-fived as we dug into our plates and realized we had almost hit the nail right on the head. We made a great team!

The cooks! I love my sister-in-law so much and am so thankful
to have this friend by my side through all of these hard times.

Mom's famous brisket meal. We think she was up in heaven watching us cook and probably laughing at all the silly questions we had and wished we could have asked her. She always made things look so simple!

Jenna, Bryan, me and Tony (David took the picture for us)

Me and the birthday guy! Happy Birthday Tony!

Hudson helped Tony open all of his gifts. Here they are
opening an old picture of G-ma and G-pa.

We gave Tony lots of old pictures of him and my
mom to place around the house and his office.

At this point, I would like to take a moment to ask for you to pray for Tony's assistant Staci. Staci and Tony have worked together for over 10 years, and yesterday morning (on Tony's birthday), Staci lost her precious momma. They were very close, as were me and my mom, and my heart goes out to her as I am all too familiar with the feelings Staci now faces. Please pray for the comfort, grace and strength that only God can give. I also ask that you would pray for them as they both juggle going back to work and dealing with the emotions of losing the one's they loved so dearly.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have got to remember to stay in today. I love this passage from Matthew 6, from Jesus' mouth himself:

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on... Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?... Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

If my God cares for the birds of the air and gives them everything they need, I should know that He will take care of me and give me exactly what I need. I love how that passage ends with the words, "Sufficient for the day is its own trouble" - a perfect segue to the promise we see in 2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." His grace is sufficient for today. Remember this, Jordan. His grace is sufficient for you today. Only stay in today.

"This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it."