Sharing the Stories...

This post by Mary DeMuth was such an encouragement and challenge to me today. It reminds me of the verses God gave us through our friends Kathy and Justin when I went into labor at 30 weeks with Ammah Grace...Psalm 40:1-5.  I quoted them to myself often during the next 6 1/2 weeks.  Verse 5 says, "Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare."  I always ended that with "But, Lord, I will share as much and as often as I have the opportunity."   

It took longer to come to that place in the events of the last 4 1/2 years, but God did show me that He is working just as many wonders in the difficulties of that situation, and that they need to be shared as well.   Mary DeMuth's article, Seven Reasons I Still Share My Story, lays out perfectly my heart regarding "stewarding our story well", as Mary Beth Chapman says.   It's very appropriate that this article is by Mary DeMuth, as God used my "happening" (which wasn't "happening" at all, but God's perfect plan) across Mary's story as a major source of encouragement to me during some of our darkest days.  God had given me such an assurance that "even this" was part of His plan for our girls and our family from before the beginning of time, that His plan was for good and not for evil, that it was to give us a future and a hope, that He was and is working it all for His glory and our good...and Mary's story was such a comfort and reinforcement in that.  

I waited patiently for the LORD;
   He turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in Him.
  Blessed is the one
   who trusts in the LORD,
who does not look to the proud,
   to those who turn aside to false gods.
 Many, LORD my God,
   are the wonders You have done,
   the things You planned for us.
None can compare with You;
   were I to speak and tell of Your deeds,
   they would be too many to declare.
~Psalm 40:1-5