Joyful Refuge

  • Count it all Joy

    Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds. James 1:2 ESV I am once again doing another Bible Study through Love God Greatly. They will be doing the book of James beginning Monday January 15. I got a jump start on it today and was studying James 1:2. https://lovegodgreatly.com After writing down…

  • Choosing Faith & Gratitude Amidst Pain

    Father in heaven, you know the questions that weigh heavily upon my heart. Just as I rejoice that you have chosen me to be witness to your awesome might, help me move from childhood to maturity about my illness. Let me not resist your plan for me, but go willingly, proclaiming to all that you…

  • At Home in Heaven

    Originally posted on Always Sick, Always Loved: On July 26th, 2017, my precious wife Margaret passed away at the age of 63.  She had heroically battled the autoimmune disease sarcoidosis for almost thirty years, and despite decades of pain and disability, demonstrated a contagious joy throughout her lifetime. How was this joy possible, even when…

  • The Choice

    Sometimes God makes His path so clear, even when the path goes through rough terrains we would rather not travel. God was so kind to give me a vivid illustration of the results of the choices before me when I was in the midst of being diagnosed with chronic illnesses. My health began tanking in 2009…

  • Embracing My Consistently Inconsistent Life

    Embracing My Consistently Inconsistent Life

    Chronic illness visited me and stayed after a fall in November 2009 that required ten stitches on my knee. When I went to my doctor two days later to have it checked, she started me on a different and stronger antibiotic due to inflammation and concern of a bone infection. After a single dose I…

  • Capacity for God Enlarged by Suffering 

    “Suffering is seen as one of God’s means of enlarging the soul’s capacity for Himself, and sufferers are enjoined to seek God’s enabling that they may lose none of the present or future fullness that God would have them experience as a result…There is only one way in which a sufferer may come to realize…

  • Our Life Stories are Written in Wisdom and Grace

    A friend posted this Paul Tripp excerpt yesterday and it really made me stop and ponder. “Your story isn’t an autobiography. Your story is a biography of wisdom and grace written by another. Every turn He writes into your story is right. Every twist of the plot is for the best. Every new character or…

  • New Year Musings of Fresh Snow

    Today a friend mentioned we have a whole New Year ahead of us that is a clean slate. It is like a new snow before any footprints have made any paths. Today we have fresh snowfall in our area. While I ponder how each step I make in the snow permanently changes how it looks…

  • Finding Purpose in Suffering – Part 2

    Finding Purpose in Suffering – Part 2

    “The very thing we are afraid of, our brokenness, is the door to our Father’s heart” – Paul Miller Suffering is painful and we often feel broken in the midst of it and wonder when it will ever end. Reminding ourselves of God’s divine purposes in suffering helps us endure and find hope. This blog…

  • Finding Purpose in Suffering – Part 1

    Finding Purpose in Suffering – Part 1

    This blog post is my biggest take away from the women’s conference I attended in Colorado Springs last weekend where Nancy Guthrie was the speaker. I only was able to attend Saturday and each of those sessions were grounded in the Word of God and both convicted and encouraged. The last session “Trusting God with…