River of Life: Single Mom Sabbath: How Reading Brings Rest

I am finding gems of truth in the book I am currently reading: The Indwelling Life of Christ, All of Him in All of Me by Major W. Ian Thomas. It is packed with practical but poignant insight into what it means to live the exchanged life...my old life for the new life of Christ which resides in me.

I have found reading to bring me rest over the years of my single life. I love biographies, faith building books, and when in the right frame of mind can even enjoy a great love story. Reading can remove you from your current circumstances and place you mind elsewhere whether it be a glorious setting described in the book providing peace or a frightening prisoner camp affording the opportunity for a tenacious act of courage inspiring us to trust in a new way.

Yesterday I enjoyed my new book from my car while watching a double header baseball game. It was entirely too cold to be sitting on bleachers and I had a birds eye view anyway from the warmth of my front seat as the sun shone through my window.

As I pondered over what all I desired to accomplish after the ball games I felt myself slipping into sadness. That place of disappointment that once again I am in charge of it all....cooking, shopping, errands, fix the Easter baskets, Easter morning breakfast and the list goes on and on.

I allowed my mind to fast forward to this morning when AGAIN we would pile into church....all 7 of us with an absent dad/husband. And I remembered then:

Holidays can be hard for single parents and their children.

My kids will look around and see all the whole families: mom, dad, children. In the past they've shared their hurts with me of how painful it is to sit next to a complete family. It is then I remember what we are celebrating tomorrow and refuse to allow my mind to advance one more negative thought. I pick up my book and here is what I find:

God is indispensable for the truly normal human being. The human spirit is that part of us where God lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, so that with our moral consent (and never without it), God gains access to our human soul. This is where He Himself, as the Creator within the creature, can teach our minds, control our emotions, and direct our wills, so that He, as God from within, governs our behavior as we let God be God.

If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), and this is what it means to walk in the Holy Spirit: to take one step at a time, and for every new situation into which every step takes you, no matter what it may be, to hear Christ saying to your heart, "I AM," then to look into His face by faith and say, "You are!" That is all I need to know, Lord, and I thank you, for You are never less than adequate."

Thank you God for being all I needed today and everyday. Thank you for giving me your courage to brave through going to church ONE MORE EASTER without a husband or father for my children. Thank you for reeling my mind back in with truth that you are enough for me as well as my children.

Thank you for the resurrection hope that we are complete in you.

I'm including a few pictures to record our memories of another sweet holiday with it's traditions.