Breaking Open the Flask

 I’ve been in “reconstruction” for 131 days since losing my bestie and her husband. In today’s reading from Nehemiah 6, for me the realization of the 52 days to rebuild the wall symbolizes my grief journey. Not my first great loss by any means but because of those previous losses, I knew this journey would have to take it’s own course as the others had some 16 years ago.  I cling to this one short and simple phrase in the NLT: “…the enemies lost all confidence!” They were frightened and humiliated because This work was a work of The God whom they did Not trust.  In the darkness of grief, it is not unusual for the enemy to attack with all vengeance; I’ve had my share. YET because my friends were saved, I’ve been comforted in this truth: “God is Sovereign from the Beginning” => my bestie and her husband are perfect and complete, lacking nothing in Heaven w/ Jesus. Therefore, I t is in God alone, I find My comfort. Though my heart is lost without our coffee chats, water w...

 Nehemiah 5:4-5, “And others said,‘We have had to borrow money on our fields and vineyards to pay our taxes.  We belong to the same family as those who are wealthy and our children are just like theirs. Yet we must sell our children into slavery just to get enough money to live. We have already sold some of our daughters, and we are helpless to do anything about it, for our fields and vineyards are already mortgaged to others.’ ” (NLT) Selling my kids… could I even do that?!!! It only takes a split second before I ask myself a bigger Q: What might I have “sold” my children off to?! Devices!! Knowingly??? NO!!! We couldn’t KNOW what we didn’t KNOW! It was JUST a flip phone; an “Emergency Contact” BUT what it quickly became… a source of pornography!!! We had no idea until we heard about a couple of kids arrested!!! JH boys & JH girls sharing “innocent” photos on flip phones. And back then, parents could only monitor phone #’s! 🙄 Nowadays, I quiver to think what young eyes l...