When it pours, He reigns!

My dearest Cos Karen, sent me this book and I just started delving into it yesterday and I have been blessed and couldnt wait to share this nugget of gold I found even within the first few pages! ( italics my own)

"When you encounter a storm, don´t take it personally. Some storms might be of our own making - our own bad choices-but plenty occur simply because we are alive on planet Earth.

Storms come to the good and the bad, to the just and the unjust...they come to us all. And storms are not optional, they are part of the curriculum of life. They are not "electives," nor are they necessarily punishment for something we or someone else has done wrong. They are essential elements for our growth.

In 1991, scientists created an artificial enviornment in Oracle, Arizon, called Biosphere 2 and lived inside it for two years. Inside this self-sustaining community, the scientists created a number of mini-ecosystems, including a desert, a rain forest, and even an ocean. They simulated nearly every weather element except wind.

After a while the effects of their windless enviornment became apparent. A number of trees bent over and even snapped. Without the stress of wind to strengthen the wood, the trunks grew weak and could not hold their own weight.

Like it or not, we have to admit that weathering storms builds our strength..."

"There is greatness within you, and it becomes apparent as you go through your storm."

"May I suggest, that the facts are not nearly as important as the truth. To make it through the storms. our lives must be built on TRUTH and not just facts."

"We are changed, transformed, when our minds are renewed, not necessarily when the circumstances change."

Example

".....Finding out that you were unwanted or unnamed at birth could certainly throw you. This is a real sotrm and it happened to Christine. But honestly it didn´t knock Christine off course. Why? Because the facts concerning her birth didn't change the truth of her life.

The facts of her birth: unnamed and unwanted.

The truth: formed by God, wonderfully created, and a loved-beyond measure daughter of the King!"

I was especially blessed by these last quotes and the difference between facts and truth. Often we say...,"You just have to look at the facts - they speak for themselves! Facts are real, but we must not confuse them with TRUTH! I really could relate to this with some of my storms and I hope that it is a blessing to you too. Better yet, buy the book!