Jeremiah 29

I feel so bad for letting my blog get so far behind. We are just getting over the hump of the flu, croup, strep skin infections, strep throat, ear infections, allergies & pink eye. I think that's it...maybe? For the most part, we are doing much better. These two little blue-eyed babies never cease to bring a smile to my heart and to my face.

The times we have faced over the past few years have been very hard, and sometimes it feels like way too much. Sometimes, it is too much. I'm so thankful for a loving, caring husband who is willing to jump in and give me a much-needed break when I'm plain exhausted.

I think it was last week that I read Jeremiah 29. I have always heard Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future," and that is a wonderful verse. However, I never really read Jeremiah 29 in the whole context of what it was. It is a letter to the exiles. It was like this "aha" moment for me. As I read the whole chapter with the knowledge that it was for the exiles, I found a part of myself that just felt like an exile (even though I truly am not in the sense of who the exiles were).

More often than not, I feel like an exile...a pariah. So often, we are contagious with some sickness or another. When we are not sick, I have a migraine. When I don't have a migraine, we have lice or acid reflux-induced vomiting, or...well, you get it. I feel like an exile to these physical afflictions. And as I read it, I felt like God was telling me to "live" while we are "in exile." This season may last for awhile. And if it does, we need to live the best we can while in the situation. One verse talks about increasing in number and not decreasing. What I took from that was that God wants me to grow and increase in my relationship with Him while "in exile." He wants me to come closer to Him during this time and learn to rely on Him even for our very health.

God told the exiles that He would bring them back to their land after 70 years, and I know that God will bring us His touch, His healing on our physical bodies at some point in time. We are not forsaken. We are God's children who cause Him great delight. And though we are not perfect, His love for us never waxes or wanes. It is constant. He is my Constant!