be brave...

Isaiah 41:10 "Don't panic. I'm with you. There's no need to fear for I'm your God. I'll give you strength. I'll help you. I'll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you."
this is the quote that my best friend has included in her signature of all of her emails. today i really needed to hear it. i had set up three different creative projects to work on and post about but that was preempted by a day-long trip to the er with my mother. she was having severe knee pain and the ortho couldn't see her for a month - is there really that many people with bone problems? - so we opted for the much hated er hoping for at least an rx for some good drugs. we were succesful, and the pain ended up being arthritis that will probably need a cortisone shot. but for now vicodin will have to do the trick. so today i really needed to hear that God would hold me steady. as i have been lifting my seventy three year old mother many times a day it is overwhelmingly refreshing to know that, while i am holding on to her, He has a firm grip on me.
this entire year has been very difficult with financial stress (i know i am not alone there), putting our bulldog to sleep, taking a sabbatical from youth group... so earlier this year God gave me the thought - BE BRAVE! it became my mantra to help me get through all of the crap that came my way. and it has been encouraging to see how God has been encouraging me to be brave. from my best friend's email signature to the example of courage of moses' mother we studied in bsf, God continues to remind me that i can be brave as long as i remember that He has a firm grip on me.
so look forward to some projects and a revamped craft area coming soon. promise.
be brave...
<3 anna