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Remnants |
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By: Suzi Toadvine |
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As a young, single mother of two children, I experienced many times of hardship and feeling overwhelmed. I was solely responsible, not only for the needs of my children, but for the upkeep of my home, yard work, paying the bills, doctor appointments, school activities, and the list goes on. At times, it seemed that I was going under, but with God’s help and strength, I made it. I came through that time with many lessons learned … spoils of the battle, so to speak. I can look back on that now and see the faithfulness of God and just how He provided and took care of us. We had many happy days with warm and wonderful memories because He made a way for us! It is a beautiful reminder/remnant in my life. I well remember sitting by my son in his multiple struggles with cancer. It was heart wrenching to watch my child suffer with such an awful disease. Many times, it felt overwhelming and so discouraging. But at the same time, I saw such unwavering faith in him, and I cherish the days we were able to spend together during that difficult time. I can also look back and see how the Great Comforter stood by me through it all and how I felt His strength become mine during those days of brokenness. I can remember how He walked those days with me. I have some precious reminders/remnants from those days upon which I can look back. I have endured times of job pressures, financial worries, personal sickness, being the primary caregiver for my ailing mother, along with many other times I can reflect upon that might have been trying and difficult at the moment. There are many remnants in my heart from those days and just being reminded of how God kept His word to me and how He never failed me during the times of stress and worry. We all have moments that we can reflect upon just like the ones I have mentioned. God has instructed us to cast our cares on Him because HE cares! He is our burden bearer! The Word also states that His grace is sufficient! He wants us to bring our needs to Him. The Bible says it is His good pleasure to meet them for us! If we can walk out of those moments of hardship and trial and can bring sweet remnants of those times, they are a blessing to reflect back upon. My sweet mother-in-law was quite the quilter. I remember seeing her cut many pieces of various colors and prints of fabric and often wondered how she was going to make anything beautiful out of that. But invariably, she did! I was thinking this morning, during my devotional that I have done much the same by taking the remnants of my life battles and turning them into a quilt … a quilt of PRAISE! It is not a physical quilt, but it is a quilt in the corners of my mind that I can remember just how good God has been to me. When I face a new trial, I can pull out that quilt, and it is a great faith builder to me that God will take care of me once again! God makes good use of remnants! |
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Suzi Toadvine lives in Chesterton, IN with her husband, Rick. She recently retired after more than thirty years in the banking industry. She is part of the music team at Portage UPC in Portage, IN. Suzi is the happy Nana to five grands! |
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