blessed be your name

like every other sunday, yesterday was the same- we tried a new church in town, Grace Chapel. this church was a bit different than the others we have tried since we have been here. this one was a little more... us. we were very pleased. from the moment we parked and walked up the front steps it felt a little more comfortable than the others. we entered and found a seat. the song that we first sung was a familiar one, "blessed be the name of the Lord". i LOVE this one. in an instant i was completely relaxed and in full on church mode: praising, clapping, enjoying the band and the great vocals, AND AND they had a flautist (you know, someone who plays the flute) and she was fantastic! after lots of songs of praise, the preacher came on the stage and we sat down for the lesson. he was captivating. i was totally drawn in. i was still slightly thinking about the words of the song: "you give and take away, you give and take away" like it had just really struck a chord. and then i found out that the lesson was about why bad things happen to good people. we discussed Job. how he was a righteous man, and yet he lost everything: his wealth, his family, his body to disease. the preacher talked and cried about his loss of a brother at a very young age and how he still (37 years later) greives over the loss. we discussed how God is the one and only sovereign ruler of the universe, and how he uses our suffering for his glory.

it hit me.

although life can be rough and times can be bad, God has a plan. a plan that is way bigger than the plans we have for ourselves... you give and take away, you give and take away.

this is our reminder that we don't make the plans. he does.