Thanksgiving Pie Night

The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving our church puts a hold on the usual Wednesday night church activities and has an annual pie night time of fellowship with one another as a church body.  I love listening to the stories of those in my church family and how God has worked through the good and bad to bring each one of us closer to Him.

The first pie night we were a part of we were still relatively new to the church and it was only a couple of months after I had miscarried with Jordan.  I felt led to get up and say something (which completely evades me at this point) even though most were unaware of what had happened.  Last year, we were in the hospital with Malachi during pie night.  Because I knew God would once again lead me to get up and share at least something of His goodness throughout the trials of the last year, I came prepared!

This year there was kind of an "order" for people to share.  There was a time of singing and then those over 30 were encouraged to share something.  When people in that age bracket were seemingly done, one of our pastors told us how he was encouraged by those of us in our church who suffered great loss of loved ones in the past year who clung to God during those times instead of turning our backs.  Tears immediately fill my eyes and I knew I would be unable to coherently give a testimony.

John stepped up and took my notes paired with what he had wanted to say and kind of just spoke for the both of us while I sat with tears streaming down my face.  Had I been composed, this is what I had planned to say...

I am thankful for God's peace.  In God's Word, He promises to "keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You: because he trusts in You" (Isaiah 26:3).  We had a 30 minute drive to and from the hospital each day to spend time with Malachi and meet with doctors and figure out what was best for our baby.  Many times I would spend that time listening to this CD.  It kind of became my "pump-up" music to keep me in the right mindset when our lives were filled with questions and uncertainty.  This song in particular very much kept our minds stayed on our great God who had ordained each and every one of Malachi's days.

EVERY DAY
In Your grace, You know where I walk
You know when I fail
You know all my ways
In Your love, I know You allow
What I cannot grasp
To bring Your praise

Thank You for the trials
For the fire, for the pain
Thank You for the strength
Knowing You have ordained
Every day

Your great power is shown when I’m weak
You help me to see
Your love in this place
Perfect peace is filling my mind
And drawing my heart
To praise You again

In my uncertainty, Your Word is all I need
To know You’re with me every day (repeat)

At their website they include the following little blurb regarding the CD...
But all our problems don’t end when we turn to Christ. We still get sick. Marriages end. Children die. Our plans, great or small, are disrupted. We grow weary in the battle.

Scripture assures us that God is sovereignly using our difficulties as tools to make us more like his Son. “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Ro 5:3–5) While we know these things are true, in the midst of our hardships we can lose perspective. Problems can loom large, and our hopes can grow dim.
Come Weary Saints is an invitation to redirect your focus to the God whose love has been forever demonstrated at the cross of Calvary. As you listen to these songs, may your faith and joy in the Savior be strengthened for the challenges you face, now or in the future.