Don't Give Up

It has been a long night and day! Thomas has been sick for a couple of days. He has woke up at night complaining of horrible stomach cramps. The dr. had him get check and stomach x-rays, which thank God showed nothing, so we are thinking it may be a virus. Then, last night Josie woke up at about 12:30a.m. and said that her stomach was hurt, which eventually led to her throwing up 3 different times throughout the night. So, to say the least we haven't been getting very much sleep at night. She seems to be a little better, but everyone is very tired tonight. Then on the way to work this afternoon Mike ran over a bungy cord and it got caught in the truck tire and also hit our tail light and broke it along with giving us a flat tire (not to mention is was very cold out and Mike didn't take a coat with him). So we are all ready for a new day, but I did tell Mike that at least he came home to a warm home and to a family that loves him. So, that has been the last couple of days for us, hopefully the rest of Spring Break will be better.
The title of this blog just really spoke to me. On Sunday the preacher spoke about not giving up. What really caught me was when he said that God NEVER gave up on us. Even when the devil was tempting Jesus, especially on the cross which some believe was the greatest temptation to give up, he didn't. Even when he all the reasons in the world to give up on us humans, he didn't. He suffered the ultimate sacrifice for us, even when we didn't even come close to deserving it. Then, the preacher said, we should never give up on God. When things don't go according to our plan, or our timeline, we shouldn't give up on God, because He didn't give up on us, as he does know best. That really hit home. We all go through things, and some really hard and bad things at that. There are times when some of us just feel that we are done and we aren't even going to try anymore, because why, it doesn't seem to be helping at all. I am not going to pretend that I haven't been there, b/c I have, but that message just reminded me to never give up. After all God did for me, there is no excuse to give up on Him. God knows our future and he sees our true heart, and what he does, he does because he loves us. When I think about what Jesus endured for me, and the torture he put upon himself and didn't choose to take the easy way out, I have no excuse to give up or question him. When I think about
God giving his one and only son up for us, I am overwhelmed and in ah with his love for us. When he asks me to do something, I have to know that he knows what's best. I think of what he went through and what he watched his son go through, people making fun of him, laughing at him, beating him, spitting on him, his own people denying him, it makes me sick and sad. But happiness overcomes me also, that my God loves me that much. I know when he asked me to go to Africa I was always questioning if it was what he really wanted me to do. People laughed at me when I told them that I felt that God wanted me to go, some to my face and some behind my back. I was yelled at and made fun of at times. Many gave disapproving looks, questioned what in the world I was doing, couldn't believe that God had wanted me to do this and many didn't really believe that I felt God calling me. But, I knew that deep down in my heart that it was exactly what he was wanting me to do. I didn't even come close to going through what Jesus did, but it sure helped me to understand him better. It showed me that He knew what was best and that he knew the future and that as crazy as life and people for that matter get, he doesn't want us to give up. He doesn't want us to give up even when we don't know the future or why we are going through what we are, but all that matters is that he knows that future and why we are going through what we are. He doesn't want us to give up, afterall, He NEVER gave up on US.