Surviving the Storms

This has been a year of change. A lot of things have already changed and a lot of things will change soon. Terrible things have happened. Things that keep me up at night, praying and wondering what I should be doing to make everything all right again. Wonderful things have happened too. I just need to look through the thousands of pictures I have taken to see that. 
I am not the same person I was when this year started. I have become more careful in my relationship with Joe. I am more careful to not take him for granted, to be more considerate and kind, to savor the moments with him just as I try to savor all the times that I have been given with my children. I have become more honest, more open, more vulnerable. I have been more intentional to teach the truth to my children and to teach them the foundations for living a moral life and that it is critical that we live in a manner pleasing to God whether or not anyone is watching.   

One thing I heard in church last week really resonated with me during this time of change and introspection, and I haven't been able to stop processing it because I believe it to be so true.
Our pastor spoke from Matthew 7 and he taught how so many people are believers of certain parts of the Bible. They ask God to add on a room addition to the beautiful house they have already constructed. They want God to make their home a little shinier, look a little better from the outside, be a little stronger. They want to force the teachings of the Word into the spaces of who they already are. They cut bits and pieces from the text, hang them on the walls, and say, "Yes, that feels better. That looks nice." 
However, this is not the way we are  to live. The Bible is to be the rock on which we build our house. If we had parts that were constructed before we met Christ, we are to tear them down and let God and his Word start a new building on that rock. We are to align our life to fit the entirety of the Word of God, not just the parts that feel comfortable to us. Only then will we be ready for the storms that will inevitably crash and threaten to crumble the houses we have constructed. 

Matthew 7:26 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”  28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

I have been working on lessening the fear in my own life as well. I will not be afraid for what can man do to me? 

Psalm 112. 
"Surely the righteous will never be shaken;
    they will be remembered forever.
7 They will have no fear of bad news;
    their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord."