All in all, I had a good Labor Day weekend. I was very happy to get to play Balderdash, my favorite game, TWICE. Great laughter over hilarious definitions ensued. :-D

Today? Well, I seem to be especially feeling the heat of the battle ... oppression in discouraging thoughts that suddenly just come upon me, in some ways without rhyme or reason? But ... God WINS. Praise God for that!

And yesterday we got a very encouraging report concerning my dad. He can definitely still use a lot of prayer ... but we are so grateful for the good report. I have been learning through this whole experience that God gives you the grace you need for each day ... His strength to get through each day. I won't lie, there are plenty of times where it sure FEELS like there is more pressing upon me than I can bear ... but HE is abundantly faithful and good whether I always "feel" that way or not.

Oh Lord Jesus ... may I sense Your presence always ... and may my life be a fragrant offering to You, a vibrant testimony to Your abundant faithfulness. Help me, dear Jesus, I pray. I love you, Jesus.

P.S. I close with a quote from Randy Alcorn's Heaven that ministered to me today ...
"To look into God's eyes will be to see what we've always longed to see: the person who made us and for whom were were made. And we will see him in the place he made for us, and for which we were made. Seeing God will be like seeing everything else for the first time. We will discover that seeing God is our greatest joy, and life itself."