Week 4...Deb Hughes

This week has been good and bad for me. My family lost a very special woman this week, Grandma Todd. She was actually my great Grandmother who was 97 and out lasted her Husband, kids, and even a Great Grand child, my brother Josh. She had seen 2 world wars, the great depression and all kinds of other huge events in her life. Grandma Todd was a delight to be around. I remember visiting her a lot when I was younger and just loved being around her. It's always hard to lose someone you love, but she had a full life and now she is finally Home. I know my brother is having a party for her now in heaven. Please pray for my mom especially, as she is in D.C. right now for meetings with "The Gold Star Mothers". It never happens at a good time I suppose.

I have been busy with work and enjoying this rain as it's brought good business for me! Praying without ceasing has proven to be a hard task, but I'm not giving up. I will say it has been very easy to neglect my journey as I have been so busy with the hustle and bustle of work. I seem to have a harder time focusing on my relationship with God when things are busy and going well. Interesting I must say.

On another note, I have the best mother in law in the world and she is definitely the most beautiful:-) I decided to marry Jor after I first met Deb, that is what she means to me... (plus I knew jordan had good genes in her too, haha!) Deb is a high school chemistry and physics teacher, a very smart and, I must say, wise lady. She wrote me a couple of days ago and I would like to share her letter of encouragement. It came at the perfect time, and I can't thank you enough Deb for your love and amazing grace you have for me. I truly respect and want the relationship you have with our Heavenly Father. If Deb prays, God answers. Here it is:

Hey sweet boy of mine! I'm enjoying reading your blog, and participating with you as you seek to pray continuously. (I think I earlier told you that I refer to these prayers throughout the day as "breath prayers"..."Oh, sweet Lord, thank you for this beautiful moon." Or, "Father God, be with my sweet Jared today as he looks for You and seeks to honor You." ;o)

I just wanted to say that as I read your blog, I continue to see a theme of you beating yourself up over past regrets, or sin, or feelings of worthlessness, or whatever. Jared, sweetness, be grateful for your past, whatever it may be! We can't change it--it is what it is....BUT....I have so many sins in my life that I could allow to make me feel unworthy, but honestly, these sins and shortcomings are a part of my history and they are one of the reasons that I understand the depths of God's forgiveness; they are one of the reasons that I'm able to not judge others; they are why I'm aware that I've faced down some pretty ferocious demons and won... Do you remember me telling you one time that a girlfriend shared her deepest secret with me and then said, "I couldn't tell you these things if you had your act together." Whhhaaaaatttt????? Funny, huh? But, I get it. She was telling me that she could approach me because she knew I'd understand; she knew that I had failed in my own life, but didn't stay defeated by Satan. I was, and am, as Henri Nouwen says, "A wounded healer"...I love that. (Maybe that should be my tattoo..."Abba's child" on one arm and "wounded healer" on the other! ;o) )

The point I'm trying to make to you is that we all can be self-depreciating--we all can find "stuff" that we're ashamed of or that we wish we could take back or that we wish we had never done. But that's the beauty of our redemption...we're redeemed, washed, LOVED by the Creator of the Cosmos! Glory!!!! How grateful I am that I can hand it all over to Him and let Him deal with it--it's exhausting trying to do it yourself. So, I encourage you to do the hard thing, the brave thing, and embrace the life your Dad wants to give you...a forgiven and extraordinarily loved one...

Don't forget that you are "a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor"..

"They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61:3

In Abba's tender embrace....

deb

love you guys,

JARED