You know, my list of things to blog about just keeps growing.  I guess that’s a good thing for this newby.    I wanted to share this awesome, encouraging, helpful, convicting (and any other superlative that would be a synonym to those words) sermon that C.J. Mahaney recently gave at our local church. This sermon was very timely for me, as last week was an especially difficult week emotionally.  I don’t know about you, but I really struggle at times with feelings of depression.  I can’t pick myself up by the boot straps, everything seems to be so much worse than it really is…My husband seems to think that it’s nearing the time for my menstrual cycle to begin again, which has been absent since my pregnancy with Brant, and now, due to nursing.  We’ll see.  He thinks so because, without fail, every month about two weeks before my cycle begins, the black cloud looms for about a week or two.  Ya know what I’m talking about??  Ugh.  It’s so unpleasant.  For me and my family.  It is possible though, to walk in the Spirit during this time, but since it’s been almost two years since this lovely experience, I have to re-learn how in the world to get through it.  Preparation is huge.  The verdict is out, but many signs are there, so if this is the start to the wonderful return of my cycle, hopefully I can be better prepared for the next time around.

All that to say, this sermon was so helpful in this process!  I spend way, way, WAY too much time listening to myself instead of speaking Truth to myself.  The latter is absolutely necessary in order to “lift myself up by the boot straps.”  Hearing the Word of God will enable faith and that faith and reliance on the Spirit sure will serve me better than listening to the loud, depressing lies that tend to fill my head during PMS or possibly this time around, P-PMS (pre- PMS!).

We go to a Sovereign Grace church and are so incredibly blessed to be a part of it.  We’ve had the privilege of hearing CJ speak several times since we get to visit whenever we go to visit my family who lives in Maryland (where I’m from).  He is a truly gifted teacher, a humble man, and so incredibly down to earth.  If there is an example of a servant leader who walks in humility, it is him. You can read a little about him here.

I KNOW you’ll be encouraged by this sermon.  Get some ironing, a basket of laundry to fold, or let a sink full of dishes gather so you can listen to this while you work.  It’s on my list of things to do today!