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I am so excited for this Summers Tune In Thursday Guest Blogs! Y’all, are in for a special treat, as we have some very special guests joining us over the summer each week.
Today’s guest is Michele Morin. If you love to read, you need to be following Michele’s blog. She writes the best and most thorough reviews. She has contributed to many books being added to my “Must Read List!” But that isn’t all Michele writes about, as you will read today. In my opinion Michele is a “wordsmith extraordinaire”
Thank you Michele, for sharing your heart with us today at Tune In Thursday. I encourage you to leave comments below for Michele, and don’t forget to link up your posts below.
Enjoy and Blessings,
Debbie
Michele Morin is a teacher, blogger, reader, and gardener who finds joy in sitting at a table surrounded by women with open Bibles. She has been married to an unreasonable patient husband for over 25 years, and their four children are growing up at an alarming rate. Michele loves hot tea and well-crafted sentences, poems that stop her in her tracks and days at the ocean with the whole family. She laments biblical illiteracy and advocates for the prudent use of “little minutes.”
You can find her blog at: https://michelemorin.wordpress.com
Twitter: @MicheleDMorin
Declaration of Dependence
Guest Post by: Michele Morin
Long lashes against his pale cheeks, my youngest son was sleeping soundly despite the beeping and whirring backdrop of the children’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The ambulance ride, the endless testing and probing, and the grim diagnosis were secondary now to my boy’s constant pain, his fear, and the question marks that persisted hour after hour.
Surgery?
More tests?
What’s next?
What I remember most from those days of wondering and waiting was the uncertainty and the chaos of it all. There was no silence – and there was certainly no privacy – but, in the background, my prayers thrummed the cadence of a continual S.O.S., pleading for strength from God to bear the next thing, whatever it might be. By His Spirit, God reminded me that He had taken in all that had happened: the bicycle crash, the ruptured spleen, the ambulance ride, the continual suffering of my tiny boy. God knew about the present situation and all that I feared for the coming days– but, unlike me, He had not run out of strength.
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So, I asked.
In a Declaration of Dependence, I asked for His strength. I looked at my desperate situation, my very sick boy, my fear, and my questions, and I asked for strength to wait and to trust God for whatever would be required in the coming hours and days.
Carrying the Lesson Forward
In these days of the empty-ing nest, I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness in that season of crisis as my husband and I read through the Old Testament together. David’s story has a happy ending of sorts, but his life was punctuated with upheaval, and certainly he was no stranger to question marks and long days of desperation. In I Samuel 30, the Amalekites had burned the city of Ziklag and had carried off all the women and children as spoils of war. Blaming him for their loss, David’s men were gathering stones in anger, ready to put an end to their leader.
At this point, David had a number of viable options before him:
Panic
Fear
Shifting of blame
Escape
“And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God, (I Samuel 30:6 ESV).
The man after God’s own heart “strengthened himself in the Lord his God,” and then “inquired of the Lord.” He went directly to the Source of wisdom for his next move. Even in distress, David remembered what he had learned about God from past experiences of His faithfulness, and it changed the way he responded in the moment.
Looking at this usage of the word strengthened in the Hebrew, it carries the idea of withstanding hardship. If David had merely called upon some inner strength to get him through this crisis, I might admire him, but there would be no hope for me in it. Seeing that he took courage from the Lord in order to bear up under his load instructs me to follow that same promising and reasonable path.
Over a decade has passed since my son’s accident, and that particular distress is part of our shared history. The little guy who soldiered through the harrowing experience is now taller than I am, but he carries with him the memory of God’s faithfulness to him and to our family in what would otherwise have felt like a wasteland of fear.
What is your backdrop today?
Are you sitting beside a loved one in a hospital room?
Surveying the ruins of a lost dream?
Staring at an endless list of tasks and requirements?
Your surroundings can become a scene of panic, loss, and faithless fleeing from duty. Or, by the grace of God, it can become the point of declaration, the place in which you remember the faithfulness of God, state your need, and receive the peace and strength God offers for this day.
Again Welcome and Thank you for joining me for #TuneInThursday it is an honor to have you here!
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Do you wonder if God still speaks today? Do you wonder if He would ever speak to you personally? Do you long to hear the voice of God in your life?
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I have been teaching these classes internationally for the last 10+ years equipping and training believers in discerning the Ways God speaks. God is speaking, Can you Hear Him?
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Several Submissions have been featured at Blessed Transgressions, an Online Magazine:
Balancing the Warrior & the Princess We’re Called to Be
Trusting God When it Seems Illogical
Will You Sit with Me? (Jesus is Calling.)
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Michele,
Thanks for sharing this very personal story. I think the word “dependence” has gotten a bad rap. Our society sees dependence as a bad thing, but I believe that total reliance and dependence on the Lord is where He wants us to be. I know for me, I need HIS strength when the devastating trials of life hit. I have learned that living live as a solo act is not very secure. I cannot imagine living life without the everlasting arms beneath me. Beautiful!
Blessings,
Bev xx
Thanks, Bev, for being here today. I couldn’t agree more with you thoughts on “dependence,” but it’s a hard letting go for me — and I imagine for you as well. We like to think that we’re calling the shots and in control. Thanks for reminding me about those everlasting arms.
Joel was four when this all occurred and he’s 15 now — I’ve had a long time to let the lessons sink in.
Oh Amen Bev – that is so true and I completely agree with you! God does want us to be dependent upon Him always and for all things. thanks for sharing your thoughts on Michele’s post today, It was a wonderful reminder of all the things you just mentioned. Blessings to you
Michele – what a profound statement: declaration of dependence. YES!
Yes, Debby, I couldn’t agree more. Thanks for stopping in today
Thanks, Debby. I thought about the phrase for quite a while, not wanting to be over-dramatic. After all, lots of parents have gone through much more traumatic incidents with their children, more protracted, and with not such a great outcome as ours. And yet, in that moment, I knew that I was not equal to the ordeal apart from Christ’s strengthening.
Thanks for your encouraging input.
When I grow up I want to write with the skill of Michele Morin! I loved this personal story and the idea of stating my declaration of dependence upon God in difficult situations and in the every day. Thank you for hosting Debbie. Thank you for your words Michele.
Blessings to all.
Patti
Patti, you always make me smile.
I know right Patti?! Michele is so gifted with her words and sharing from her heart. She always draws me in to read her stuff, whether a book review or an encouraging post. I love the way Michele crafts her words to deliver such a powerful, thoughtful message. Thanks for linking up Patti 🙂
David’s life is filled with som many amazing stories. God miraculously came through for him in the end of that one. Thanks for the reminder today. And I agree with Debbie that you’re a wordsmith extraordinaire!
To be honest, I struggle with David’s life story because he has shared so many of his low moments that I shift into judgment mode if I’m not careful. But then, his heart for God shines through in the crunch, and this little scenario from his life was certainly an example of his bedrock trust in the living God.
Kelly – I too love gleaning lessons from David. He brings me both comfort and courage. No else messed up as much as David in so many areas, and yet, he always found his way back to God. So much so that God declared him a man after His heart. I love that, and that is exactly what I hope people will say about me as well… she was a woman after God’s own heart… Blessings to you 🙂
What a fabulous post to read this morning Michele. Your words are so powerful and a great reminder that even in the worst situations, there can be strength!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
I’m thankful for the way God brings to remembrance His faithfulness in the past. It’s a struggle to stay in that place of trust and thanksgiving, isn’t it. We need to remind one another . . .
I couldn’t agree more with you Jodi! Even in the worst situation there can be strength – love that!
Thank you for sharing this testimony of God’s faithfulness! I’m so grateful for the many stories of His faithfulness in the Bible and stories like this. It’s in the valley that we see our Father’s heart! Blessings!
Yes, and it was so good of God to see to it that the record shows that things did not always go smoothly for his people even in biblical history. Their responses — either for good or for not-so-good — are instructive to us even today!
Esther, I am grateful too for the stories and testimonies we have in the Bible. It helps as I live life to see what God’s heart is through the ups and downs 🙂
Amen, Michele. I needed to read this today.
I’m declaring my dependence right now. I can not, I will not depend on my waning energy level to do this season without leaning fully on Jesus.
Debbie … thank you for sharing our friend here today. Beautiful.
you and me both Linda – it’s so good to know I am not alone in my declaration! Thank you for stopping in to read and comment as well – have an amazing day!
So powerful, Linda! Yes. I’m there with you on this. The demands are too great. The stakes are too high, and I don’t want to dishonor God by trying to do life without His strength!
Beautiful post, Michele. Thank you for reminding me today that our current situations can be our point of declaration. There is no better place to be than dependent on Him as He will be with us in every situation. Thank you for the encouragement both Michele and Debbie!
Thanks, Joanne — and it’s my prayer that my “little guy” (who isn’t so little anymore) will cherish this time as a “stone of remembrance” when God showed up in a big way during a time of great uncertainty and fear.
Joanne – you are most welcome and I so agree – there is no better place I would rather be than dependent upon God in all things. I am so glad you were encouraged by Michele’s post today 🙂
Thanks for sharing, Michele! There is no story as precious as the story of deliverance of our tiny ones.
I so appreciate stories from David’s life, because few of us have messed up worse than he, YET he still has the label “man after God’s own heart.” That gives me hope!
I so agree about taking courage from past experiences. I’ve learned to remind myself, “God helped me before. He never changes. He will help me again.” It may not always look like the deliverance I was hoping for but He does always come through. And His way is always better.
I’m not ashamed to declare I depend on God. Totally!
Jerralea – wow, what a beautiful name you have! I love it. I couldn’t agree with you more about Davids life and I gain courage and comfort in knowing all he did right and wrong and YET God still saw David as someone who was chasing after Him. I am not ashamed either – may we both declare together our God dependence! Blessings
Yes, sometimes we have to speak the words to ourselves. And it’s a huge encouragement to know that He never changes, never becomes depleted — and He never tires of my coming to Him for help!
Michele, I’m so glad for the Lord’s faithfulness and that your son recovered and has grown so much, able to testify about the Lord. You connected the dots between knowing God is our strength and choosing to depend on Him so vividly in this. I’ll be holding to this point especially “If David had merely called upon some inner strength to get him through this crisis, I might admire him, but there would be no hope for me in it. Seeing that he took courage from the Lord in order to bear up under his load instructs me to follow that same promising and reasonable path.” Thank you!
Bethany – I am so glad Michele’s post touched you in so many ways. I think Michele brings such a powerful balance between strength and dependence. Thank you for sharing your powerful thoughts with us today as well. Blessings to you
Isn’t it so true that when we are vulnerable, we open the way to showing others where we get our strength? In my weakness and pride, I want to appear to “have it together.” Great, right? But that’s no help to anyone. They might think I take vitamins or have a really great system in place, but that does not lead them to God. If anything, it leads to hiding and comparing and shame.
But if I’m dependent upon God and make that known . . . His power is put on display.
Michele is ONE OF MY FAVORITES – I WANT TO BE LIKE HER WHEN I GROW UP except I am older than her so I don’t know how that will work! I have declared my dependence on Papa. I can do nothing without Him. I am nothing without Him.
Oh Susan, ME TOO! I hope as I grow up, that by reading her stuff, it will learn and grow in my writing ways…. and supernaturally some of her gifting for wordsmithing will be deposited in my writing too 🙂
Susan, do you just want to come right up here to Maine and say positive things in my ear all day long?
And what you said about having declared your dependence upon God — I see this. I’m thankful for the ways it shines through your writing and the many ways that you encourage others, the way you ask for prayer for your family. I’m thankful for it.
Michele, thank you for sharing this testimony of how faithful our God is and how we can declare our dependence on Him and trust Him to move on our behalf.
I’m also glad that the Lord has given us these written testimonies of the saints of old as examples for us to draw from. Thanks for drawing this great parallel.
Ruth – God is always faithful isn’t He? I find that it encourages me greatly when I hear/read others testimonies of this very thing. Thanks for linking up today and sharing your encouragement with Michele and I.
Yes,and the Word of God gives us the real deal on the lives of these biblical characters. This has always been a great help to me!
love that thrumming cadence: Lord. help. me. Thanks, Michele.
Sue – it is definitely a good cadence… happy almost a year friend-aversay.. It’s hard to believe that it has only been 1 year since we met at She SPeaks and neither one of us are there this year. Enjoy your week/weekend.
I’m thankful when the “thrumming cadence” is positive and sends me in the right direction.
Really working on this.
Scripture is key, and staying close to the Truth in every day life.
Declaration of dependence…Food for thought. We only know how strong we are when we need to be but He is always by our side. Totally declaring dependence on Him. Now and always.
So true Jas, He is always by our side… now and always 🙂
Yes, Jas, and it occurred to me as I read your words that I may have an easier time finding and taking the strength He offers for BIG things, and then trying to function in my own strength with seat-of-the-pants wisdom of my own for the things that seem small to me. When will I learn that He’s willing to pour life into me for all the challenges.
So glad to see Michele featured here today! Love her blog and her encouraging words that she sprinkles throughout our blogging world. I also appreciate this high view of “dependence” – sometimes we depict it as a negative thing, but when it comes to our relationship with God, dependence is one of the greatest ways we can give God glory.
Lisa, I was very honored to have Michele submit to be a guest on the blog. 🙂 You are so right, dependence often gets a bad wrap, but it isn’t always a negative thing to depend on someone else other than ourselves. thanks for being here today.
Such wise insight, Lisa. We all want to be perceived as “together,” but how crazy is it that we have the resources of the God of the universe at our disposal, and we take the “I’ve got this” path?
Wow, that personal story is so touching. Something that I need to remember as when times get tough I kind of rely on me when I should be relying on faith and God. In this light, dependence is a good thing. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for hosting and have a wonderful weekend.
Patrick, I am so glad Michele’s post touched you in such a way to remind you that dependence on God is a good thing. I don’t think you are alone however, there are a lot of us, myself included at times that try to rely only on themselves.. often saying – “I’ve got this, I don’t need anyone other me” but we quickly learn we do need His help. thanks for sharing your thoughts and have an awesome weekend too
Thanks, Patrick, for reading and for vulnerably sharing your own tendency to “muscle through” the hard times. That’s my tendency as well, so I appreciated God’s grace and gentle insistence on forcing me to see my own weakness and lack of competence. It still happens, and I guess that makes me a slow learner!
Debbie, going through all these wonderful comments and hearing the shared wisdom here makes me so thankful that I sat down and took the time to consider the gift of that long ago lesson. That season made a huge impact on me — for instance, this all happened around eleven years ago, but I can still remember what I was wearing during those days in the hospital and little things like putting my hand over Joel’s eyes to help him shut out the distractions and try to rest. There were so many ways, both small and big, that God made His presence felt.
Thank you for flinging open the doors of hospitality at Dare2Hear. Blessings to you as you labor over your next project.
Oh Michele- the pleasure was all mine to have you here sharing your wisdom with me and everyone else. I am so glad that you were willing to share my space and your heart with my readers. It is interesting to me how our minds work and remember so many details for certain things and not others. I am so very grateful that you took the time too. It has been fun reading everyone’s thoughts and wisdom as well. Your post definitely touched our hearts in a way, that we were able to receive the truths!
Thank you so much. Blessings upon blessings to you.
What a beautiful picture you have painted with your words!Such wonderful thoughts to end my day!
I love knowing that you’ve come here at the end of a long day! Thanks for letting us know — Debbie’s place is a good spot to visit for encouragement.
Roseann – Michele is fabulous at painting wonderful word pictures! So glad you enjoyed her post. 🙂
Thank you for hosting and I wish you a wonderful week!
You are so welcome, thank you for linking up 🙂
Michele, that is one of my favorite passages about David. One translation (I can’t remember which one) says, “David encouraged himself in the Lord.” I don’t know why that word encouraged speaks so much to me, but it does. I imagine him saying to himself, “I remember when God saved me from the bear and the lion. Oh yes, and then there was Goliath and … So I know He’ll be faithful to me now.” I think we need to have a list of things God has done for us in the past, as well as, a list of verses of His mighty works for those in the Bible. So we can “encourage” ourselves in the Lord, too. Thanks for sharing another powerful post. And thanks, Debbie, for hosting.
I totally agree about the list of encouraging reminders, because I have a tendency toward spiritual amnesia. When I’m faced with a new challenge, I go into panic mode — instead of remembering that God has carried me through so many rough spots, and He’s got me for the next one, as well.
Thanks, Donna, for taking time to visit! Always blessed to hear from you!
Donna – I always loved that particular verse as well. It always spoke to my heart that even in the midst of discouragement, or despair, God is there to comfort and encourage us to move forward and get back up on our feet again! Blessings to you and you are most welcome for hosting! So glad to have you hear linking up each week
I’ve had this discussion with friends about how we long for our young children to be more independent… to tie their own shoes, buck their own seat belts, wipe their own behinds, etc. But at the same time we must also teach them to be dependent on God. No small feat when I need daily reminder of my smallness and His greatness! Blessings!
You’ve put your finger on an important component of this discussion — our smallness in the greater scheme of things. While we are much-loved, we are not the center of the universe.
May we learn to have a large view of God as we place ourselves in proper perspective.
Liz – such a great point on the balance between the two. Not to mention it is a hard thing to teach when we struggle with it ourselves. Oh man such wisdom and thoughts. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom 🙂
Thank you for sharing your heart. Your words remind me of how precious our time is and to make each day count for Him. I pray to give God the glory and honor in all I do. Thank you for encouraging me with His words today.
So thankful that you have been encouraged, Robin. On-line community is such a blessing.
Robin, I completely agree – Michele did a fabulous job of sharing her heart. It is a good reminder of how valuable our time is and making it count for the kingdom – I have learned that lesson this year as well 🙂 Blessings and thanks for being here.
As a very independent gal, I needed this reminder that I need to declare my DEPENDENCE on God–on a daily basis. Thank you.
Anita – I am so glad to hear that I am not the only independent gal who need to hear and be reminded that God is the ONE I need to be dependent on! So very glad to have you stop by and read Michele’s words today!
It seems as if we need to sprout a few gray hairs, have a couple of kids, and deal with a medical crisis before we realize our dependency upon God in a way that rocks our foundation (and puts bedrock into it in the long run!)
So good to hear from you, Anita!
Michele – this is a beautiful story and tie-in! It could have been me, writing those first paragraphs of the story, not for an accident, but for a quick and stunning diagnosis. Declaring my Dependence was/is a litany every parent needs! What a beautiful and perfect thought!
Carol – I completely agree with you – Michele did a fabulous job with sharing her heart, being personal, and tying it to a spiritual truth we all needed to be reminded of. Thank you for commenting and sharing your thoughts on her post today.
Yes, you’ve been down this road, haven’t you, and your story reveals that God has done and is doing a work in your heart as you continue to depend on Him. Blessings to you!