I can't, but He can

Our 8 year old daughter Alivia e-mailed me this Friday afternoon...

Hi mommy how was your day? school is so boring i cant do school well bye mommy love you when you see this email me back okay love you !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I can't do school". I know what she means. After spending a weekend away,this morning I feel like... I can't do work I can't do grocery shopping I can't do bill paying I can't do dinner I can't do laundry I can't do work again at 11pm This past weekend we went to the Labor Day Family Camp at Timberlake Ranch Camps. This camp is a familiar place for me as my sister and I grew up spending one week out of our summers at this camp. Lots of wonderful memories were made at TRC. Our two oldest, Alyssa and Aaron have also been campers at Timberlake and both loved it. And years ago my parents took my sister and I to the Family Camp. We have a 30 year history with this Christian camp and the director is still the same guy. Last year was the first time Gene and I took our family. I loved the peace and quiet and the bonding that Aaron would never admit he did with Alivia. Being just the two of them, they had no choice but to bond with each other and they had a blast. This year we included our 16 month old granddaughter Amiyah and so it was a different peace and quiet. I kept telling her that I was so glad she came with us and she would take my face and give me kisses. The memories we all made together was so worth a little less quiet. I don't have my pictures downloaded off the camera yet, but here are a few off my cell phone. Here is her first canoe ride... WHAT is happening?

I think I like this...

Going back to the e-mail I received from our daughter, it was hard to come back to reality last night.

Driving home I thought, I can't do real life. I want to live at Timberlake forever.

Last night, Alivia and I were coming home to different realities.

Her list of responsibilities are on a different level of what mine are, but to her they are still huge. She has to keep her room clean, empty the bathroom garbage, empty the dishwasher and go to school. I have to pay bills, work so we can pay the bills, dirty the dishes from cooking and go to the grocery store so we can eat.

Different things we can slap "I can't" in front of, but all things that God wants us both to rely fully on Him to get us through. I can't, but the truth is that He can.

When we feel like we just can't do life, we need to rely on God to get us through everyday.

I'm slowly learning that He wants me to be leaning on Him not just for the emergencies in my life, but the everyday tasks that are before me. The laundry, bills, work...

When I try to rely on my own strength my life looks a lot like that first picture of Amiyah in the canoe. She looked worried, confused and even scared. Then she realized that her uncle Aaron was behind her rowing, someone she trusts, and before the dock was out of sight, she was relaxed and she enjoyed the ride. By the time we rowed up to our cabin, she had her shoes off and her feet over the edge of the canoe, splashing the water.

The days we feel like we just can't do life, we must choose to trust Jesus no matter what and the ride of life becomes a lot smoother and we look much like the 2nd picture of Amiyah.

Full of pure joy.

When we try to do this life on our own and leave Jesus out of the picture we just become plain exhausted like Amiyah was at the end of her first day of camp.

Does Jesus have your trust today?

~Many Blessings~