Suffering and the Sovereignty of God -- a Good Christmas present

I know, I know, you missed me!! Well, I'm back!!

First, let me just tell you, Ryan and I had the most wonderful thanksgiving ever! We had all the goodies to eat, we had a house full of Ryan's family for four nights straight, and two kiddos (Jacob and the Ty-man) ready to play at the first signs of life in the morning. I absolutely LOVE Thanksgiving. And I love the Bebee family that is now my own. We had a time of really just sharing what we were thankful for, and praying for one another. It was encouraging!!

FRIDAY! And for those of you girls that love to shop, Friday was IT! Shea, Cara and I woke up a little before 3:00, and were shopping at the Roundrock outlet mall directly after. There were SWEET deals, and for those of you saying "is it REALLY worth it"??? I have to respond with a resounding YES!!! I am almost completely done with my Christmas shopping, and man, there were some great gifts.

Other than that, Ryan and I have been super busy with school and camp. I'm in the middle of Junior Counselor applications/interviews which has been a blessing to me. And Ryan has been jumping in the deer blind every opportunity he can (PS. my sister and her husband are coming down next weekend to hunt -- boys hunting, girls shopping and well, being girls!! LOVE IT).

For those of you looking for a good book to give for Christmas, I ran across a Piper book on his website. When my dad died, I read almost everything I could get my hands on regarding this subject, but as I went through some of the pages online again this morning, it was so heart warming and comforting to see GOD for the sovereign ruler that He is. So check out, Suffering and the Sovereignty of God, by John Piper. It's only 7.00 bucks on his website. And here's a little snippit of the good stuff.

"The impetus for this books comes from the ultimate reality of God as the supreme value in and above the universe. God is absolute and eternal and infinite. Everything else and everybody else is dependent and finite and contingent. God himself is the great supreme value. Everything else that has any value has it by connection to God. God is supreme in all things. He has all authority, all power, all wisdom -- and he is all good "to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him" (Lam. 3:25). And his name, as Creator and Redeemer and Ruler of all, is Jesus Christ." (Chapter 1, pg. 17)

"And what I mean in this chapter when I say that God is sovereign is not merely that God has the power and right to govern all things, but that he does govern all things, for his own wise and holy purposes." (Piper, 19)

We all of those people in our lives, or ourselves, who are going through hard times, suffering, or have experienced great loss. May we point them to Christ. And may we know that "our comfort is abundant through Christ." (2 Cor 1:5).