For some this season is tough. Maybe they're stranded away from family. Maybe it brings up difficult Christmases of the past. Maybe it emphasizes their aloneness. Maybe it brings out family strife. Maybe it brings out frustrations and fears. Two years ago, exactly two weeks before Christmas (which is where we are today), we suffered three blows.

I had taken my two kids for a day of shopping with their aunt, my sister. It's a tradition for us. We eat lunch out, shop for last minute presents (or in my sister's case she begins Christmas shopping). At the end of that fun filled day, I called my husband to see if he wanted to meet us for dinner. I could tell something was wrong. So I asked, "What's wrong?" My husband had been laid off that day.

We had been praying about my husband's job for about 3 years, not knowing if he should leave, stay there, what. Well, there was our answer. But, oh, how painful it was!

But that wasn't all.

Then he told me he'd arrived home and found out that my oldest dog, Muffet, the shihtzu I got when I first started writing, way before I met my husband, had died in her sleep. Again, we'd been praying about her for a couple of years. She was blind and deaf. We knew the end was coming. But oh, how hard it was to say goodbye to my sweet little companion.

But of course, I mentioned three things that happened that day. Why do disasters, difficulties always seem to come in triplets?

When I arrived home, tears streaming down my cheeks, my children crying for Muffet, I found a great big brown envelope that had arrived in the mail. A big brown envelope that I had written my return address on. If you're a writer you know what that means: a rejection. Of course, I'd been praying about my writing for years. This was simply a "no, not the right publisher." But it hurt.

But God had a plan. I wish I could say we just waltzed through that time of unknowing. But no one does. You slog through it. You learn things God wants you to learn. You cling to the foot of the cross. It was a difficult time. And it didn't end in a short month. My husband consulted for a year and a half. God blessed us during that time with more than he would have made at that job. But with consulting, you are truly walking in faith every day. God had a plan for my writing. That following summer, he had me change courses. I've already blogged about all of that so I won't go into it here again. You can read about it in my old blogs if you want.

But what I'm trying to say here is that no matter what you're going through, God has a plan. Keep walking forward in faith. Keep clinging to the foot of the cross for your support. Keep believing. He will reveal his plan in his time.

Came upon this today. It seems appropriate. Hope you'll go check it out: http://www.ksbj.org/eblogs/morningShow/