no words...

***edited to update***Father Brad has died also, leaving two of the triplets, 17, Delaney, and Layla, and younger sister Ally.
***edited to update*** The youngest child Zoe has died. Father, Brad still critical. Please remember the three children left without a mother, and the loss of two siblings. Ally, Delaney, and Layla.
I have no words for the pain I feel for this horrific accident... Just posted to the "Quiet Corner of Prayer" yesterday, here is the story.
McAlester House Fire

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

darkness into light...

The Lord says, "I will lead the blind by a road they do not know . . . . I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. . . . and I will not forsake them."

Our weekend travels led us to The Lost Sea in Sweetwater. Now, if you're a cave fan, or not, this is a visit I recommend to everyone. It's phenominal, amazing, unbelieveable formations... As I was gazing at the ceiling, I couldn't grasp the reality of this creation. We can't...take it in...imagine all the wonders that have yet to be found, and those we are blessed with each day. All created by His hand. This underground lake, second largest in the world, is right here in Tennessee. Although the cave itself had been discovered and used many years prior by the Cherokee Indians, and during the Civil War the Confederate Army mined the cave for saltpeter. The story of how the lake was found is quite interesting. If you go here, you can read the history. While inside the cave, the "cave guide" has everyone sit down, and he turns off the lights. This is total darkness, so dark, that if you were to stay in the cave for two weeks, you would begin to lose your sight. This is what life would be like without the Father...complete, total darkness. It scared me as I thought of life this way. We choose to live in the dark, or live in the light. There are days, when life hurts, feels dark, but God will bring you light.

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
2 Corinthians 6:14

Just a few pictures of the cave.

enthusiasm-outshines-ability

inbox from Faith Imagined

The way she puts together words, with "just right" scripture...

photo from here

comfort elsewhere

And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

I'm not quite sure how I got here, what or who led me, but I found comfort...Cleaning out my life

picture post...

loading pictures of our drive this weekend I also came across last years photos that I've already posted...they make me happy, so I'm posting yet again...

this is one of my favorite guys in Dollywood. The only time I care to visit is at Christmas~

and another ~

and this one~

He's the one that I think of when I'm having a not so good day...the one...when life is hard, and times are not as they should be, I feel in my heart, the love that we have will get us through to the happier days.

and this makes me think of waiting...When we pray, waiting is the hardest, longest process, but His ways are not our ways, so we wait, listen, believe...

(Mark is sitting by ebb & flow spring)

a frog in ebb & flow spring

I truly love old log structures. We passed this one on a hike last fall in Laural Run Park

on the way to this waterfall~

this is at the old Amis Mill in Rogersville...

Jesse-Ray standing inside what's left of the mill, and by big creek~

I almost stepped on this little fellow~

thou art dust...

and to dust thou shalt return...

photo from here

And so begins this period of prayer and fasting. A journey into my soul...a cleansing, faithfulness, gratitude...

What if...

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
As long as we'd have faith to believe

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win
We know the pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can’t satisfy
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise