rejoice always?

Philippians 3:1
Finally, my brothers, Rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.

Yesterday was purely Christ speaking to me at Church. We have been going through Philippians lately and our family has been gone so much of the series. We helped out 2nd service with Childrens ministries for the month of July and then we were out of town for 2 weeks and yesterday for the first time in a while, we were able to soak in the refreshing sound of worship and the soothing words that Jesus knew we needed to hear yesterday.

We went into yesterday burdend and heavy. Longing, weepy and tired. We have been in the last 2 weeks given some unexpected obstacles pertaining to work for James and needless to say anything with money is aweful stressful. We also walked into yesterday learning yet again for the 18th month in a row we are not expecting. The night before our cabinent with all of our baking supplies was attacked with bugs and our refrigerator door wasnt shut all the way. I went through a spell of wondering if this would ever end. Now our bigger obstacles made these little ones seem bigger than they were but nonetheless, when you are expecting to finally sit down after a long night already, and all of this needs to be dealt with...well, it was a little overwhelming.

So back to walking into Church yesterday.....so refreshing to be in a place that is full of acceptance, love, grace and mercy. When I complain about life, I dont hear "you need to not complain." I hear, "how can I help you?, or, When can we bring you a meal?" This amazing church is full of "no condemnation" and beautiful, messed up sinners that know they are fully saved by the amazing grace of our precious Jesus. We learned how hard it is to rejoice in Christ in all of our circumstance. When life throws everything at you and you cant imagine you can deal with anything else, he calls us to REJOICE. He has given us so many reasons to rejoice. He has promised us eternal life with HIM. He knows life is not easy and he know exactly what he is giving us, he is not suprised and he is not running away. He longs to stand right next to us as we struggle and limp through this life. He longs for us to understand and lean on his promises, even if we dont understand them. When life is good and right and everything feels amazing, he longs also to stand next to us and go through it with us. He wants to rejoice in our blessings with us too. He knows more than anyone, that this world is not where we belong. That the treasures of this earth will not last, but He will last and HE is our treasure that we need to be seeking daily and always. He is who we will be rejoicing in always when all the things of this earth pass away.

So do I still long for another chid? Of course I do. But i am learing to Rejoice in the knowledge that we have an amazing God that knows my future better than I do, and he is not against me, he is not punishing me. In fact, he is doing this out of pure love.
We are still learing to rejoice during the struggles and blessings of life in the one who created them all. On my worst day I am Christ in Jerilyn and if thats true, and I believe with all of me this is true, then I can do nothing but rejoice in the beautiful sacrifice of the gift of his son.