I haven’t been able to get much sleep during these glorious stormy nights. I stayed up the other night searching for His Heart in the roaring sound of the thunder.. The more I seek, the more of Him I found; I can hear the thundering sound of His voice unraveling my soul… Remembering my journey of being fashioned by the streams.

At the beginning of my journey of healing from the wounds of my son’s death, I would cry myself to sleep, wishing I hadn’t allowed him to play outside at his friend’s house on that rainy day. Wishing I could just live again, wishing it was all a bad dream and I’ll wake up and he’ll be wrapped in my arms.

I wasn’t PREPARED for his death. Many would say to me ” Oasha, you can never be prepared for death.” But in 2015, my husband and I experienced another child loss. I noticed the difference in our response when losing our daughter.

When Zaven died, we grieved as if we had no hope, because we didn’t; we didn’t know the merciful redeeming Love of God. I didn’t KNOW Him. When our Nyah died, it was incredibly different. Words will never be able to convey what was taking place in my spirit and soul; my grieving was filled with hope. My inner man and soul was PREPARED. His Love flooded my entire being. His Love had PREPARED me.. I had been fashioned by the Streams of His Love.

Knowing Him PREPARED me. Knowing His Heart behind every scripture I had hidden deep within my heart PREPARED me.

When we live our lives as the Beautiful tree that is planted by the water, sending out its roots by the stream, we will not fear when the storm comes. We will not fear when the heat comes; our leaves will be always green. Despite our great despair, we will have Confidence in His LOVE and Will for our pain. We will have no worries in a year of drought and never fail to bear fruit. We will be PREPARED-dressed in readiness, and keeping our lamps lit.

Being spiritually prepared encompasses all the other areas of preparedness. The Bible speaks greatly about being PREPARED.

The bride of Christ made herself ready; she was PREPARED. The 5 virgins had oil in their lamps; they were PREPARED. Noah build an ark; he was PREPARED. Joseph stored up food for 7 years of famine; he was PREPARED.. Christ knew He was going to die; He was PREPARED.. There are many glorious stories in The Bible that speak of being PREPARED: spiritually, emotionally, physically, etc…

We may not know what our future holds, but we KNOW the One who holds our future. His LOVE and TRUTH will PREPARE us for EVERY storm of Life when we live our lives remaining in Him. We will always be READY to face the pains of life. Christ said, “in this world, you will have trouble.” He NEVER said we would never experience heart ache, pain and sufferings, but He did say He has already overcome. These wonderful words of truth should PREPARE us for the pain and sufferings of this life. We have this marvelous victory IN Him..

When our son drowned, my husband shared a remarkable memory of him during our local news interview. He said “Zaven was never the little boy who sits in the window and watches it storm, wishing he could outside and play. He was that kid that will just GO outside and play in the rain.”

It rained the day our son died. The rain never stopped him from living free, even if it cost him his life. He wasn’t afraid of the storm; the storm was an invitation to have some fun, to live…

When we are planted by the water with roots that run deep, we will begin to accept the invitation of the storm, and let it unravel our souls- purifying us. When we deeply KNOW His LOVE for us, we will find our strength in HIM. We will no longer sit in the window, wishing it was all just a dream… wishing the storm will pass so that we live again in HIM, even if it costs us our lives, more pain and suffering. When we PREPARE ourselves through knowing Him, we will get up out of our despair, go outside and come alive in the rain.

We will use the rain to KNOW Him deeper. We will use the rain as the washing of the word cleansing our mind, will and emotions.. The more we grow in our relationship of KNOWING Him, the stronger we become and PREPARED for what’s to come..

The rain won’t stop for us from continuing on our race; it will propel us. We will not fear the storm, because we are the STORM.. a Force to be reckoned with- a soul ready and PREPARED.

devotional I am brushing up on, strengthening myself in the Lord and reminding myself who I was born to be.

Quote I am absolutely loving today..

“He who is best prepared can best serve his moment of inspiration.” Samuel Taylor Coleridg

Always Dreaming With You,

Oasha

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