<\/p>\n

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm\u202c \u202d23\u202c:\u202d4\u202c NIV<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Today my heart is heavy. Just this morning I found out that one of my closest friends is grieving over the loss of a loved one. Her and her family are entering a deep, dark valley. Words do not seem enough for a time like this. The darkness too deep, the pain insurmountable.<\/p>\n

In my darkened room, I sat and cried for all that is to come for her and her family in this valley. It was early morning and my children were awake and energetic as ever. There was a stark contrast between my grieving and their joyful banter. My littlest son’s voice booming loud. He was singing a song He learned at our church’s day camp last week. Over and over he repeated,<\/p>\n

“There’s no greater power than the power of our God!”<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n

I could not help but smile through my tears. I knew in that moment that God was near.<\/p>\n

The clouds of sadness and grief can seem so heavy in these times that we may wonder, “Where is God in all of this?”. Even so, the sun still shines bright beyond the clouds. His POWER, His LOVE, His GLORY bursting forth, overcoming ALL darkness.<\/p>\n

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans\u202c \u202d8\u202c:\u202d38-39\u202c NIV<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.\u201d John\u202c \u202d16\u202c:\u202d33\u202cb NIV<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lord, I lift up my dear friend and her family. Draw ever near and comfort them. May Your power and Your love shine bright, dispelling all darkness. In Jesus name, I pray, Amen.<\/p>\n

[Photo credit: Trey Ratcliff<\/a>]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm\u202c \u202d23\u202c:\u202d4\u202c NIV Today my heart is heavy. Just this morning I found out that one of my closest friends is grieving over the loss of a loved one. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1005,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/3248978863_6a104b81ea_z.jpg?fit=640%2C413&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YMk4-gb","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1010,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1003\/revisions\/1010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.magnoliaheart.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}