"God will not protect you through what He can perfect you."

I heard this quote this morning, "God will not protect you through what He can perfect you."  It struck me oddly, but then sort of made since.  I often wonder why God does not protect my child from the pain of juvenile arthritis, but He may be perfecting her for something greater in life.

Savannah has had a bad last few days...I think the weather change has part to do with it.  She just called me from school and said the pain was so bad today, that she was having a hard time just concentrating, along with having a hard time writing and walking.  I could tell she was almost in tears.  I told her to take some Tylenol I had left with the nurse, but she said she had already done that earlier.  She asked what more I could do for the pain...I said we could pray.  So I prayed God would lesson her pain and that she would make it through the day "the best she could at the pace she could."

I want to share something s dear friend wrote to me.

"God grants us what we need to survive if we just look above-it may never be a rose garden or what we feel we expect or even deserve.  Sometimes the journey that is not the normal, beaten path is the best path for us so instead of demanding a paved, beautifully manicured road, take the dirt road that leads to the most amazing scenes." 

I leave you with these thoughts, though I am not afraid to admit I feel Savannah and I are in a "pothole" on her dirt path today.  However, I must look for the beauty that surrounds.

Savannah - age two