An Answered Prayer - Lord, I believe, help my unbelief!

Lord, help my unbelief.  I have received some wonderful  news and I am astounded.   I am also ashamed of myself for being astounded.  Why am I so surprised that God delivered exactly what I asked of Him?   And why was I so hesitant to assure my friend that God would answer our prayers?

Recently, a friend shared a difficult situation that she was facing.  This was a big, big deal, not just emotional  turmoil or the typical stress that we face every day --  this is something that will affect her family for many years.  I assured her I would pray about it, but I stopped short of assuring her God would answer her needs.  I am afraid that I didn’t want to face her today if God did not respond in the way we hoped.  I should have been stronger.  I should have been bolder.  I should have more faith!  Why bother asking if I didn’t really expect God to answer?

She called this afternoon to share the wonderful news that our prayers were answered, and I was SO HAPPY AND SO SURPRISED to hear those words!    He intervened and what was a potentially difficult encounter turned instantly into a smoothly handled situation with all people present not only in agreement, but in kind consideration of one another!  Praise God!  But again, why am I so surprised?

It is a simple prayer, straight from the scripture.   Apparently I’m not alone in this struggle.

“Then I believe.  Help me with my doubts”. Mark 9:24 – The Message

New Beginnings

New beginnings are taking place in the month of August! For students, we're starting up a new school year, parents are parting with their children after three months of them being cooped up in the house, and for the rest of us, it's merely passing from summer into fall. 


But I want to let you know that God has plans for you for the rest of this year. Big ones. You may not realize that events are taking place, but everything you do and say has an effect on your future. Think about that. Every action you take plays into how things will be in the future. Blows your mind, doesn't it? As you fall into a schedule for this season, let God into your life. Things may become uncomfortable or trials may come up, but remember --


"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13, NKJV


Open yourself up to God's will. When you give up your desires and let God take the wheel, He will use you to do amazing things. I promise.


This year, I'm going from attending a private school to homeschooling. The transition has been a tremendous change from my old day-to-day schedule. Even though I will miss that old way of life, I am absolutely certain that I am right where God wants me. Everything around me has been changing in a beautiful way, and I can't wait to see what is in store for the next couple of months!


Don't forget, show kindness to someone today!


~Rebekah

Vicki's Favorite - Whatsoever things are lovely!

My turn!  For the past several years, Phillipians 4:8 has been my favorite verse, NOT because I accomplish it but because I know that I so desperately need to live by it.  I learned it in King James and find that it translates in a lovely poetic way ... "Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." 

My mind is a battleground.  I struggle with many different issues, all of which swirl around in my thoughts and finally spill out as stress.  If I could embrace this verse, live it, I'm convinced my life would be more peaceful, more joyful, more true and lovely.  And that, I believe, would result in drawing more people to God.  I think I will accept my own challenge and for the next week try to keep this verse in my heart and in my line of sight and see if I can chase the negative thoughts away to make room for all things pure and lovely and honest and true.  I love to check out the translation in The Message Bible for a fresh perspective, and so I would love to share that with you also:

 "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious -- the best, not the worst, the beautiful, not the ugly, things to praise, not things to curse."

There are so many things to share about this passage of scripture and I may add another post on this same subject.  We would love to hear your thoughts on this verse, or we would love to hear which verses are meaningful to you in this life.  Thank you all for participating with us, and I pray for blessings on all of you!
- Vicki -

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 -- Rebekah's Favorite

Rebekah here! I just wanted to post real quick and share my favorite Bible verses with y'all.

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

~2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NIV

I first happened upon this verse when one of my really close friends was sharing some passages with me. One of her suggestions was 2 Corinthians 12.  And these two verses jumped off the page at me. You see, I have a bit of a control issue. I like things to be neat and orderly. So I feel like my weaknesses are something to be ashamed of, something to be hidden from people. In my mind, if people see my weaknesses, they will immediately judge me and write me off as not good enough. One of my weaknesses is keeping my temper in check. Not many people know I even have a temper. But little things will get to me, and my patience will snap. Of course, that may not show on the outside, but inside, I'm fuming. But this verse helped me realize that if I'm weak in and for Christ, He becomes stronger. And not only does He become stronger, He makes me stronger. If I let go of the pride of letting my weaknesses show, God is glorified through that. 

I am Rebekah, and I am a weak person.

If you have any prayer requests, feel free to comment below, email us, or post on our Facebook wall! Thank you for reading today!

" . . . and the greatest of these is love."

"But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love."

~1 Corinthians 13:13, The Message 

God said it himself.  The greatest of these is love.  That phrase is familiar to a lot of us,  and I love the way it is stated in The Message.  This blog will be a safe and loving environment for all of us.  God has commanded us to love one another.    We will strive to follow that commandment.   You will not be judged or criticized here.  To experience God's love, we must know God.  The way we know God is through Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the basic ingredient that is not interchangeable. So it's all about love and it's all about Jesus.  If you don't know Jesus, please read our box entitled "The Way to God".   
"Love extravagantly -- it's the best!"  Vicki's paraphrase :)
This blog was on our "Summer Project" list, and I am so excited that it's finally happening! We are not going to be so structured that you will need to "keep up".  The next few weeks, we will simply be sharing a few of our favorite Bible verses and why they mean so much to us.  I (Vicki aka Momma) will be writing some paragraphs and Rebekah will be writing some paragraphs.  We will try to remember to sign our posts.  I think it will be interesting to see things through the eyes of two generations.  I am a big believer in the power of prayer, and while that topic alone could keep us posting for months, I just want you to know that we would love to pray with you and for you about whatever issues you are facing.  You can post prayer requests on the page or you may send them to the email, and if you request privacy, your matters will be kept confidential. 
      ~Vicki


My mom and I (Rebekah) thought long and hard about the name of our blog. We finally landed on "Sufficient Love" after much contemplation and prayer. One of my favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 12:9, which talks about how God's grace is sufficient for us -- it's all we need. I'll explain why it's my favorite a little bit later, but the thing that jumped out at us was the word 'sufficient'. And since we had already chosen 1 Corinthians 13:13 as the theme for our blog, we decided to combine the two. The message oddly stays the same. His love is enough for us. His love is what keeps us going. And that is one of our goals. To show everyone that God's love is the most powerful thing in the world. I can't even find the words to tell you how joyously excited I am to embark on this journey with my mom and all of you. 
     ~Rebekah


Please, feel free to write to us, either directly below this post or privately to our email (momma.rebekah@gmail.com). When commenting, please keep in mind that God's ultimate commandment is to love one another. Remember, love makes the world go 'round!