I started digging into the new devotional kit, Persevere, last week! I know not everyone in the community knows Robin (the author) personally, but I am blessed to have a long distance personal friendship with her. Let me tell you, she is a wonderful, magical, enthusiastic human being. I wish I could capture the essence of Robin in just a few short sentences, but it’s not possible. She just has this huge heart for Jesus & somehow always has the words to fill in the blanks when I’m riding the “struggle bus” & honestly don’t even know what to pray for. Plus when she hugs you, you about lose all the air in your lungs, because she will crush the wind right out of you. :)
About a year & half ago, my husband & I could NOT get our heads above water with our vehicles. I’M NOT EVEN KIDDING, we had one of our cars break down like every 2 days in one month. Our parents were constantly picking us up on the side of the road while a tow truck toted our car home. We went through SO much money paying mechanics to fix our hopeless vehicles. We would get one car fixed, & then 2 days later, the other one would break down again. It was draining. I was so exhausted from the constant repairs & asking for rides & chucking out so much money. I posted about it in our Creative Team group asking for prayers & Robin gave the response that touched me the most. She told me a story about a time when her car broke down on her way to take one of her children to school & how they had to walk home in the rain with the younger kids still in their pajamas. And then she prayed to Jehovah-Jireh & confidently promised me that He would provide. (As we all know, He DID provide!) She just has a way with words. This isn’t the only time that Robin has come to my aid in prayer either. haha
I was thrilled to learn that she was writing this devotional because I knew I would have at least 4 prayers & pep talks from Robin stock-piled in the form of devo cards to have on hand! And yet again, Robin’s words came to my rescue last week.
One of the greatest things about this new devotional format is that you can LITERALLY cut everything up & paste it down! :D You’re not a slave to an entire booklet. And when I read the devotional for Week 1, I grabbed my scissors & cut out my favorite paragraph & just pasted it right there in my Bible. I’ve been struggling with some personal stuff & didn’t have the words for a prayer, but there they were on card stock right in front of me from my friend Robin! I noted how these words were just good general advice for prayer, no matter the situation you’re enduring:
“As you walk through your valleys, know there is victory in the wilderness. Claim that victory in the mighty name of the one who saves, our Jehovah Jireh, Redeemer, Abba, Papa– the One who loves us more than we will ever know or understand.”
Good NIGHT! What a knock-you-off-your-feet prayer! Right!? That’s Robin for you. “Claim that victory…” So much intensity & truth! He is faithful!
The point I’m trying to make, is that even when the words don’t come to you, SOMEONE out there has the words. Whether it be the Apostle Paul or my friend Robin. ;) God will bring the right words to you through someTHING or someONE. So even when the words don’t come to you, pray anyway.
<3 Elaine
additional supplies:
Illustrated Faith teal ink pad from Through Christ devotional kit | Prima Chalk edger in Moss Lawn | Paper Source rubber stamp in “Plus Sign” | Paper Studio green washi tape
