When I am weak, He makes me strong.....

The other day, after speaking briefly at our local library, a woman came up to me.  She said, "You are a strong woman."  And it got me thinking.  It's strange to me for someone to think of me that way.  Am I strong just because I have a child with Down syndrome?  Am I strong, because I was able to get up in front of a group, with sweaty palms and racing heart beat, and speak?

To me, when I think of someone who is strong, I think of someone who has lost a child or lost their husband.  I think people imagine the unimaginable as making someone strong.  Most people cannot imagine having a child with special needs, so it seems strong to them.

So what makes someone strong: 
                Getting out of bed in the morning when you would rather pull the covers over your head and hide.
                Standing up in front of a group and sharing the passion of your heart.
                Speaking up when others may not accept your message.
                Facing the unimaginable.

What I have come to realize, is that it is not the circumstance that make one strong.  Rather, it is the response to the circumstance that allows one to find that strength.  My strength comes from several places.  It comes from the love of my family.  It comes from the love and acceptance from my best friend, my husband.  It comes from the support from my close girl friends.  But for me, I know that the heart of my strength comes from God.  I could pull down to the deepest recesses of my being, but I would not pull a fraction of the strength that comes from the Lord.  Some say that God doesn't give more than we can handle.  But I don't think so.  I think I do get more than I can handle, but God wants me to learn that I need to take my burdens to Him and let Him carry them. 
Psalm 55:22  Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Somebody loves cookies.  But this is what happens when it gets down to the little nub, and I have to take it away.