God is Great!

Well, over the summer, my husband and I have been going through some great trials within our church. Its nothing that I want to go into detail over, as I want to keep this blog public. But, just to put it mildly, God is putting us through His fire...the refiners' fire. I know that the purpose of this is to draw us nearer to Him and to grow together, and believe me, its happening!
In addition to all of that, God is dealing with me on some personal issues. To be quite honest, I am an extremely judgmental and critical person. Its not something I let show through, although, I'm sure it does show at times. I don't like that. Its ugly. That's a very ugly side to me. God is definitely refining me.
I always thought I was "okay" because no one could see my sin - my thoughts were my own, and rarely would I make these thoughts known, if only to my husband. What joy for him, huh? But lately, I've been convicted -God has used my husband (as lovingly as possible, let me say my husband has not been pointing his finger at me and shouting, "SINNER!"). He has been very kind and loving, but by hearing some of what he has said, I have thought more deeply about my actions, and I've realized the error in my ways.
I grew up with a judgmental and critical parent. He was a musician, (and let me preface, not ALL musicians are this way) -and very critical of himself, he still is. But, that attitude carried over to me -and also was laid heavily upon my siblings.
I don't want that for my children. I don't want them to wonder, daily, "what's Mom upset about today?"
So, God is refining me. I am most definitely in the fire. And it hurts. It doesn't feel good...but God is making me better, right? I trust in the Potter. He is my creator and he knows me best!