Prayers for my Girls...

I was laying in bed this morning thinking about my friends and everything that they have going on in their lives right now. Women face so many challenges in their every day lives. I was overwhelmed and humbled to think of the prayers that God allows me to give Him for these beautiful women in my life. There is no greater gift that I can give them but to join my voice and heart with theirs bringing their desires and cares before our Father. If you have a moment will you join me in these prayers today:

A widow mourning the one year anniversary of her soldier.
A mother of three who got diagnosed this week of breast cancer with bone metastases.
A friend who is heartbroken by infertility.
A friend who is in the adoption process that arms ache for that new child.
A friend that just adopted a beautiful baby from Africa.
Multiple friends with marriage issues & financial matters.
A friend whose husband is in recovery from yet another surgery after being hit with an IED.
A friend that is being funneled into a new life and seeking real answers.
A large group of people engaging in a spiritual intensive this weekend.
A friend whose husband is deploying next month.
A neighbor who has 3 young children and lives with a high anxiety level daily.
A woman trying to reengage into the world after a lifetime of hurts.
For a mother that mourns her sons move so far away that it keeps her from him and her grandchildren.
For a daughter that is just trying to be obedient to the promptings of her Father despite health and family concerns.
A group of women heading on a mission trip in July.
A women in ministry that is still hurting from Daddy issues.
A friend & her daughter that recently came through a divorce.
A woman who is going to add baby number three to her clan this week.
A young woman that has to move across country and doesn't want to say goodbye to her friends.
A friend who has a custody hearing for her babies today.

I really feel God changing my own heart this morning. So often I walk by women in my daily routine that are really facing big issues. I honestly believe that right now people have subscriptions more than they have issues. It is my prayer that God would soften my heart to intercede for these people daily. I know that when I was going through my crisis there was no sweeter words to my ears than "I am praying for you". There were literally times that I couldn't pray for myself and knowing that God was still hearing my name out of the mouths of my friends was a great encouragement to me.

Take the time today to make your own list. I was flabbergasted by the intensity of the challenges my friends are facing. Real people with real hurts, real situations, real struggles. It is my prayer that God will give me the ability not to stop and smell the roses, but to stop and pray for the women who cross my path. We need each other, we can't isolate ourselves. I used to sell Mary Kay and the one thing that has stuck with me all of these years was, "Sometimes you need the meeting, sometimes the meeting needs you". I think that is true in life. There are times that we need our friends, that we need encouragement, that we need fed, coddled, edified. There are times that we need to do all of those things for those around us.

To all my friends, I am blessed by you all. Everyone of you. I am praying for you all today. My sisters, my friends, the promise of the Lord is that "Love always wins"!!

Be blessed and be a blessing!!

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Life in Texas...

Well I am officially sitting in my own living room, hijacking someone else's wifi until mine gets connected today. My entire family is still sleeping and I am stealing a few moments to myself. It's been Mr. Toad's Wild Ride to get this far.

Lessons I have learned thus far:
1. No matter how much you downsize you will still have too much stuff.
2. Dogs don't adjust any easier to transition than humans.
3. No matter how far you move you always take yourself with you.
4. There are more flies in Texas than any other place in the world.
5. The full time military life takes your husband from playing army to being a soldier.
6. Jason's Deli is my new favorite place to eat.
7. Military families show extreme hospitality skills.
8. No matter how big your yard is your dogs are still going to want to go through the fence to meet the neighbors.
9. Having a washer and dryer is essential to the life of a family of five.
10. The things that you never thought you would need are the first things you will have to rebuy.
11. Hanging shower curtains is the first order of business in moving into a new home.
12. It's not the size of the dishwasher it's the skill of the loader.
13. You don't need an extra blanket on your bed in Central Texas.
14. No matter how far away you go, your friends are still your biggest cheering section.
15. The paper used by the movers will come in handy when you run out of paper towels.
16. Having three toilets is convenient for a family of five, however, buying a toilet brush for both floors is a worthy investment.
17. Don't make any plans that you don't want the military to mess up.
18. The first things your kids will want after a long period of transition is the meal that makes them feel the most at home.
19. When playing cards with your daughter, be prepared to lose with grace.
20. When your family hears the tapping of your keys on the laptop, no matter how quiet you are trying to be, they will wake up.

Hope that this Tuesday morning finds you with a hot cup of coffee and a house full of people that love you. Be blessed and be a blessing. Love you all!!

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Hanging Out Poolside with Beth Moore...

Just had to share this incredible quote from her newest book, "So Long, Insecurity you've been a bad friend to us".  This is the cycle that I have lived on most of my life but in Beth's wisdom she was actually able to put it into words.

If we can't be the most attractive, at least we can be the best of something. And if we can't the best at something, we can at least be the hardest working. And if we can't be the hardest working, we can at least be the most congenial.  And if we can't be the most congenial, we can at least be the most noticeable.  And if we can't be the most noticeable, we can at least be the most religious. And if we can't be the most religious, we can at least be the most exhausted.

Wow, she is reading my mail. At least the archives. I pray that you all are having a great day and enjoying the grace and extravagant love of our Creator and our Savior this morning. Mercy is new every morning.

Be blessed and be a blessing. Love always wins.

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Living in a Parallel Universe...

Yet, I know He is here. My friends aren't, my husband isn't, I look around and it's just the kids and I again, another hotel room, another state, same view.

I have come to understand that God has held me safe against His chest for months and months. I know that He has hedged us in and provided safety and provision in a very tangible way.  When I lay on my stomach at night to go to sleep it is God that I give my anxieties to. I thank Him for our new life, our new start, and I remind Him that I trust Him enough not to ask questions. As a woman who has striven to be all that she could be, I know that there is none of that left for me now. I have stepped out of the drivers seat and have given Him alone the keys.

There will be a new church to find, there will be friendships to make, questions to ask, to do lists to accomplish. That all comes with transition and I trust that He alone will guide my steps and that my "knower" will go off when I have something that He wants me to pick up.  I won't live in fear or what tomorrow brings, I won't live in fear of the field gear in the closet and I refuse to live in fear of the "what ifs".  I have ridden the train on a few thoughts lately and I keep bringing myself back to God. That God will give me what I need when I need it and until then I am in the place to love my kids, to encourage my husband and to love my God with a love that is deeper, stronger, more confident than ever before. I don't have any answers but I have faith and trust in a God that has orchestrated my future and the destinies of my family.

I have been rather quiet. The confidence that I had found for myself in FL has waned, the anxiety that I felt in NC is gone. It's just me and God walking through this life.  Everything else is going to come and go. My kids are going to grow up and move on. My husband is going to deploy for schools and to theaters that I will never know or understand. It's not a declaration of loneliness in as much as it is an understanding that God is the constant.  The same yesterday, today and tomorrow. There is a life for us here, I know that, our housing will come available later this week, we will move out of the hotel and begin to establish a new normal. It's the sitting still that begins to wear on me. The hurry up and wait philosophy of the military, yet knowing, that it's God's time frame, and not theirs that causes the delays and accelerations.

Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It's God's gift from start to finish! We don't play the major role. If we did, we'd probably go around bragging that we'd done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. Ephesians 2:7-10




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So close... and yet so far away.

Three days left here in NC. We are hitting the critical points of saying goodbyes and making the last minute tweaks to our schedules.  We are tired. Exhausted.

The kids are trying to keep their attitudes in check although I don't know how successful they are when they are up against their Dad. There are some things that he won't tolerate that to me are no big deal and vise versa. We are reacquainting ourselves to being a family of five.  Some days more successfully than others.  Ande and I spent the weekend without the kids.  My in-laws wanted the time with the kids and we needed some face to face time just us so that we could appease our own insecurities before folding the kids to far into the mix. We were able to get out on the Blue Ridge Parkway on the Harley and just spend some great time being together.  After all of this time, although a lot of things have changed family feels familiar and we are adjusting well.

It's been a long road but one that we are ready to actually be on. We have mapped out our route to our new location and have made arrangements for lodging along the way. We are almost there. For such a time as this...

I wish that I had been able to blog more during this experience but it seems that wasn't God's will.  Know that you are loved and that you all bless me, everyday.

Jeremiah 31:2-4 Thus says the Lord: "The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness- Israel, when I went to give him rest." The Lord has appeared of old to me saying: "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin of Israel! You shall again be adorned with your tambourines, and shall go forth in the dances of those who rejoice."

Be blessed then be a blessing.  You are loved, extravagantly, by a God that wants you to pour it out on someone else.
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