BLESSINGS

The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. (Job 42:12a)

I came across this scripture this week and decided that it was meant for me too. After Job went through his trials & had lost everything God blessed him with exactly twice as much as he had before!

When I read this scripture it was as if a light went off. Society would have us think that after a certain age our lives are winding down or becoming less important. But God cared enough about Job to bless him more in the latter part of his life! He had experienced illness, death of family members, criticism of his wife and ridicule by friends. He continued to love God. And God blest the latter part of his life MORE than the first.

I spend way to much time focusing on my faults or the way I think that I have failed God or my husband or my children. And way too little time on how blessed I am or how much God loves me. So I got to pondering my blessings......

I have 3 amazing daughters. All of them beautiful inside & out. Two of them are the most amazing wife's to two incredible young men. They are both great moms to two of the sweetest little babies. One is stepmom to two precious little girls. Being mommy comes so natural to them. They are two of the most loving, kind and nurturing moms I have ever known. The third daughter is bright and beautiful, kind and caring. She is overcoming obstacles & unfairness in life with incredible grace and fortitude. She is an amazing work of God and I am blest to be called her mom.

And then I have David. He is the kindest most compassionate, most tender hearted man I have ever known. He thinks that his tender heart is a weakness. But I think it is his greatest strength. He loves his God, his church, his children, his friends. And he loves me! I love to watch him watching Emily. You can see the love he has for her. I love to watch him at church. His love for God when he praises Him is written all over his face. And when he looks at me, his love for me is there too. He is a man after Gods own heart. And I am so blessed to be his wife.

And that's just a very small bit of the blessings I have. And all of these things God has blessed me with, in the latter part of my life. Don't get me wrong, He blessed the first half but I have sooooo much more now. And I know that it is only getting better.

So THANK YOU God for loving me & blessing me in the latter part of my life - even though I'm not nearly finished with the latter part of my life.

And Happy Anniversary David & thank you for being part of my life and thank you for today. Even though it wasn't the day you had planned for us it was a great day. I love you.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart

I'm writing this in honor of David's birthday which is Monday. So Happy Birthday to you!!

Emily LOVES Birthdays and Christmas and Easter and anything that you get to buy a gift for. But she is lousy at keeping a secret. So most of the time I will buy the gift and not tell her what it is until the very LAST minute. David hasn't quite learned that trick yet so consequently I usually know what I'm getting before I get it. But pleeeeeassse don't tell her I told because she is absolutely MORTIFIED when she realizes what she has done. But you just can't take back words.

So this year we hatched a plan to give David tickets to take her to an OSU football game. Perfect gift!! She couldn't wait to tell him. So first thing this morning she hit me with "can I give Dad his present". Every protest I had, she had a rebuttal. The best & the one that made me surrender was "I have to tell him this morning because I won't see him tonight & he won't know to come & pick me up in the morning". She had a point, since she was spending the night at Grandpa's & Grandma"s. So she gave him his present this morning. No wrapping, no card. Just two printed tickets handed to Dad by the cutest, most proudest little girl with the biggest, sweetest grin plastered across the most precious face anyone could ever imagine. Now that's what I call a PERFECT gift!!

David, I hope you have a great day. Know that you are loved, today and always.

I DID IT

We'll I did it. I took the cookies across the street. I stayed home today & for the last several hours have watched the comings & goings of the neighbors. I decided that NOW was just as good as any and probably better than waiting, since the cookies are only getting older. So I went over with my cookies.
I have to tell you though, there was no bolt of lightening, no TA DUM, no dove descending saying "well done my good & faithful servant". However, there very well may have been a "what was that about" being murmured from the truck that I just about threw the cookies into. I don't know why I decided meeting them in the driveway was better than knocking on the door. Maybe it seemed less intrusive, maybe it seemed more casual...just happened to be passing by kindof thing. Maybe I'm just a chicken.
I also forgot to ask how they were doing, if they needed anything. Nothing but.....I wanted to bring you some cookies.
I wanted so much more for them, so much more from me.
Did I fail? I don't think so. I did what I set out to do - to offer love & friendship to my neighbor.

I've been challanged

I've been challenged in the worst kind of way. The kind where God says "Ok put your faith where your feet are and move it" The kind where I know if anything happens it WILL NOT be by my power but by HOLY SPIRIT power, because there is no way on this earth that I am capable of doing what I am being called to do.


The Calling: To visit our neighbors, 2 gay men, 1 ill and possibly dying. There has been activity over there that suggests there is full time help, maybe hospice. It is not a calling to lecture, preach or judge. Just to love.


The Crying: What if I just have an over active imagination and they have a relative living with them. What if I'm a busy body neighbor that has stuck her nose through the blinds one too many times. What if they don't like my offering? What if they reject me? What if I CAN'T do this. But what if they, like the rest of us, just need to know that they are loved. Maybe one more person needs to give them hope that Jesus came for them just like he came for the prostitutes, thief's, murderers, adulteresses and ME.


THE CAPABLE: It has not been lost on me that this is just a continuation of the lesson I began in Empowering the Ordinary. That our work is only accomplished by relying completely & totally on the Holy Spirit. Do you think that Jesus was afraid that the Rich Young Ruler would reject him, was he embarrassed to confront the Women at the Well? Maybe, maybe not. I do know this, if I don't step out in faith, God will never have the opportunity to show me that HE and HE alone is capable of doing great and wonderful things.

Our cookies are baked (thanks David). Our shoes are on. Now if we can just get our legs to move!

Emily

Emily has been having a hard time lately. She really really misses her birth Mom & Dad and her brothers. She is trying to somehow come to grips with the reality that she isn't with them. In her innocence she knows that they should be together but doesn't really understand why they aren't. How does a 9 year old reconcile that? How does she accept who she is, without being part of what she was born into? What does she do with the guilt she feels because she loves another set of parents yet still loves the first set? What does she do with the hole left in her heart because she is a sibling of 3, yet an only child.

These are heart wretching questions that have no answers. As her mom & dad all we know to do is cry with her and pray and pray and pray....................... He will fill the void in ways that we can't ask or imagine. He will make her new.