Another week has come and gone

What made this week different from the previous weeks? (something I've been thinking about). Well for one thing, this was the week I started working in the cabinet shop again. I do enjoy it for the most part, though after three days of smashing my foot in the exact same spot, no less, I have determined in my heart to wear shoes on a regular basis. Yes, my foot is doing well, though a bit sore at times. 

This weekend I've also been thinking about what was happening a year ago. My two cousins, my sister and myself went on a cousins trip to Virginia and what a time we had! It was super amazing, full of fun times, many times of just sharing our hearts with safe people. It was the time of our first potluck (we now do one every time we get together) and we all ended up getting a type of bread among other things - one of the rules was: we were not to spend more than $5. We visited good, good friends. We helped make cheese and butter and also helped to milk. We worshiped at a church in Catlett and made some serious memories there: having no AC in the 90*+ weather, walking to church, being expected to fully participate in the service, the devotional lasting for nearly an hour before we had Sunday school. Yes, it was indeed an interesting time.

Here we are!:)

The cool old farmhouse we stayed in for two nights. It was HUGE!

This week has also been a pretty high stress week for our family. Let me explain: our family is helping with family week at Penn Valley (PA) next week (Wed. - Sun.) and Mom, Dad and I have topics we're supposed to speak on. So we've been studying for that nearly every spare moment we can. To top it off we have both businesses to run. And yet on top of that we need to have all the drywall hung in the new house by the time we leave. The guy that's doing the mudding for us in coming the day we get home and starts working on Monday. So yes its been crazy busy and stressful.

There were bright spots in the week: like getting to chat with a good friend for a while and unloading. The little God moments where He answered prayer... One day I asked Him to just work in my life because it didn't feel like I was going anywhere spiritually. So, what do you know, He began working and peeling back the layers in my heart to reveal some mysteries that I never could figure out on my own.

There were those moments when I felt like a little sailboat lost in the ocean. The waves crashing against me, nearly sending me to the bottom. Yes, those are the times we grow. But those are also incredibly painful times. This week in the middle of some extremely trying times God brought a verse to my mind it was: Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you WILL find rest for your souls. Matthew 11:29 NLT 

There are those times when storms provide us with spectacular moments. Today I had one of those spectacular moments, well several of them. It was my first Saturday off in quite a while and I decided to go shopping and spend some time alone. So that's what I did this afternoon. I did a bit of shopping, a lot of driving around, and had a bit of a chat with a guy that works at a greenhouse. Toward the end I stopped at Starbucks and journaled for a bit. It wasn't near long enough and I didn't even come close to finishing. I was at the point where I just wanted to give up completely. I saw the verse (ask and ye shall receive etc) somewhere and I was like 'there is no point in even asking because God seems so far away'. 

I didn't ask, but I received anyways. I came home and a particularly rough situation had pretty much completely blown over. It was such a balm for a weary soul. I reveled in sitting at the supper table laughing hysterically over our resident comedians (something we haven't done in a long, long time). I soaked in the moments of planting more herbs in my herb garden. I love God moments like that! They just pretty much blow me out of the water!

God promises rest and that is so awesome because in the midst of the storm rest would feel so, so good! If your in the middle of a storm, don't give up! Rest is coming. God will never ever give us more than we can handle. Take time to 'be still and know that He is God'. 

A week ago God provided a spectacular thunderstorm and a dream of mine came true. I got to capture lightning with my camera and I loved every minute of it! Here are a few pictures from that...

Have a blessed Sunday!

P.S. I made a typo on my last post. Toward the end it says something about 'one of the few things'... It should be 'one of the many things'...

Life: learning to ride a bicycle

Hello and welcome to my blog and my first post! Just a bit of intro and then we can get on with it all:)... So basically the last couple weeks I've been thinking about starting another blog, one a bit more along the lines my life and what I've been thinking about etc. It took me a while to just sit down and take the time to get it up and running. In the mean time I was having all these wonderful inspirations on what I could write about and of course the urge hit me when i was working in the greenhouse by myself when I had lots of time to think.


One of those inspirations came when I was out back watering (something that is a never-ending job these days, thanks to the heat). So there I stood in my own little world when a thump and a pathetic little 'OWW' jerked me back to the here and now. I knew immediately what had happened and so I wasn't too worried. Let me explain... You see the other week my youngest sister Ashley (5) decided she wants to learn to ride bike without training wheels. She has had no small number of crashes or near-crashes, so basically that's what happened. The poor dear lost her balance and down she went. But what is really cool is how she just picks herself up and tries again. So that got me thinking about LIFE. There are so many times when I totally blow it and beat myself over the head for messing up once again. But I need to stop that and accept that God doesn't view me that way. I need to pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep going. Beating myself up is allowing Satan to get me down and say that I'm not worth anyone's time because I'm so human. But by being able to see my failures in a realistic view (and not allowing them to get me down), will drive me to my CREATOR. Its ok to be HUMAN! Its ok to mess up, when you're trying to your hardest not to. God sees your heart and knows that you want to please Him to the best of your ability. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and say 'Thanks, God for another reminder that I need You and help me to do better next time.'


Here are a few pictures of Ashley riding her beloved metal horse:)

And my favorite one of them all!:)

She has A LOT of determination and I love that about her (one of the few things I love about her).

Live Strong and Never Give Up!