Adventure

As I was headed to church for MOPs with Bunny in tow this morning, I became instantly amazed at how quickly the world had gone from they barren gray of winter to the neon shock of bright green.  After being in West Texas for 7 years, actually witnessing the seasons changing is still so new for us.  It feels like just yesterday we were headed to church down that very same road as I told Leilani to look at all the beautiful Autumn foliage.  I am amazed and in awe of what changing seasons means in a climate that actually sees all four of them.

As I thought about the greenery and the newness the Spring brings, I thought about how everything where we are now still feels new and exciting.  I also had a revelation about how I have been blessed in the many different seasons of my life to experience living in almost every region of Texas.  We spent 7 years in Alpine and I still wake up in the morning and miss opening my bedroom blinds to see Twin Sisters staring back at me.  I miss Artwalk and drives to and hikes through the Davis Mountains.  I especially miss the people I met there and am so grateful for how it brought MM and I so much closer.  God has placed me 20 minutes from the Texas Gulf Coast, in the Hill Country (Round Rock), in the center of Texas History (San Antonio), and now, right at the edge of the Piney Woods of East Texas. 

Each of these places has come with inherent risks; in West Texas, it was violent afternoon storms with hail, high winds, and sometimes even tornadoes as well as the ever-present threat of a devastating grass fire.  In East Texas, we are at the southern tip of Tornado Alley.  On the coast, I evacuated more than once due to the threat of hurricanes and we were always at the ready for the flash floods brought on by a coastal storm.  In Round Rock and San Antonio, the elevated population meant more dangerous traffic, higher crime rates, and all those other urban negatives you encounter living in cities.  Every place I have been has been tinged with that bit of fear, that risk factor ever-present.  But, in every place God has led me, the rewards have far outweighed the risks.  Imagine the adventures I would have missed out on had I let my fear take over.  And on more than one occasion, I almost did.  I find that is the beauty of God in my life right now.  He has taken me places that were out of my comfort zone and that inevitably allowed for the possibility of fear taking over my life, but at the end of the journey, I never remember those things.  It was only the great adventure I had been a part of. 

MM and I are taking our family on our next great adventure.  For some, it's not an adventure at all, for others, it's an adventure they are opposed to, but for us, it's the biggest adventure we've been on to date.  We know it is where the Lord has led us, and we know it means we have to step up and participate in the adventure and remember every single day that the blessings of the Father far outweigh the risks, whether real or imagined. 

What adventure?

Well....we're finally joining a church in our new locale.

A church that already feels like home.  A church where we know the preaching is straight from the Word.  A church that has a heart for reaching others for Christ, whether in its own back yard, or across the globe.  A church that is less country-club and more CHURCH.  And we know that we are going on our next great adventure, trusting God to guide us to what's next, to who we need to be in Him, and who we need to reach for Him.  We're ready and know that the only preparation we need is to trust fully in Him.

And we're so, so very excited to get moving.

Jumping Back In

I have a secret to tell. Are you ready?


I haven't been to church since before we found out we were expecting.


As ashamed as I am to reveal that to whoever reads this, the shame in my heart goes much deeper. I was not raised to avoid church, and I do not want to. We have a beautiful, loving church family and I know that a lot of them wonder where we are and if everything is okay.

Everything is peachy. My life is beautiful and I am blessed beyond measure. So why am I avoiding church, running from my Father's house, when I should be there praising Him for all the good and wonderful things He's done for me?

I couldn't answer that for a while, but now I can. At first, I used the "I'm in my first trimester, so I'm tired" excuse. But I see now why I don't want to be there: attention.

That's right, I, who can openly share most things via this blog, am painfully shy and withdrawn in person. I know that I will get attention for being pregnant and I don't want it. Isn't that a terrible thing to say? But there it is. I understand that pregnancy is a miracle and that everyone wants to rejoice in the miracle, but the attention that miracle brings me is crippling. All this and I'm not even showing yet!

All I can do right now is pray, get over it, and trust God to help me get through this Sunday, which is going to be my first Sunday back in a long while. The little one inside of me will be able to hear outside noise in a few weeks. I don't know how much he or she will hear, but I want to give my child the chance to hear the beauty of worship and the Word of God being spoken every Sunday in the womb and forever thereafter.

I ask you sincerely, please pray for me. I am terrified of going on Sunday, but I know that I need to fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, I know that I need to hear the Word of God preached, and I KNOW that I need to be in my Father's house every Sunday (at the very least).

Thank you for reading and have a blessed weekend!!

Number 50!

That's right, ladies and gentlemen! This post is my 50th! I wanted to post sooner, but I had thoughts of grandeur, celebration and complexity! I wanted it to reek with celebration. Then I decide to save that for 100. Lol!


Not really. I'm very excited about getting to post 50 in such a short time. I've had this blog up and active since October 2008 and I've seen some blogs where they celebrate #50 on or around their one year anniversary. I did ponder the subject of this post to an unnecessary extent. I even let the world know about my quandary via MySpace and Facebook status updates! I did have a suggestion that I do a give-away, and I would have loved to, but I have no crafty goodness to offer up right now and I've got two Craftster swaps going on, so there's just no time for that.

I think that this is a good time to post another progress report. So, first things first.

One of my resolutions this year was to work on my relationship with God. It has been broken for far too long now, and I just want the good Lord to repair it. I've been doing my best by doing several paragraph-a-day devotionals throughout the week. I'm not always consistent, but I am working on it. I'm also working on my attitude towards going to church more regularly. It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I enjoy slow weekend mornings with no obligations. I know I need fellowship with other Christians, so I'm praying for an excited attitude about church. I want the anticipation of fellowship, worship and God's word to far outweigh anything else I could be doing. I want to have a merry heart;

"He who is of a merry heart has a continual feast." - Proverbs 15:15 NKJV

The next big resolution was for me to stick to my dear hubby's eating and exercising plan for one month. That is going extraordinarily well. I didn't have a loss for the past week, but I've not missed a workout and have not veered from my eating plan. I know that I'm losing inches as all my clothes are becoming more and more loose. My rings twirl around my thinning fingers with reckless abandon nowadays. That's a wonderful feeling!

So, that is post #50. I hope it wasn't too boring, but I felt like the proper content was what was truly going on in my life right now. Where I am now without regards to the past or the future. I'm putting my life in His hands and that's the most important thing I could post about right now.


"Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers." - Philippians 4:6 TLB

Thanks for reading, and as always, many blessings to you and yours.