How did it get to Oct???

Oh my sisters, sorry I have been so negligent on here... mercy me!! May to October?? Well, better late than never? So much has happened since May. I have been working a lot, my oldest daughter turned 21 (not months but YEARS!!!), my youngest turned 19 (also in years), and I'm sure there's more but for now, thats a lot for me. The dynamics have definitely changed in my life. When this (retired) homeschooling mom went back to working, things kind of got dropped, missed, overlooked, etc. It's amazing how UN Superwoman I am... seriously. Do you remember the commercial where the amazing woman on the screen struts to this tune, "I can bring home the bacon. Fry it up in a pan. And never, never let you forget you're a man cause I'm a woman, Enjoli." Um, well I practically forgot my husband was a man but that had nothing to do with the fact that I was a woman! Working retail, I sometimes get home after he's already in bed! Then he gets up and leaves before I'm awake. But we do have cell phones so we enjoy a virtual relationship daily! Haha! So UN Superwoman me has also failed to keep up with housework, reading, quilting, this blog, getting together with friends. Enter God's abundant grace, His grace is truly sufficient. Let me encourage you today that whatever you are facing in this crazy, sometimes break neck speed life, that God is a constant, faithful, sovereign Lord. He never leaves you nor forsakes you and He is a strength when you are weak (trust me I know about me being weak when He is strong!). Let's you and I rest in His grace, be saturated by it, be conduits of it. Take some time today to meditate on the instruments of His grace in your life. You will be amazed at His love for you. Bless you my sisters <3 Let's chat again soon <3

I expect.... expectations

Expectations.. I expect we all have them. I expect we all expect others to have them. I also expect that we expect others to meet our expectations before we meet their expectations. I expect our expectations are not the same as other people's expectations which should cause us to expect some trouble. Whew, I expect we should reconsider our expectations in light of this expectation trouble. I looked up expectation in the dictionary, I expected a clear definition and here's what I got: "The state of expecting, either with hope or fear". What did I expect? Sheesh! Maybe a definition that doesn't have the word as the definition? Is my expectation unreasonable? Maybe, maybe not. Expectations can be healthy such as expecting someone to get up every day, eat, go be productive at work or school, etc. While others may be unreasonable like you need to make me happy. I mean really, can you make someone else happy every day in every way? Then there are the hidden expectations, you know the ones we keep to ourselves and expect other people to figure it out, respond or behave accordingly, and allow us sovereign decision making on the actual sufficiency of the effort made. Hypothetically speaking, IF we were to practice hidden expectations in our daily lives, hypothetically it might be a problem. We might be the problem. Let's just stand back and consider where do our expectations lie and are they beneficial to us alone? Are we being reasonable? Are we being fair? Are we considering the other party's perspective? Or their expectations? I expect we have a mixture of these expectations. So what can we expect from all of this? To have our expectations met sometimes, not met other times, and (if you're willing) an adjustment in our expectations that may include change, lowering, or even...gasp... letting go of some of our expectations. I expect this will not be easy but hey, what did you expect?

Between Heaven and Earth

One friend bringing new life into the world while another friend fights for her life. Such a tenuous balance. There is joy and agony, laughter and tears, struggle and victory. The one thread that weaves through both situations is hope. We have a blessed hope, my sisters in Christ and I. We place our hope in God's sovereignty, His plan, and His timing. Trusting that nothing is wasted in God's economy, that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So we celebrate and grieve with peace in our hearts. We continue living on earth but heading for heaven. So we live, between heaven and earth, knowing we are firmly in His grip.

Regrets

The two sides of regret - the doing and the not doing.

1)Not doing: that sickening feeling that a person feels when they realize that they missed an opportunity to do something and didn't take it

2)Doing: that sickening feeling a person feels when they realize they said or did something they shouldn't have said or done.

No matter which side of regret I fall on, that feeling can be like a wave crashing over me. Can you relate? Unfortunately I have felt both sides and with the same results... miserable feelings of regret. It is so easy to get stuck in that place, living in the past and reliving our sense of failure (whether perceived or real). May I encourage you today to look at these experiences through the lens of scripture?

Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." But praise be to God that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

One of the redeeming qualities of life is that we don't have to live in the past, we can make amends and move forward to make different, better decisions. God knows our frame, that we are weak and sinful yet He has provided a way for us to be reconciled to Himself: through Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection.

So next time you begin to get swallowed up by feelings of regret, remember that God has already made a way for you to be restored and get on the right path again.

Life is a Highway

Life is an adventure: sometimes wild, sometimes mellow, sometimes scary but always an adventure. Every day brings a new experience. Days roll in, roll by, roll away depending on how we choose to live. Have you ever stopped to think about your adventure? Have you been rolling along on the highway, going in a relatively straight line? Or have you been 4-wheeling it for years bumping and banging along with mud splattering all over the place? Maybe you've been cruising on the main road with occasional side trips along less travelled roads.

Most likely you have been on different roads at different times in your life. Whether you find yourself in an off road experience or cruising with the windows down, you can choose to be grateful for the adventure right where you are.

I don't know about you, I want my adventure to be purposeful whether it's bumpy or smooth. Because I've found the road won't always be smooth and straight; likewise, the road will not always be bumpy and full of curves. That, my friend, is the adventure of it all.

Ultimately, we are headed for an eternal destination, this adventure is just temporary so sit back, trust our sovereign God and enjoy the ride.

" 'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'"
Jeremiah 29:11

Transitions and such

Transition, change, new season, whatever you call it, it's an adjustment. An adjustment (or adjustments) that needs to be made in order to move forward in life. Sometimes these adjustments are welcome, sometimes not so much. Nevertheless, there it is... a change that needs to be made.

You know, I have found that, generally, change is something that I look forward to mainly because I get a little bored with "same". Every once in a while I have to gear up for change then I'm good. Case in point, where I stand today is a place in time I knew was coming, I was excited about it, and was curious what would come next. What I didn't expect was the sense of loss I felt when it got here. It crept up on me slowly, imperceptably kind of like a low lying fog that you only see in the open spaces.

Funny how you can think you're ready for something and can even appear ready for it yet get a bit blindsided by some aspect you thought you had considered. There it was, that low lying fog, slowly impairing my vision, my ability to see the future with the same passion, optimism, and energy. When the fog cleared a little I realized I lacked a sense of purpose, my role had changed so dramatically that I felt lost in the process. Plans I had formulated years ago had not materialized, life had not converged with those plans- not positionally nor financially.

When all was said and done, I had to grieve the loss of what I knew I was going to lose and grieve the loss of what I thought would be but didn't have. Meanwhile, accepting this new place in life by finding a new passion, a new purpose, a new vision. Without vision, I began to perish inside and I could not allow that to be where I stayed. But how to find it?

My solution? I just needed to step out and do what was in front of me with passion, pour myself into whatever it was. Live the life I have today, not missing opportunities to learn, grow, contribute. Where did I get that strength? At the foot of the cross, laying down my ideas of what should be and trusting that my sovereign God has a plan that is so much better than what I could dream up for myself.