Life Goes On

I am so thankful that even when we don't chose God's perfect plan for us he still works things out for our good, to bring glory to himself.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  {Romans 8:28}

When I make mistakes, God can use them. When I choose the right thing, God uses it.
It is so hard to know when you're hearing God's voice or when its your own fears, frustrations, anxieties getting in the way. I read recently that so often we spend all of prayer time doing all of the talking and we never take time to stop and listen to what God has to say to us. God's voice is so easy to miss, its so quiet that its easy for my own voice to drown him out. No wonder his word tells us to "be still." His voice is like the barely blowing breeze, gently rustling the leaves of the trees. Sometimes its loud and clear like the winds of a hurricane, but so often it is not that easy to hear.
Its even harder to hear his voice when I have a toddler running around. How do you get time to sit still and listen? How do you find time to meditate on His word? I guess this is where my "time management" skills need to start being used. Its funny I can find time to wake up early and work out to take care of my physical needs, but I don't spend any of that early morning time taking care of my spiritual needs. Hmmm, maybe its time for some change. If I can wake up 30 minutes earlier to get my run in, what's an extra hour to get my spiritual jog on?
So, I'm thankful. Thankful for God's guidance. Thankful for His truths. Thankful for God's Word. Thankful that God can use my "ranting" in this blog to make lightbulbs go off :)

So Sick

Decision making has never been my strong point. It literally makes me sick, especially when the decision affects more than just myself. It's even more difficult when you are deciding what is best for your family's well-being. How do you know when God is giving you a definite yes? How do you know when He is giving you a definite no? How do you know that feeling in your gut is just fear of change. Is it really the fear of change or is it God telling you don't move, the timing is not right? Do you risk failure because its something you wanted? Do you follow through because you started this process and you don't want to be a quitter?
I hate making decisions so much that most of the time I will leave it up to someone else. I even ask Kenny what I should wear so I don't have to think about it.
All along I did what I thought I needed to do to get us to a better place. As I'm evaluating and trying to iron out details, I'm realizing what is really important to me. Children change who you are. They don't change the desires of your heart, but that put those desires and goals in perspective. God made women special and gave us special hearts to be mommies. He gave us the soft-spot that would allow us to put our children above everything else in our life. It teaches to be self-sacrificing, even when its difficult. Having children, unfortunately, doesn't make decision making easier. It actually makes it harder. You are no longer only affecting you and a spouse, but someone who cannot fend for themselves.
I don't know if there is anything in life I hate more :)

Family Update

Well, Asher's birthday has come and gone. We had such a blast, but it was a lot of hard work and we still have his Houston party to go. I'm so glad that his cousin Kayden was able to come from Pennsylvania. They had so much fun playing in the pool and the slip n slide.

He wasn't sure what to do with his cake. He's so cautious, he just looked at it for a couple minutes before finally testing it. He eventually had two fist-fuls of cake and finally just dove in face first.

Now we're in Houston to celebrate his birthday with our Texas family. He's so busy and in to everything, my mom has gone crazy baby-proofing everything. This morning he climbed down the stairs all by himself. He is becoming such a big boy. Asher loves being in Houston. His Gigi and Papa spoil him rotten!