Believing God

Long time no post- sorry. I'll be posting a couple to get everything up to date.

First of all, I am really excited due to a Bible study I have been doing with PWOC. It is called Believing God by Beth Moore. Ironically, I actually decided last minute to do this. I had made up my mind at the end of last semester that I was going to join the weight loss Bible study and get rid of the extra weight I had gained during my time on Effexor for postpartum depression. It totally seemed like that was where I was being led. Well unexpectedly over the Christmas break, the pain I had been experiencing for months got much worse and I had many days where I cried out to God trying to figure out what was going on. Due to the process of getting in to be seen and so on, I had way too much time to think about what was happening to my body. The hardest part was having so little control over it. Obviously, trying to make the ever important lifestyle change was going to be more of a challenge than I needed to take on at the moment. I prayed over the other Bible studies offered and thought this would be a great way to just "get a little farther along" in my spiritual walk. WELL, God has a plan that's for sure. This study digs into whether we just believe in God or truly take God at his word. The weekly video lessons have been challenging and the daily study takes it to a whole new level.
So, I have been praying things believing that God will come through- not necessarily in my time or plan but looking for him to show up. Too often we miss his 'miracles' because we weren't paying attention.
In regards to praying specifically, I have a dear friend who has been through an incredibly trying year due to her husband abandoning their family and all the emotional, financial, mental stress that has created. We have watched in awe as time after time God has come through providing for his daughter. She and I had been talking and knew that the child support was in process, but no one could say exactly when she would start receiving it. Once that came in, her financial load would lighten tremendously. She had said in passing one day that she would love to go to the Third Day concert coming to our town. It was just a wish, but she knew that with money as tight as it was, that it wouldn't be possible. I prayed one afternooon in the car, telling God exactly how much money she needed to come in so she could pay all the bills, take care of the kids and also be able to splurge on this concert. I also was very specific about when she needed the money to arrive because of the due dates on certain bills. Well, lo and behold a day before I had asked God to have it arrive she had received the exact amount she needed and was able to buy not only tickets for her family but also for our family as well. We are looking forward to spending those hours at the concert in celebration for what a mighty, all-knowing, amazing and loving God we serve.
I do believe God!!!!

Movie & a Surprise Homecoming!!

Today was a great family day for us. After running some errands with the boys this morning, I woke up Brian who had been up most of the night talking with one of his spiritual mentors. We surprised the boys by taking them to the on-post theater and seeing the movie Tale of Despereaux. It was a really great movie that we all enjoyed. One line that really stuck out to me was "It is said that grief is the most powerful feeling but forgiveness is so much more powerful" . I know I'm not quoting it exactly but it gets the point across. It really made me think how true that is. We have experienced this many times in our family and it is so amazingly true. No matter how painful the wound or offense may have been there is a profound depth to the healing that occurs once forgiveness is given. I know the movie was for kids but it definitely has some important concepts to think upon.
Anyway, after the movie we went to the PX to pick up some items and while we were there Brian got a phone call from his friend who has been deployed for the last 6 months that he was home. We hadn't expected him until next month sometime. Brian's eyes filled with tears and we quickly purchased our items and headed to the barracks to pick him up. John and Titus were totally surprised because we had given them no idea what was going on. They were so excited to see Daddy's buddy. We have enjoyed just hanging out with him tonight and thanking God that one of our fellow warriors has returned safe and sound.

Plans?

The kids and I had a fun night tonight, hanging out at a friend's house. I actually was referred to as the rescue party, which made me laugh. Who says you can't party with a bunch of kids and some junk food?! Throw in a little chocolate and life is good. My friend is facing some intense life situations that would land most people in a loony bin but by the grace of God and some good friends she continues to walk forward and try to honor God in her life. Trial by fire, is putting it lightly. I almost didn't go to hang out tonight because I figured it would be a much better "mommy" thing if I stayed home and put the kids to bed at the proper time. Well, both the boys and me were glad we went. They got to play at someone else's house and stay up past bedtime- waaayyy past bedtime (which I'm sure no matter how much I dream still won't translate into them sleeping in- one can dream though). It was nice to just sit and talk though interrupted on a regular basis by the thud of boys wrestling, a toddler making sure he wasn't missing any excitement, a scream or two from a mad 3 year old when life didn't work his way and a preteen girl, who is so precariously on the precipice between childhood and young woman. We did have girl time for awhile and then kicked her out of the room we were in so we could talk about grown up stuff. It certainly didn't feel like we were there as late as we were, and it was totally worth it.
I truly admire my friend and am glad that I get to be one of the people walking alongside of her on this journey called life. We laugh and cry sometimes at the same time and remind each other that no matter what there truly is a greater plan. I'm so glad because my plans never seem to quite turn out like I thought anyway.