Reflections and Responses

I wish I were better at sitting still. I'm not good at just waiting to find out the outcome of a decision. I tend to jump in and try to control things myself (hmm, think I've blogged about that before). I want to be better at sitting still, enjoying restful moments when I've put things in God's hands. I want to get better at recognizing when I've done all I can do about a situation, and my action steps are just to wait and be still. Normally, when I feel I've reached the end of my ability to work on a situation, I will rest for about 5 seconds and then jump in and try to solve it from another angle. However, I want to recognize - and REJOICE IN - the times when I've used up the resources I have and need to simply TRUST GOD and be still. Truly, that is an AWESOME place to be. The responsibility is no longer mine. I've submitted my request to God, done all I felt led to do, and can then stop striving. I can simply trust Him to work things out according to ...

I had dinner with some good friends one night this week at their house, and their precious nieces were present as well. These girls are both under the age of 5 and could not have been more fun. After they gave me a tour of their rooms and introduced me to their stuffed animals, I had the privilege watching them interact with their daddy when he came home. They began squealing as soon as they heard his car hit the driveway, and they attacked him as he walked in the door. He, too, was excited to see his precious daughters. They clung to him for a while, and then all three of them rolled around on the floor, laughing and giggling. Then they played what I later learned is a common game at their house: chasing their dad around the house in a circle, running laps and squealing with delight. Later, the girls put on a "show" for us, which consisted of jumping around the living room dancing wildly to Christian music. They were completely free in their dancing, swinging arms, legs, hea...

Whew! What a few weeks it has been. I've been flooded with blessings, but of course, there have been some interesting moments along the way too! I'll back up and start from the beginning. Christmas was absolutely wonderful - one of the best of my entire life, truthfully. John did not have to work for the first time in 3 years, so we were able to enjoy the entire weekend together, which was great. We also were grateful to participate in Passion City Church 's first ever Christmas Eve service, which was at an outdoor venue. Both of our families were present, which was uber-special on multiple levels. On Christmas day, we had a fun breakfast together at our apartment and then our families merged for one big lunch together in Cumming, which was a blast. Then we visited with the rest of John's family with a snowy backdrop. Unreal, and so special. I used to think that Christmas was way more special/enjoyable for children, but now I firmly believe that it is more significant f...