I knew this would happen

I did REALLY well keeping up with this blog for longer than I thought I would. Now, it's gone by the wayside. So, here's to picking it up again.

My kids have been out of school for a month now. So far things have mostly been going well.  We joined the YMCA again this year so the kids can swim. Since I'm still working on fitness, I decided to take the deep water fitness class. I LOVE it. I'm going 3 days a week and then letting the kids swim afterwards.

My biggest fitness challenge is yet to come. I decided about 11:00 last night to register for the Kiawah Island half-marathon. So, I did it. December 8 is the date. I won't have to start training until September, but I do want to keep up with running until then. Hoping to get a couple runs in while we're on vacation.

Fun Day

Today ended up being a really fun day. I gave blood this morning (not so fun, but I know it will save a life, so it's rewarding). Kristin and I had lunch with a friend from church, which was great because I haven't seen this friend in awhile. I dropped the kids off with my mother-in-law and came home and worked for a little while. Put out a plea on Facebook about wanting to meet someone for supper tonight and was invited to join some other church friends at a local Mexican restaurant. So, I crashed their supper; they had actually already finished eating by the time I got there, but were courteous enough to invite me anyway. While we were sitting there talking, another family from church came in. We talked to them for a few minutes and then the first family I was with had to leave, so I sat down with the second family while they ate. And listened to their 9-year-old daughter talk. And talk. And talk some more. She kept me very entertained with stories of their pets and other things. She went through so many subjects that I can't remember what all she talked about. She talked about. Not *we* talked about. She talked. It really was a great evening. I laughed and was entertained. And need to do that again. And have Clayton there. At the time, he was on his way to Charlotte to visit his best friend from Argentina who is there on business until tomorrow. He'll be back at some point in the future and I'll get to meet him then, I guess.

All in all, it's been a really good day. I didn't get started working until after I left the kids with my mother-in-law, but have made it over halfway through now, and this is after having spent 2 hours out at supper. Going to try to work some more on it while waiting for Clayton to get home.

Upheavel

Wow. It's been a week. Well, sorta. Still no news on anything to do with Clayton's situation from July. Hoping to hear something soon.

I got news this past week that the doctor I've been typing for for the last 2.5 years is dropping us. There were some files missing (that I never got) and some files repeated (I can't do anything about that) and he's blaming us. So, at the end of the month it's very possible that I will be out of work. I love the way God works, though. I got this news Wednesday. After mildly panicking on Wednesday, God gives me his Word on Thursday. The first instance was on Facebook. A friend whom I've never met posted a quote and scripture about trusting God. I read it, it strikes a chord, and I keep going with my day. In the afternoon, on the radio, the afternoon host reads a quote that she read in her devotional that morning. You guessed it. It's about trusting God. Okay, God, I get it. That's twice now. Later in the evening, again on Facebook (see? It can be used for good) Proverbs 31 Ministries posts Psalm 55:22 - Cast all your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. That's three. Three times in less than 24 hours that God has said to me "trust me." "Cast your cares on me." And the kicker? Clayton comes home from work and said that on his drive home God pretty much asked how much it's going to take for us to trust him. How much indeed? To fully trust in the God who sent his only son to die for my sin. What else will it take? I hope I'm there. Fully trusting and relying on him. He cares. He knows me by name. He knew me before I was even conceived. How awesome is that? He chooses to love me, a sinner so black that I can't even see my way out sometimes or see sin for what it is. I am so thankful that he provided a way out of that sin and that he called me to himself so many years ago. It's time to quit sitting in that knowledge and do something with it. Trust him fully. He's got me covered. He wants to show off in my life and it's time for me to let him.

Almost a month

We're coming to the end of Spring Break. We've not done a lot...yet. We had a play date at the park and got cupcakes one day. We ate lunch with Clayton today. Planned on hanging around downtown Greenville after lunch, but the temperature dropped yesterday with the rain we had, so we came on home. Tomorrow is the big day. We're heading to Atlanta to spend the day at Six Flags. Roller coasters, here we come!

Clayton's case is starting to move. Hopefully it will be over soon.

I'm still running, but haven't gone out this week at all. It's tough with the kids home all week. I've finally broken through my weight loss plateau. The Wii finally told me that my weight is NORMAL! I'm not in the overweight category anymore. Hoping to keep losing; I need to lose about 10 more pounds. I've also gone down a pants size. I'm excited to have hit single digit clothing again!

Total weight loss: 32 pounds!

Exciting things going on around here. I decided a couple weeks ago that I want to be a Scentsy consultant and signed up and got my stuff and am preparing for my launch party that is this Saturday. I'm really excited about where I can go with this.

Andrew had an allergic reaction to something a week and a half ago. We didn't have any idea what the reaction was in response to, but it was scary enough to me to make him an appointment with an allergist. We went Tuesday and he's allergic to several types of tree pollen, weed pollen, grasses, dust mites, cat, dog, and mold. So, we're in the process of cleaning up his room. I've ordered dust mite covers for his mattress and pillows. He's on Flonase nasal spray and taking Zyrtec. We go back in 6 weeks for a check up. We're also toying with the idea of pulling up all the carpet and replacing it with hardwood floors. I would love to do that, but we haven't actually sat down and really talked about it yet. I would love to have a couple pretty throw rugs that would brighten up the rooms. Besides that, our carpet is stained with watercolor paints.

Running is still going fairly well. The temperature all of a sudden jumped up this week (from 60s to 80s) and I was actually able to run a mile and a half before walking yesterday afternoon. I might survive warmer weather running after all. I've decided not to do the half marathon in April. I missed a week of training and I just don't want to push it too much again. I'm aiming for something in the fall/winter.

Where Can I Go?

The song is in my head. "Where can I goooo from you, Oh Lord? Where can I go from you?" Indeed, where CAN I go from the Lord? The simple answer is nowhere. I can go nowhere apart from my Lord. He is with me everywhere I go. Everywhere. He is in the depths of the sea. He is in the highest heaven. The darkest cave. The brightest meadow. Everywhere. I'm so thankful that he is where I need him...and even where I don't think I need him.

Praise be to the LORD, for he has heard my cry for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. -Psalm 28:6-7

I was just driving and thinking about how God's presence has been evident throughout the last 6+ months of my life. He has been so faithful through all of the hard times we've experienced. He provided us with money to pay our bills and buy groceries with while Clayton was out of work. He provided Clayton with a job in the area that he is going to school for. And, consequently, Clayton loves it. He has given me a sense of peace about Clayton being in this line of work rather than being a police officer. I had gotten used to having that patrol car in my front yard. After all, it had been there for 9 years. Two days before he resigned, God told me it is okay by allowing me to drive up into my yard and think "It looks normal without that car there." No matter what happens, He is faithful.

I was listening to the radio this morning and God spoke to me through a story about Shrinky Dinks. The morning host, Heather, found these things for her kids and they made them over the weekend and last night. They put her son's in the oven for it to shrink and while they were watching, it folded over and looked like it wasn't going to do right, so her son wanted them to take them out before it got too badly mangled. Heather, in her wisdom (and knowing what the end result was going to be) told him that they would leave them until time to take them out. How like our God! He allows us to go through bad things, through fire because he knows the end. He knows that when everything is said and done, we will be holy as he is holy. Holiness comes by being tested, by going through the fire. The impurities are burned away and we are left with Jesus in us.

This really resonates deep within me this morning as I have made a commitment to be in God's Word daily - something I struggle with. My prayer is that if I can make it routine to begin with that God will ignite my routine into passion and I will long to be in the Word as often as possible and grow closer and closer to him and more like him and through the fires that will surely come I will be tested and the impurities will burn away and I will see His reflection in all that I do.