Currently I am in the process of over-hauling my life. My main focus is on physical and spiritual health. I’ve been putting it off for too long… focusing a little here and a little there. In realization that it’s not working for me, I’ve decided to take a stand.

I can not tell you how sweet the past couple months have been. Once I made the commitment, I learned that it is a lot easier than I had expected. Sure I see things come in and try to take me away, but I am able to recognize what is happening and change my focus. I am reminded of the book The Shack where Mack is talking about guilt and Papa says “How’s that working for ya??” We tend to beat ourselves up instead of focusing on Grace, the sweetest gift of all.

I’ll see what I can do to be a little more consistent. I know there are a couple of you out there that actually like to hear from me.

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” ~2 Timothy 1:7

heh! strangely enough… I am still getting an average of 20 hits a day… thank you Donald Miller!

I can not tell you how amazed I am in regards to God’s provision with this situation. Here is the short story without too many boring details.

I thought I was going to have to take custody of my niece. The past two months have consisted of me being prepared to either take her or not… I couldn’t get myself excited for either possibility since both were up in the air. When people asked what to pray for, I just said “pray for what is best for the baby”. Everyone’s reaction was always the same… “well I know that you taking her would be the best thing”.

Good news is God knows better than we do… baby was born 10 fingers, 10 toes… momma is doing well and I see a significant desire to be the best mom she can be. Her and babydaddy are living with my dad (this my friend, is a miracle… you have NO idea). Babydaddy is working and they are looking to find a place of their own in the relative same area as my dad. This should help them to stay out of trouble. My sister and I got along better than we ever did when I was down for the month. I definitely see this as a possibility for a 180 in our relationship. Of course there is lots of work all the way around in all aspects of life… BUT we do not have to worry about knowing what is best… we just need to trust.

I think I have come close to a breaking point… and I am not sure how much longer I can stay afloat. I’ve spent countless hours on the internet over the past couple weeks applying for every job that I think I remotely would like and succeed at within a one-hour travel radius… and of course hiring managers will probably take another week or so to recover from the holidays. So… I am 100% in need of a miracle because I will not be able to tread water for much longer…

The task is to pick 16 words that described my day and then go here to create a mosaic. What did you do today??

1. sleep, 2. shower, 3. coffee, 4. tree decorating, 5. turkey soup, 6. a trip to the gate city, 7. mmmm… beer, 8. candlelight stroll, 9. long time no see, 10. tree lighting, 11. ice sculptures, 12. evil john, 13. conversation with dr brian, 14. dinner, 15. sitting by the fire place, 16. sweet dreams

Jackie… I dedicate this smile all to you ;]

does anyone feel like this today???

Thanksgiving was a completely blessed day… Kristen & I cooked a dinner that could feed fifty (we weren’t sure of all that were coming). We had 11 guests join us and I was so happy to share the day with each one of them. I have been truely blessed with some amazing friends…

Today was a relaxing day… it’s almost like I am on vacation. KP & I are staying at the Deu’s while they are away. Tonight we sit by the fire listening to some music, fun times…

and finally… it’s the most wonderful time of the year… I have been waiting over a month to share this:

Merry Christmas… let the season begin… :]