First Post

My day has been a little like "If you give a Mouse a Cookie"
If you decide to send an email to your friends and family with your new contact info they will want pictures of the new house
If you take pictures of the new house you will need to clean up the new house
If you clean up the new house you will need to set out Easter decorations
If you get the pictures taken you will check your email while they are loading
If you check the email a sweet friend will email and ask if you have set up the blog you said you would do
If you decide to set up a blog you need to pick a meaningful name, template and first post :)
Whew...
I wanted to set up this blog because I knew this move to a new state would be an ongoing journey from the moment we said we would go until I don't know when. I wanted a place to share with friends and family my struggles, my joys, my God sightings and the mundane of life.
The only thing I want to say is that the past few weeks have been wonderful and painful. What we have gotten to share as a family in a beautiful place has been wonderful. The dark times are especially dark when you have no one around to just dump it on. It's too hard in a phone call and I don't want others to worry. Most of the time it is temporary and God reminds me that I am secure in his hand.
What I have realized is that for about 2 weeks my thought process "Why is He taking everything away from me? Everything that was me is no more. NOTHING in my life (except Steve and the kids) is the same. " My identity was in a tailspin. My relationships were rocked. My future uncertain. I asked Him repeatedly "You have asked the question 'Who do you say that I am?' and now I want to know 'Who do you say that I am?' I felt stripped bare like a stolen car. Now I am starting to realize that God didn't take me away from me, He is giving me back to me. This is not a butterflies and sunshine process. It can be painful (especially when I fight it) but it is worth it.
So in this place, as it was in Iowa, one thing has not changed, the most important thing:
"But me he caught—reached all the way from sky to sea; he pulled me out Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos, the void in which I was drowning. They hit me when I was down, but God stuck by me. He stood me up on a wide-open field (a spacious place); I stood there saved—surprised to be loved! God made my life complete when I placed all the pieces before him. When I got my act together, he gave me a fresh start. Now I'm alert to God's ways; I don't take God for granted. Every day I review the ways he works; I try not to miss a trick. I feel put back together, and I'm watching my step. God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes. " Psalm 18 The Message
Thanks for reading! God Bless!
joy