Stream of consciousness...

Honesty time. Lately I haven't felt much like blogging (probably because I'm not in the habit) but partially because I've been discouraged a bit.

On Sunday our pastor preached on faith and made a statement I've heard before but this time it hit me a little harder. Curtis said "God always answers prayer, but he answers in 3 ways; yes, no, or not yet."

 Recently I've been in a window of "not yet" and I am yearning for understanding as to why. I have been so focused on what I can control in my little world that I haven't been relying on God enough, if at all. Sure I say I am, but truly it's difficult to do (anyone who says it's easy is fibbing to you and themselves.) This stage in my life has been difficult (and still is) but sometimes I just need to remember that eventually I'll be able to look back and see the plan of it all.

As I was running wogging this morning I heard an older song from Francesca Battistelli and God gently poked me with reassurance that life will turn out just the way He wants it to. I don't usually post lyrics, but these ones touched me today so maybe it will touch someone else too!
  
Free to Be Me by Francesca Battistelli 

At twenty years of age I'm still looking for a dream
A war's already waged for my destiny
But You've already won the battle
And You've got great plans for me
Though I can’t always see

(Chorus)
 
‘Cause I got a couple dents in my fender
Got a couple rips in my jeans
Try to fit the pieces together
But perfection is my enemy
On my own I'm so clumsy
But on Your shoulders I can see
I'm free to be me
When I was just a girl I thought I had it figured out
My life would turn out right, and I'd make it here somehow
But things don't always come that easy
And sometimes I would doubt

(Chorus)

And you’re free to be you
Sometimes I believe that I can do anything
Yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring
But You look at my heart and You tell me
That I've got all You seek
And it’s easy to believe
Even though 

(Chorus)

 I was kind of a quietly insubordinate child (good on the surface but those closer to me know that I could be devious if chosen). I think I've returned to those habits, or maybe always treated my relationship with God that way. I think that I'm being obedient and faithful and then I notice that I'm not completely so.

My prayer today for myself and for all my fellow wanderers is that God would reveal those areas of our lives that we hold tight to and plan for and expect God to bend to our wills and that He would gently teach us and show us how to do it the right way.

Love to all you folk out there! Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

 

where have we been hiding??

Good Morning Folks!
 I do in fact exist...life has just been a little crazy the last year-ish so I'll give you guys the reader's digest version to catch up.

Summer 2011: Kenny is being pursued by a church in Orland Park IL to become their next youth pastor, he accepts the position in late August.

September 2011: We move to Chicagoland just before our anniversary and prepare to hunker down in a super cold climate.

Fall/Winter 2011: Chicagoans don' know what to do with a mild winter and Kenny and I praise God for only 2 weekends of snow. :)

Spring 2012: God laid it on Kenny's and my hearts that Illinois would only be a temporary placement for us.

 March 2012: We begin the process of returning to Texas. Our house did not sell the entire 6 months it was on the market. My job in Texas was not filled the entire time we were gone, so I reapplied. I had to do like 4 serious phone interviews before I was offered the position, but God's will was for us to return to Houston so I got the job and we planned to move back.

April 2012: We are packing again...boo! We hadn't planned on IL being temporary, we got license plates, drivers licenses, car titles, toll tags, trashed/recycled all the moving boxes...here's to repeating the same move, but more expensive because everything is more expensive up North. I am sad to leave my job in Crestwood, I loved my team and my boss, not so keen on the skilled nursing setting, but now I can say I did it. We arrived back in Houston near the end of April, and promptly put everything back right where it had been 7 months before.

May 2012-present: I start back at my job and Kenny is on a little "sabbatical" waiting on God's direction for his next ministry opportunity (prayers for this much appreciated). We missed so much about Texas while we were gone and the number one thing was definitely our friends and family. It was very difficult to find the same kind of community where we were and it definitely made us appreciate the relationships and fellowship that we have here so much more.

Being back has been fun, we get to see all our favorite people and experience life with them. We have begun attending an awesome church and are eager to invest somewhere until God tells us where He is going to use Kenny next.

So where does that leave us right now you ask? Well we're kind of in a holding pattern, I am loving my work at RehabCare and enjoy the challenges management brings. Kenny is deep in the word daily and learning from teachings of other great pastors to keep his walk on track. We haven't had much success with opportunities for Kenny, and that has been difficult. We are definitely so blessed to have a house to move back to and a job for me to move back to but Kenny and I both feel that God is preparing him for something worth the wait. Friends, as you read this; say a little prayer for my Hubby, pray that God would continue to prepare him for an amazing opportunity and that He would pave the way to make it happen. (Feel free to add a sooner rather than later in there). We are so glad to be back in Texas and I will take the opportunity to re-start the blogging adventure...but just to be safe, don't hold your breath :) Blessings to you!