First day of SPRING

I do believe today is the first official day of Spring... And I could not be more excited! Spring signifies such a beautiful time for me - it's the time where things come back to life, out of hibernation, and bring forth such beauty. I love the memories that are associated with Spring. It was the time of year where Hunter and I rededicated our lives to Christ years back. It was the time when we got engaged.

 

circa 4.20.2014

 

I spent yesterday at the beach with my MIL and it was such a beautiful day on our Gulf Coast. As we were driving back home (we literally only live about 1.5 hours from the coast), we commented on how lucky we are to be able to live close to such a pretty place. Not many folks can say that they live within a days' drive to white, sandy beaches. We're truly fortunate!

 

this does not have a filter... it's just that pretty!

 

I truly hope this Spring season brings each of you a sense of renewed life and beautiful days that are to be cherished. Regardless of where you are in life, the events that are happening in your life, just take each day as it comes. There are many times where Hunter and I literally take each minute as it comes, each second as it comes.

 

Lastly, I want to dedicate this post to my father-in-law. He faithfully reads my blog and shares with me his thoughts - and I LOVE it! Ros, here's to praying that on this first official day of Spring, God will continue to bring healing to your body. His ways are always good and I'm so thankful for His mercies. Love you bunches!

Losing Control

photo courtesy of my sister

 

I'm not sure if I've said it before but 2016 and 2017, hands down, take the gold in life lesson teachings. Between last year and the last couple of months, we've really been forced to reconcile with the cards that have been dealt to us and our families. We've also been forced to surrender all of our control to the One that controls everything.

 

Can I just admit for a quick second how painful this has been?

 

Over the last several months, God has slowly but surely chiseled away at everything that I held high above Him. And a lot of that was because of the control issues I had. I fully believed that I could control many situations; I may not have said it out loud, but I certainly told God to take a back seat because I'm driving. What a joke.

 

God has so lovingly held me (and us, for that matter) through this process as He has chipped away our hard, exterior selves and this in turn has forced us to willingly surrender everything we have to Him. I'm talking about the wants and idols we had placed above and before Him. For me (let's be honest for a minute here), I had placed before Him my idolatry of wanting things done on my time, my way. I had placed Him behind those things because I felt that I could control those very things on my own.

 

If you can just imagine the wake up call that He gave me, times it by about 100. God showed me very quickly, and lovingly, how I had decided to take those reins back from Him and drive that buggy. I was in control of the very train that was wrecking my life. Comparison stole my joy, and the devil laughed at his accomplishment. The beauty of all of that though? God never left me. He never quit on me. He stood with me when I realized with utter embarrassment that I had allowed myself to become another pawn for the devil to undermine all of His work.

 

And that was when I lost control, giving it all over to Him. The weight of the world I was carrying left my shoulders in an instant and I could breathe deeper. Now I'm no fool and I know those temptations to regain control will creep back in (and it's already happening), but I also know my God is stronger than that. He will have His way with me, and my life, however He sees fit for His glory.

 

I've lost control. And I don't want it back.

Home {SWEET} Home

Hunter and I realized the other day that we've been in our new (to us) home for about 6 months now and we just couldn't help but thank God for His timing and mercies. Our home is small, quaint, but full of so much love. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else than where we are now.

 

The mornings are my most favorite time to watch the woods around us come to life. The fresh morning dew across the pasture, how the sunlight filtrates itself through the pine trees, and the birds chirping as loudly as they can. It kind of gives me a glimpse into what heaven will be like. I love the stillness that surrounds our home, the escape it provides to us after a long day.

We've always thrived on making our home available to any and all who need a place to come and rest. Whether it's to rest in the friendship we have over a good meal, or to literally rest in our guest room for a weekend - we just want to be available to whoever may need a place to just be.

The irony doesn't pass me that our home has become a sanctuary these last several weeks. We've had some joyous moments where celebrations were had and memories were made but we've also shed several tears in the last several weeks in our home. Through it all, God has stood by us, wrapped His arms around us, and held us close. God is reminding us each day of His goodness, His faithfulness, His love no matter what the circumstances may be.

In this home, our knees have hit the ground as we cry out in prayer. In this home, the floor has been danced on as we karaoke'd in the kitchen. In this home, we've loved deeply and disagreed lovingly over things in life. In this home, our marriage has endured some of the hardest days and some of our best days.

In this home, God has been glorified.