Hi friends. I'm sorry for my absence lately... my computer went KAPUT on me about two weeks ago, and I'm waiting on my new one to arrive. (any day I hope!)
I'm at work as I type this, which means, I really should get to doing something other than blog, so this will be short and sweet.
Just wanted to let you know, I'm alive still. I miss blogging. I have a bunch of photos and stuff to show you all. Being without my computer sort of feels like missing my right hand. (OK maybe that's a bit dramatic) I'll be back soon!
I hope you are enjoying the beginning of summer as much as I am!
Getting ready to put our house on the historical homes tour this summer (the end of July to be exact) is making me feel the pressure for my home to be a perfect house... but it's not because there are 4 people, 2 doggies, and 2 kitties who live their life fully underneath it's roof.
It would be super easy for me to get overwhelmed by making everything perfect for the big day. Instead I keep repeating this sentence over and over to myself as I have those kind of feelings creep in... 'it's a home not a house'.
It's a place where the dogs have scratched claw marks into all the doors. It's a place where the young cat has eaten his way into all the new screening on the doors. It's a place where there a smudgy little finger prints on walls and windows. It's a place where cob webs often live. It's a place where new grass is struggling to grow. It's a place where there are weeds in the garden. It's a place where kids play. It's a place where food gets spilled. It's a place where the laundry is never all done. It's a place where there isn't possibly enough time in a day to get it all done.
But... it's also a place where...
So, while I really do want everything to look amazing on show day... I also never want to lose sight that our house is not just a house, it's a home!
There were times during this week I just had to call out to Jesus and say, 'how much more lord?'
I had to have some pretty significant, pretty serious medical tests done this last week and a half, and there was a chance, actually a pretty good chance, that the out come wasn't going to be a good one.
Besides the fact that I had to go 36 hours without food this week, and drink 4 liters of the worst tasting drink I had ever drank, I also had to deal with my emotions, of what if...
Most of the time the 'what ifs' in life get us, don't they??? The theme running through me this whole week, as I dealt with these tests, and the unknown, feeling terrible health wise, dealing with a very sick almost 8 year old, a struggling shop, and a hard work situation for my hubby, was the word TRUST.
God was asking me to TRUST that HE had me covered. So, I did. This advice I had been given once a long time ago kept repeating over, and over in my head all week long, and it kept me calm and still.
The advice was this: When we worry, and take our burdens on to ourselves, we are telling God to his face that we don't TRUST him.
I went forward into my week with blind TRUST that HE had me covered... and HE DID!
I got my test results back, and every single bad possibility has been ruled out.
HE HAD ME COVERED...
Bella is feeling better, and was so well taken care of by my Mom and Matt when I couldn't be the mama I would have liked to have been while she was sick.
HE HAD ME COVERED...
After a very slow last two weeks at the store, he provided an amazing sales day yesterday that perfectly covered the exact amount we needed to pay our large payments/bills that were due.
HE HAD IT COVERED...
Matt has some change on the horizon. Whatever it brings, it will be GREAT.
HE HAS IT COVERED...
If we walk through life, TRUSTING that HE HAS US COVERED, think of all the worry we would save ourselves... He has a plan for our lives. He just wants us to trust HIM.
the other day Bella and I were talking, and she said out of the blue 'mama, I wish I had a time machine...' - I said 'oh, yeah, why?' and she replied simply, 'because I would turn my Buddy back into this...'
'He was so cute, and little mama, don't you remember?'- 'I loved when he was a baby...'
...I'll I could say in response, was, 'sometimes I wish I had a time machine too!'
...and then I said 'time goes by too fast sometimes, that's why we have to enjoy every minute of life while it's happening, because it will never happen again quite the same!'
I'm Mandy. Mama, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Lover of God... Each day is a journey. Life is an adventure. At this point in my life, I try to go one day at a time, enjoying the moment I'm in, because today is a gift that will be gone tomorrow. I hope this can be a place to share the joy that can be found in everyday simpleness, watching kids grow, enjoying those you love, and this crazy little thing called life!
