Finding Purpose

God is up to something. Not really sure what that is, but HE is up to something.

Seven years ago my sister was diagnosed with Leukemia, and 40 days later she was gone.

With her, my identity, at least what I thought to be my identity, was also gone.

So for the next 40 days, God has asked me to write, each day, about who I have become, who HE is shaping me into. And if you have ever read anything here, you know that writing EVERY day is NOT my strong suit!! So, please understand if it is not at the exact time each day :)

I will start at the beginning...

It was sometime in August that I remember talking with my sister and she said she was fighting a sinus infection..for some reason I called my mom and said these words, "Julia is sick". How little did I know how sick she really was. It was also around this time that God was pulling me out of most of the work I was doing at our church, specifically children's ministry...I was kinda of freaking out...this had been my life for years, I talking years!! My girlfriends even asked if I had stopped taking my anti depressants...funny now, but I was freaking out and they had to ask, but no, I was still taking them!!

School started, and life got busy and then the phone call came...Julia went to the ER and they are starting chemo THIS afternoon, she has cancer, Leukemia...

WHAT???

And my world stopped, right then and there...all I could think about was GOD KNEW, GOD KNEW...that is why HE was moving me out of so much stuff...I stopped and HE KNEW I would.

It has been seven years, and it is like it was today...sometimes I still just stop.

Currently, I am fighting a cold, same time for the past six years, our bodies remember hard stops. But I am aware of it now and the colds don't last as long as they used to...I focus on JOY more than pain, and remember what GOD has done with me and what HE is still doing.

HE has been showing me my purpose, and refining me for HIS work and I think that after these next 40 days, HE will reveal a new path or an old one that will have better focus.

Please join me as I discover my purpose and heal a little more along the way...

To read a little more visit my post called In Remembrance .

Winds are blowing

(This was written a few weeks ago, however, the publish button was not pushed...distracted yet again!)

There is something in the air.

The winds are from the north now, and the leaves are starting to turn.

The Canadians are arriving in large groups. Making preparations for the journey further south.





The summer seemed to disappear rather quickly this time, almost without notice and it was gone.

Funny how that works. When we are living yet are not fully present, life seems to disappear without warning. So I have been trying to relive moments that I was fully present for and have been surprised with how much life I did not live this summer.

Moving has a way of taking you out of living in the moment. Waiting on doctor reports do too.

I spent my moments worrying and waiting, not living in the LIFE that is meant for me to live.

I am still in the old testament (that place is full to overflowing with real food from heaven) learning how God so wanted us to live in constant worship, constant companionship with HIM and how HE made it so easy for us, if only we, me, would just listen!!

Unpacked and still Trusting

So most of the boxes have been unpacked and what is not will remain that way!! Thanking God for unfinished basements!!



We have successfully moved all of Bob's office here to Minnesota, and that is a project that will be started next week...hopefully I will not fall into a filing cabinet drawer!! (Trust me I have fallen into much stranger things.)

God is still doing a mighty work here and we are trusting more and more everyday in HIS divine timing, though I will admit that I don't always agree with it or understand it...but that is the trick about trusting, you trust even when you don't understand!

Here are some photos of the "finished project" of moving....







Thanks again for all your prayers, I could not stand, much less walk with out God's grace and support from my friends!!

A Guided Life

"I am your Lord. Lord of your lives, Controller of your days, your present and your future. Leave all plans to ME. Only act as I bid you. You have entered now, both of you, upon the God-guided life. Think what that means. God-taught, God-guided. Is anything too wonderful for such a life? Do you begin to see how wonderful life with Me can be? Do you see that no evil can befall you?" --God Calling

Still in the midst of packing, but receiving encouragement in the most wonderful of ways!!


Blessings to you all!

Pictures of a recent sunset here...

Seeking Peace

Well for starters we have great news...Mary, my mother-in-law has been told that she is in REMISSION!!!!! Shouts of joy!! She finished all 6 rounds of chemo, surgery (twice) and an infection during the last 7 months...it has been a long hard road, but God has been faithful and souls have been changed!! She will not need to have blood work done now for three months and then six months and so on...


My father's health issue is clearing itself up nicely as well...all tests came back negative and no further testing was required! More shouts of joy!!


Which leads me to my journey here in Minnesota and my year of ACTION...

As I posted earlier, we are moving again in August. We found a house to lease last week and will be moving in three weeks time. I am going to become quite busy and wanted to put down in words what God has been showing me...

Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Jeremiah 29:7

I know most of you will catch the last part and wonder if I feel like I am in exile...let me assure that is not the case, a little lost at times but not in exile.. : )

God did however carry us here and to the house we are moving to...He mostly wants me to seek peace here while He is refining us....

This is what I am struggling with...I long for what was, the past, my Egypt so to speak..

Just like the Israelites wandering in the desert...all of sudden Egypt didn't seem so bad..it was more "comfortable", more familiar...even if they were slaves!

And that is what my husband and I had become, slaves to a world view...and let me tell you it is not fun, but learning the TRUTH is not easy either...however there is so much more promise in the TRUTH then there is in the world.

So I am learning to seek peace and prosperity in this land...and it is not the world view of peace and prosperity!!



Peace comes in the form of laughter, sunsets, sunrises and good doctor reports. Prosperity is seen in birthday celebrations, sitting down for dinner, and seeing God's provision in all things!!





With each stop in the 40yr travels of the Israelites, a lesson was taught and a test given..So many lessons have been learned and I believe the testing has begun...so stay tune, God has amazing things planned for us!!

Team Jesus

Okay, so I will admit that I have read the Twilight series and am keeping up to date on the movie releases..however this is NOT about Twilight...it is about finding out someone has a CRUSH on you!!!

I am one of the girls who has always dreamed of "the man" who sweeps you off your feet, will fight to the death for you...you know exactly what I am talking about if you are a hopeless romantic too!! (The fact is I think all women are looking for this, even if they don't want to admit it!!)

The problem is that Hollywood has never failed at making us drool over some character to the point we think the actor playing the character is one in the same {insert any and all male actors who play a romantic hero} ...not only that but they start targeting us at such an early age, when we are just starting to fantasize about Mr. Right!!

I know... I fell young and hard to the lie that there was a man that could match all expectations, even if some of those expectations where as lofty as the clouds.

I came from a loving family. I KNEW that I was loved, that God loved me and I had a great Daddy who not only loved all of us kids, but adores my Mom! Still, by the time I was 16, I so wanted to BE loved...what I really wanted (hindsight is great by the way)was to be the object of some one's desire..what made them want to get up in the morning, to lay down their life for me...anyone know what I am talking about??

So at 18, I was naively honest with someone about my romantic self and I started in a relationship that was not the best for me...I soon got married and then divorced shortly after that...the WHOLE relationship lasted less than 6 years!!

The funny thing, I still wanted to find that person who could/would fit into MY vision!!

Do you remember the movie BRAVEHEART? Well, I was in the movies, with the person I was currently in a relationship with, and made the comment that I wanted the love and commitment that was displayed in that movie, (searching for and hoping for the answer I wanted...) he proceeds to say, in a "matter of fact" way, "you won't be getting that from me"...I left that movie totally crushed.

So another relationship ended and I was broken more this time than the first one in which I had actually been married!!

GOD is good! And HE sent me someone, who does not think the world revolves around me, but..loves me like no other. We have been married for over 13 years and are still acting like it is our honeymoon!

I throw that in there because the truth is I still have yearned for that "object of desire" feeling from someone about ME!! That was until Sunday...

So, my husband has been traveling..a lot, and I was in need of some time without kiddos, and the newest movie in the Twilight series has been out for two weeks...so I went all by myself to see it. All those thoughts of being that object of desire for someone surfaced again, but differently than as a naive teenager. I know now that expectations are sometimes lies told by the enemy to keep us from the great stuff God has in store for us; and I know that I am truly happily married, so what was with all the old desires surfacing???

Well, as I was driving home and hashing out my thoughts...God started playing HIS own love story in my mind...and guess what...I AM HIS OBJECT OF DESIRE!!! I almost had to pull the car over...

I am the reason Jesus was born and came to live among us
I am the reason Jesus died on the cross for sins of ALL mankind
I am the reason Jesus kicked some evil booty
I am the reason Jesus rose again on the third day
I am the reason Jesus WILL COME AGAIN!!!!

And the best part, YOU are HIS object of desire too!!!

I don't know where you are right now, today...but it has taken me all this time to 'get it' that God wants us so much more than we want him!!

And now that I have gotten that message loud and clear...I have the silliest grin on my face!!

GOD HAS A CRUSH ON ME!!!

Won't you let HIM have one on you too?

It has been a year!

Well, the year mark has past.

Officially it has been a year since we moved, however the move is not complete, there are still loose ends to tie up and offices to close...it takes a while to move a life.

And with this year mark, we have another move to make, another parent with health problems, and more opportunity to praise GOD!!

First, the move thing...when we moved last year we were renting to buy, because the house in Texas had not sold yet..still is not sold, still cannot buy and therefore another move! But the lessons that we have learned!!

1. The ideal location and perfect house are not always what is best in the long run..


2. What the world views as success is usually a trap set by the enemy and causes more stress than what one person can handle!!

3. So many lies have been revealed and the LIGHT is shining so brightly!!

4. When the sands move it is good to be standing on a ROCK!!

I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of . I will carry you and save you!! --GOD.. Isaiah 46:4

So, we are looking for a different house to rent and will be moving in August..at least I am in Minnesota and not Texas for an August move...praise and thanksgiving all around!!

As for our parents, my mother-in-law has completed six rounds of chemo and will start maintenance treatments in July. Thank you all for your continued prayers for healing, she still has a long road ahead of her.

My own parents have had their share of health issues this year as well. My mom broke her wrist while waiting for my dad to have tests done...what a pair!! Anyway, my dad now has fluid in his lung cavity, not in his lungs, and we are awaiting those test results...

The kiddos are doing well, they are attending a small christian school, which means that even though we are moving again, they will not have to change schools...again, praise and thanksgiving all around!!!



All in all it has been a good year..a lot of growing, praying, trusting, waiting...but isn't that just your everyday ordinary life!!!

Finding GOD'S fingerprints is the key to finding joy in the midst of a storm!



May you find lots of fingerprints in your own journey!!