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!!

Graduation

Graduation is 1 : a mark on an instrument or vessel indicating degrees or quantity; also : these marks
2 a : the award or acceptance of an academic degree or diploma b : commencement
3 : arrangement in degrees or ranks

I like the first definition the best...a mark, a hard stop in one's life, indicating the quantity of life lived so far.

Graduation is not only for the child, but for the parents as well. Both receive marks from the journey. One might say the marks are actually scars. Scars tell a story of triumph, so either way is fine with me.

My oldest daughter graduated from high school this past week. My nephew graduated last night. Both of these wonderful young adults bare many marks.

My daughter has dealt with dual homes since she was three years old, getting the best of both her Mom and Dad (my husband)...she has overcome adversity with forgetting homework at one place or the other, missing uniform pieces, and other various things which all comes with trying to live in two places at once! She has overcome learning challenges, social challenges and the challenges of adding new members to the family, especially babies!

Just when I thought the world would get the best of her, God surprised me with all HE had planned for her...the successes, the graces, and the mercies! She has become more than I ever imagined her to be!! I cannot wait to see what the future holds for her as she leaves to begin a new chapter in her life!

My nephew has had more than his fair share of challenges as well. At the young age of 9, he was diagnoised with Type 1 Diabetes! Just when he was getting the hang of that, at age 12 he lost his mother (my sister) to cancer. He has been fighting to survive ever since. I am so proud to say that he graduated high school and will be going to college in the fall!! It has been rough for him, but again, God has plans for him that we do not know and sometimes cannot see!!

Being the one on the sidelines of both of these lives has taught me about prayer, trust, surrender and grace. Without them, I would not be the person I am today!!

You two have blessed in ways that I never thought possible! You have stretch me and strengthened me at the same time. God has used you both to refine me!! Thank you for allowing me to be apart of your lives!

For My Mom

My Mom is one of four girls, an identical twin, and a mother to nine children. She is also a wife, teacher and an artist. But mostly she is my best friend.

She has taught me how to cry, how to stand strong, how to cook, sew, and soak in all creation.



She is a living example to me on how to have a real, gut check, kind of relationship with GOD, JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT! She knows GRACE first hand.

Four of the nine children have already gone HOME, three of these I never had the chance to meet, but I know them through my Mom, she carries all of us with her everyday.

The lessons l have learned from my mother are too numerous to count. The words spoken through her are life changing and life giving. No, she was not always perfect, but she knew GRACE and she taught GRACE and she lives GRACE.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 1Corinthians 15:10

Thank you Mom, for teaching me GRACE and how to be a momma!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

All my love, Jean

The Last Leg

The last drop from my filled cup is gone, yet not forgotten.

Funny how we painfully savor some things and others we cannot seem to devour fast enough.

That is how my last month has been. Painful and joyous and at moments almost unreal. Even now as I sit and try to write, tears are trying to fill my eyes and spill out. It has been rough and long and I am tired.

Bob's mom made it through surgery with flying colors and has started the last leg of chemo treatments. We have been informed that this leg will be harder, more intense, and at the end, she should be on her way to remission!! We just have to finish this last leg....and it is proving to be harder and more intense...prayers would be appreciated!!

At the same time, my husband and I feel like we are on that last leg too! Still have not sold the house in Texas or the cabin, and have had to make the decision to move again as we are not able to buy the current home we have been renting.

Right now I would like to give praise to all those women in the military who move for living!!! My hat goes off to you!

Why is it the last leg of any race or adventure is always the hardest, yet will be the most rewarding?? I remember doing a half-marathon with TEAM IN TRAINING with my sisters in honor of our oldest sister. The last two miles were brutal!! I am an asthmatic and my lungs were not happy at mile 11, however I refused to use my inhaler because all I could think about was the last week of my sister's life and how she fought so hard.... I could fight too! My sister, Janice, understood. She stayed right next to me with inhaler in hand, cheering me on and as my foot crossed the finish line put the inhaler in by mouth...I will never forget that!! Finishing that race is one of the highlights of my life!! (My little sister, Jennifer, finished before me, however we later learned that she had broke the top of her foot during the race because her shoes were tied to tight!)


The ending is where my focus is, not fighting through the pain...because the most rewarding part is still yet to come!




The truth is that the MOST REWARDING is yet to come!! Heaven awaits!!

But for now, the most wonderful shades of green are helping me to push forward and finish. Life is awakening again and the banner is waving in the distance...marking the finish line!!




I pray that were ever life has you on this journey, you take a moment and breathe, look around and watch for the signs of the ONE who is cheering you on to the finish line!! You might just be surprised at how loud HE is cheering!!

Cup of Joy Refilled

What a wonderful weekend I have had!

I spent the weekend on a women's retreat and received a filling up of my joy cup!!

For most of the time here, I have been searching for fellowship with new journeymen (women) on my spiritual walk. I was so blessed at our church in Texas and so wanting and needing the same blessing here. I knew God had a plan for me, but I was growing weary and needed assurance...

Well, I now have a cup overflowing....AMEN!!!

God is so faithful and I just have had 48 hours of confirmation...really, it does not get any clearer than this!

So to all my new journeymen(women), I am so blessed to have met you and look forward to taking long walks in the garden with you!

Thank you Lord, for your mercies are great!

Building of a Temple

In the building of the temple, only blocks dressed at the quarry were used, and NO HAMMER, CHISEL OR ANY OTHER IRON TOOL WAS HEARD at the temple site while it was being built. 1Kings 6:7

Have you ever been to a construction site? The noise is almost unbearable!! So think about this verse for a moment.



It took seven years to build the temple, and there was not a sound of hammer, chisel or other iron tool at the building site!!

This astounds me.

During this Season of Lent, when we are focusing on the magnitude of the CROSS, I am struck by this quietness. This absence of modern day tools. This great reverence for the MOST HOLY PLACE, that begins at the moment of construction.



And this quietness begs the question, if I am a temple for the MOST HOLY, am I allowing too much noise at the construction site?

The answer would have to be yes. The noise of jackhammers, saws, chisels and the like have taken residence in my being. Television, cell phones, computers, worry and fret have made themselves at home causing confusion, exhaustion and doubt. All stealing the quietness and the calmness of rebuilding the temple. We live in a society of here and now, whatever will make the process quicker is what we are after. This of course is what the enemy has wanted all along, because with the modern day tools we drown out the STILL SMALL VOICE that is trying to give direction and speak LOVE.

Please don't miss understand me, these things are great tools when used in the correct places, at the quarry!!

Even Jesus went to the quiet places, leaving the crowds and the noise behind to commune with the FATHER.

Us getting away from the "quarry" for awhile.

We need more time away from the quarry and more time building in the quiet reverence of the MOST HOLY PLACE. I am still in awe of this verse...NO SOUND OF TOOLS at a construction site!! GOD works this way, in the silence, building HIS temple in us.

May you spend your weekend enjoying the silence at the construction site!

Stumbling on the Path

Well, it did not take long...I have already stumbled.

I have this bucket with all my "rocks" in it, and this weekend some of them started to fall out. One right after the next. I was successful, for a while, at picking them up and putting them back in. However by Sunday afternoon, I found myself sitting on the side of the road, in the dirt, crying over these "rocks" that would just not stay in the bucket.

A glimpse of beauty within all the "rocks"!

I really wasn't in the dirt, or on the side of the road, and I am not talking about real rocks.

What I am talking about is lack of faith. Trying to be in control. Not trusting in the ONE who knows how best to carry "rocks".

My husband's mom, Mary, lost her sister-in-law on Saturday and on Sunday, Mary was having unexpected surgery for a strangulated intestine...these were my rocks!!

So, when I say I was in the dirt on the side of the road...I was in despair and forgetting WHO really was in control the whole time!

Mary made it through surgery just fine, and will be given a "day pass" to attend the funeral later in the week.

I learned how to lean in better, and give over the "rocks" that I thought needed carrying.

Don't you have a bucket too??

The CROSS is where all buckets were emptied, once and for all. There really is no need to carry them around anymore, unless you are picking wild flowers....The power of the CROSS turns our "rocks" into wildflowers!!




So, I continue my WALK in FREEDOM with a few less rocks and a couple of wild flowers, hopefully by EASTER I will have a full bouquet!