Today we signed the lease renewal on our apartment. We have had it in our possession for a little over a month now. I waited until the last moment possible to turn it in just in case something else turned up. Nothing turned up..so we signed it and sealed our fate that we will indeed be spending another year here. The way I see it I have two choices, I can be thankful for the place that I have to live or I can be discontent and complain for a year. When things don't go according to your plans...you stop and ask yourself...I wonder if there is a purpose to this?? Does God exist, and if He does, does He have a plan for my life? Am I just wandering aimlessly? If He is real and He does have a plan does He care about the little details of my life? I am not trying to be too deep thinking here...but if we are honest I think we all have these questions from time to time. If you would ask me, Does God exist?, I would assure you that He does. Just step outside and look around...The magnitude of His awesomeness is portrayed in His creation. And if you would ask me, Does God have a plan for our lives? I would say yes, of course He does. If I am saying what I truly believe then why do I worry? If God is God and He is in control why do I spend so many moments of my life fretting over things? Do I have a job lined up for the fall? No! If it is meant to be will God make it happen? YES, then I need to learn to let it go. Either I believe God is real or I don't. This where I think the rubber meets the road. It is very easy for me to have 'faith' for you but I must also have it for myself and my circumstances. If Avery came to me upset and worrying about the electric bill I would feel terrible as a parent. She doesn't need to worry about those things. I want her to trust that we, her parents, have that covered. How much more does God feel that way towards us? He wants us to rely on Him for everything...even our very next breath. On the flip side of that...I am not just going to sit on the couch and wait for a job to come to me. I am actively pursuing a teaching job....but after I have done all that I can do I will rest knowing that God is ordaining the next steps in my life. I will not worry but set my mind on the truth that God is in control.
My former pastor, Frank Friedmann, drew an illustration on an overhead of a huge chair (kind of like a large lowercase h.) Then he drew a very small stick figure sitting on that chair. That stick figure was us trying to sit on the throne of God 'chair' and control the world. We were never meant to do that. I love that simple illustration.
So maybe living in an apt another year and not having a teaching job by mid-June wasn't what I had planned for my life....but clearly it is in God's plan. So, I will choose to be content. I will choose to trust Him and be thankful for what I have...because when you stop and look around..I have more than money will ever buy...I have my health and the family I have always dreamed of. God is real...He is good...and I am thankful that He has opened my eyes to that Truth.
I have so many pictures to share...and a few ideas for new ones...so I will share a few with a promise to add the rest soon!
The first three pictures are from Avery's 2nd 5th Birthday party. We invited a few friends from church and dance class. It was really amazing to see how many people came to her party. We had a lot of fun! Avery and I made the rainbow cupcakes for her party.
The next 2 are of Avery and Andrew @ Avery Elementary School. Avery is such a good sister to Andrew. About once a day, I ask her to 'babysit' Andrew for me while I do something around the house. She is always, always excited to help me. On this particular day, she told me I was not allowed to pick up Andrew from school yet because they were having story time. I had to run and snap a few photos of that before I made a quick exit. Getting time to get things done has become more of a challenge these days.
The next one is of Avery's 2nd birthday party. Yes, I had to bribe her to stand in that tree. She inherited my fear of heights.
The 7th one is of Avery at Emler Swim School. She had just finished up her first semester of swimming lessons. She went from being afraid to put her face in water to swimming underwater 5 feet. Mrs. Lisa, her teacher, was amazing! Unfortunately, Avery is very brave these days...she knows just enough about swimming to get herself in trouble..so she is enrolled in another semester of lessons with a new teacher at Emler.
The rest of the pictures are of the visit when Kenny's parents came up for a visit. They drove in on Avery's actually birthday to take us to The Great Wolf Lodge. We had a great visit. These photos were taken at the park where we had a picnic lunch after church. I need to upload the pics from the Great Wolf lodge from my small camera.
