Taking Faithful Steps

      All throughout our Christian life and walk we are told things like faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" to remind us to have faith in all situations. We're told that "all things are possible with God" to remind us that God's ability exceeds our own.     But, what happens when you're living in the "things not seen" and "all things" phase? What happens when you're living in the in between?     I know that God can because God has. God has blessed us above and beyond what we ever could have imagined during one of the worst tragedies of our lives. Every immediate need was met, and needs past the immediate. So, I have faith that God can.     I'm struggling with having faith that God will.     Right now we are in a situation that looks humanly impossible. My husband and I have done everything within our limits, but we are still being told that there will be roadblocks and challenges. And for m...

      I've talked before about struggling with how to pray. It isn't that I don't want to pray, or that I don't have anything to pray about. It's just that sometimes I struggle with how to even get started or what to say.     One of our pastors was giving a sermon about this one time and it sat with me ever since. He said to pray in circles. Now, when I hear "pray in circles" my first response is "umm, no.", because I think circular conversation. You know the kind- no real solution, just saying the same thing over and over. Why on earth would I want to pray like that?     Then he explained it, and it really clicked. He said that his first circle is God. He starts by just thanking God for who he is and what he does, Then his next circle is himself. He prays that he can be the man, husband and father that he is called to be, and just tries to position his heart right. His next circle is his wife, then his children, etc.     Now, as a wife and a...

       My dad and I have had a fractured relationship for a long time. I posted a while ago about some correspondence via snail mail that occurred right before Christmas. In a way, I was trying to extend an olive branch, but, more importantly, I was being obedient to something I felt God was telling me to do. Every letter I received from him seemed to be more of a laundry list of why everything was my fault. My family kept checking on me, but I told them that I was ok. And I was. I truly felt that I had peace with the fact that there was no relationship there and that he couldn't gaslight or guilt me any more.     Or so I thought.      On Christmas day, my house burned down after we finished eating Christmas dinner. My husband, our 2 children, their other halves, and our daughter's best friend were inside, along with all of our fur babies, 2 of which did not make it. Within hours, it was all over social media, thanks to a friend of ours who p...

  So, here we are about a week and a half post fire. Our family's third major, I guess you could say tragedy in a 3 year time period, and the second time that we have needed to be displaced for a lengthy period of time. We have been blessed more donations than we are able to handle, to the point where we were blessing people with food and clothing. We have a storage unit filled to the gills of bedding, towels, furniture, appliances, etc. We have a fully furnished, 3 bedroom home on a beautiful piece of property for as long as we need it. But we are still living in limbo. Please don't misunderstand. Not for one moment am I not thankful and grateful for everything that we have received. The community outreach has been far beyond what I ever could have imagined. But, the reality is, right now, we are living in the waiting. We need to wait for the insurance company to do whatever they are going to do so that my husband and I can make a decision and move forward with permanent ...

​Normally when I sit down to do a blog post, it’s written out ahead of time, then I type it on here and publish it. This is a little different. New year, new thing, right? Our home was involved in a fire on Christmas Day. We lost 2 fur babies, and everything we own. It happened after dinner, and to stand there and watch your home burn down was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had. My kids were crying, I was crying, people were spraying garden hoses at the house to try to help until the fire department got there…. I sat there and, of course wondered why this was happening, especially after losing our home to a flood. I didn’t think that my belief in God would survive because why would he allow this?  Then God showed up. Through friends, coworkers, church family, and 2 entire communities of people, some of whom have never met us. They left their homes on Christmas night to bring us bedding, towels, toiletries and food. People checked on us, prayed with us and for us. Peo...