Update

Wow, its been a long time since I have written on this and thought I would update. The two weeks leading up to Christmas were rough for me emotionally. Songs, memories, pictures, etc. would make me cry, but I only did my grieving in private. I held myself together in public. I was not looking forward to Christmas. I was actually not looking forward to going to stay with dad. We traveled down after work last Tuesday night. We got there late and stayed until Saturday. Once we got there, it finally felt right and Christmas Eve was a blast at the farm with the cousins. Christmas Day at Uncle Mike's turned out really relaxing and was good. So, overall, it was a very good Christmas and I am very thankful. God is so good to us and to me, I can barely stand it sometimes.

I hated leaving Bowling Green and my dad. Being at dad's is very comforting for me. Mom's stuff is there and there are cool pics of her around and its just where she used to be. But, I also know we are called by God to Louisville to work with youth and therefore moving to B.G. is NOT an option. We love our kids too much to leave them. God has made them as if they were our own and leaving them would be a huge disservice to them. We love them and they love us. Praise God.

Our youth ministry is going to take a huge turn this year and I will report more on that later. It is going to be soooooooo exciting. In the meantime be praying for us as we seek God for vision, ideas, and executing His will this year. We are so excited!

We are all doing well. Dad is so awesome. He hurts, as we all do. He seeks God daily and we seek support from one another and its a beautiful thing.

God is very present in our lives, despite the hurt and the grief. He is FAITHFUL.

This year I am focusing on the Gospels to learn more about my Savior. I want to emulate Him to the world and therefore, He led me to the best books ever, the books about His life on earth! I have already learned a lot!

His heart is about the Lost and therefore my heart needs to be about the same thing.

How is everyone?
How is your walk with God?
What things is God doing in your life?

I love you all and have a great week!

NChrist,
Susan

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving turned out Great! The week and a half leading up to Thanksgiving was very hard for me. Grief hit me hard and I pretty much cried every night before going to bed. I just kept seeing my mom's face and her words to me the Saturday night before she died. It just made me so sad and I was just wanting to hold onto her so much, I did not want to let go.

When we got to dad's the day before Thanksgiving, I was still in grief mode. He could tell. On Thanksgiving Day we were about to head to the farm and dad asked, 'Are you alright?' and I just melted in his arms and started crying. We had our moment and then we all just took a deep breath and headed for the farm. We had a great meal and wonderful fellowship there. It took the edge off my grief to be around family. After the farm, we headed to Lee and Jeans mansion(as Keegan calls it). We had good fellowship there too. I was exhausted by the end of the night. Needless to say, exhaustion and yummy food in my belly led to a Great nights sleep:)

The rest of our time with dad and family was wonderful. We needed to be there. Grief has started to move on out and peace and hope have returned and it makes me feel at rest. I know that grief will come and go these next few months, but I pray it won't be as bad as it has been the last couple of weeks. The Lord was my Shepherd, thankfully, and therefore I walked that shadow of the valley of death hand in hand with Him and that is why I believe I am coming out of it, because its the power of God.

I am so thankful for my family who has been tremendously supportive. I am thankful to finally feel apart of family in a way I have never felt before, I finally feel secure in this family thing. I am thankful to have two great jobs. I am thankful to have a roof over my head, clean water, food on my table, warmth, shoes, clothes. I am so thankful that no matter what the future holds, my God is unchanging and so is my Hope in Him. I am thankful for my mom who instilled in me many things, especially a love for God's Word. I miss her greatly, but am thankful she is with Jesus and all the heavenly host! What glorious peace that is.

I hope all of your Thanksgiving's were blessed. I would love to hear about them and to hear how God blessed you this season. I love you all a lot!

NChrist,
Susan