Joy Filled Hard

We live very close to the beach...

I grew up going to the beach...

It is a part of who I am...

We don't go as much as I would like to these days as it has become harder.

Days are filled with the tasks of raising a larger family and our mobility issues don't mix well with beach sand.

There are those sweet times, however, that we do get to go and I am reminded of the joy that it brought me as a child.

While Em and Lizzie are out perfecting their Boogie Board techniques...

Maggie and Lucy just have fun playing in the surf, finding shells and building sand castles.

It is so hard for Lucy to walk on the beach...

she falls almost as much as she walks...

but that does not stop her from trying...

or from loving the beach...

I see that smile...

and I am reminded of the joy that He brought me as a child and now, as the parent of a very special child.

This is hard but this is blessed and all a part of the journey the Lord placed on my heart as a child,  growing up with joy.

So we will go to the beach beautiful Lucy...

and the blessings are the memories and they are joy!

Those In Between Moments

It's that moment in between trusting You with all our hearts or falling back on the fear of the uncertain. 

We have been in this moment before, Hubby and I, this moment in between trust and fear. 

We have lived this moment out over and over again and yet each time, the memories of past moments seem to fade as the realities of the present moment take us further away from trust and closer to fear. 

However with each moment the distance from trust and the nearness to fear is less. 

It's funny how the Lord pours into these moments and our hearts lap up his sweetness until we are full to overflowing and yet our fullness only seems to last until that next moment in between trust and fear.... 

but the fullness leaves an impression on our hearts making every next step out of boat easier, each moment more anticipated and prepared for...

and now, here we are again...

life has moved us back into this moment but it is familiar and the lasting impression on our hearts makes us eager...

eager to once again move that much closer to trust and that much farther away from fear.

We are eager because we know how He works within these moments and while we don't expect easy...

we do expect glory cause oh how He is glorified through this exercise of trusting Him beyond our fear.

Recently, Hubby and I took a quick trip to Texas...

a big step toward what we feel is the Lord's provision for our family.

Tentative steps toward trust and away from fear...

and we are eager and we are anticipating how this will glorify Him while, prayerfully, relieving some of the financial burden we have been growing under for the past few years...

growing to where He takes us and He has taken us here...

Christian Brothers Automotive is a faith based, service oriented automotive repair facility. 

Hubby has always loved cars... 

tinkering with cars, driving cars, reading about cars, etc...

and because the Lord is so good at preparing us for the journey ahead...

Hubby has gotten very good at fixing cars, particularly old-er cars...

not necessarily classic cars...

just old...

which is all we have been able to afford lately!

Ha!

But He is in the details and He is always working, even when we don't see, even when we don't understand, even when we challenge...

He is working and working out all those earthly details.

It is through this preparation, His preparation, that our hearts have been changed...

from moment to moment, transformed, closer to trust and farther away from fear...

 and it is this transformation that taught us about service...

not just car service

*grin*

but about serving others and this was/is the key 

Love your neighbor as yourself - Matthew 22:39

It is right there, on their website and it felt just right...

serving others while providing for our family.

Being able to work with fellow believers who have challenged me to continue to grow and to reach out to others has been such a blessing for me at Lifeline Children's Services and now God has prepared and provided Hubby the same blessing at Christian Brothers Automotive, cause He is just so good that way!

So as we enter into this next moment between trust and fear...

we trust more and we fear less because of all those other "moments" and we again say "yes Lord" as He brings us to this place of interwoven faith and service and provision and we say "yes" to Christian Brothers Automotive which Hubby will be opening in our area around the end of the year!

Yes!  

It is that moment in between trusting You with all our hearts or falling back on the fear of the uncertain...

and You are always there whether we trust or whether we fall...

thank you Lord for bandaging our skinned knees so the trust continues to grow, so our faith continues to grow so those in between moments can continue to grow so that we can reach outside of ourselves and serve!