Mercy & Grace

This past several weeks was an emotional roller coaster because of lots of "stuff" going on in our lives. Getting past the emotions of the day and stopping to hear from God was a challenge. Rick and I were talking on the phone so often that I think AT&T lost money :) I spent some time with my friend, Kathy, who is also my Christian counselor, and she gave me some wise advise. Her comment was: all of the "stuff" going on in our lives was sitting right in front of us at all times. We were on overload. So she suggested that we box everything up and lock them away in a storage unit and only deal with them one at a time as we needed to. Now that seemed rather simplistic at the time she said it; but she was absolutely right. There were things going on that I had no control over and I was reacting to because they were constantly in front of me. I had to give the problem to God, box it up and lock it away until God told me to take it out and deal with it. This was a huge reminder for me. There were several issues that I kept stressing over, giving to God then grabbing them back again. So now there are several things locked away and for now I have given the key away also!! The relief I am feeling is huge.

I also had a time this week that I really needed to share somethings going on and I knew I needed prayer right then. I called Pastor Jeff at our church and asked him to meet ASAP. I have never asked this before and he was amazing. He postponed a meeting to give me time to get there, I left work early and drove to Chippewa. We talked for awhile, he asked questions that helped me to clarify my feelings and then we prayed together. How awesome to know that when we need people in our lives they are there.

Thank you dear friends! More later! Hugs

Marriage

Yesterday was Father's Day and in honor of my husband I would like to share some very special things about him. We have been married for 23 years and we plan on renewing our vows for our 25th wedding anniversary. We did not have a relationship with God when we got married so for our 25th anniversary we wanted to have the opportunity to acknowledge God's role in our marriage. He is my best friend, my confidant, my accountability partner and my life partner.

He is a fantastic father to our children. They have driven him crazy at times as they have grown and tested the waters but he will give up sleep to take the time to talk and he will fly home suddenly when something has come up in their lives.

Rick is such a strong Godly man. He studies God's word to know the steps we need to take as a family and as a couple. He also admits when he is wrong and asks for forgiveness. He comes to me for advice whether it is about his job, his family or a matter at church. He treats other with compassion and love. There have been many times when I find him deep in conversation with someone at church as they are looking for advice or just a listening ear.

When Tonia died he was my rock. We held each other and cried. We supported each other as we had to go to the funeral home and pick out a casket. He held me as we said goodbye at her funeral. For a few months we were having some communication challenges. I have described it as two trains heading in the same direction but at different speeds and on different tracks. We had to learn a new language; a language of grief and frustration. But we worked through the issues and soon we were once again traveling together!

He has changed so much since he accepted God into his heart. He is more laid back and loose. Seeing him with a baseball hat on backwards is still a bit of a shock but it is a part of him. Watching him play ultimate Frisbee or volleyball with all of "our kids" is pure joy.

He tried so hard to be an example to our son. He tries to demonstrate how God wants a man to act toward his wife and to other people. They are so much alike that they butt heads once in a while but I quickly hear Rick's voice coming out of Sean's mouth! Their sense of humor is identical. At times I am laughing more at them then I am at the movie we are all watching.

Rick, Happy Father's Day. You continue to amaze me. I love you!

attacks & storms

Recently I have realized that Satan in trying to isolate us from other believers. I need to surround us with prayers and the fellowship of other believers, immediately! Please keep us in your prayers.

God is so amazing but sometimes I try to solve things by myself. I fail every time! Recently I have been trying to deal with several issues in our lives just by ignoring them, facing them down, talking too much, trying to solve them NOW and holding on to issues that were settled before. God takes care of all of the details in my life but in His time.

On Wednesday night God was very real and very present. I was working my usual twelve hour shift when I realized that it was getting dark and the rain had started. I checked the weather channel and realized we were under thunderstorm and tornado warnings. I checked the radar and saw that the storm was still west of us and made the decision to leave work early so I could get home. I left work at 6:40 pm. I made a really bad decision to go home via Route 65 instead of the highway. I was on 65 for about 10 minutes when the skies opened up. It was raining so hard I had a hard time seeing. Traffic slowed down and hazard lights came on. I hit one puddle after another but it was still okay.

Two cars in front of me was a low riding black car. Suddenly the rain picked up even more and I watched a wave of water come from my right. The black car was caught in the current and swept half way into the oncoming traffic lane before he could stop. The SUV in front of me made the decision to try to get around him by also heading to the left into the oncoming traffic. I was already in the water with a semi behind me. I decided to try to continue straight ahead thinking I would have more traction. The black car had water up to the bottom of his passenger door as I passed him on the right. My check engine light flickered several times before I made it through the water. There was a gas station ahead of me so I pulled over and started crying and shaking. I called Rick on my cell phone and he talked to me until I was able to calm down. 65 northbound was baked up and cars were turning around. later I found out it was closed for a short while due to water and debris. To make a long story short, Rick remembered that a friend lived just east if where I was so I drove to her house so I could get out of the car and the storm while I figured out how to get home. I stayed there for about 40 minutes. I had to head back into Pittsburgh so I could get to Highway 60 and head home. I finally made it home at 11:10 that evening.

So many things could have gone wrong but God was driving my car that night. I don't have the skills to navigate through that much water or to make the decisions that I did. He used Rick and my friend, Nancy, to get me through a very tough situation.

I was so happy to be home!