What if things don't go the way I plannned?

Thank you ALL for your great advice for my furniture situation! I'm still trying to decide what to do. We spent most of yesterday dragging the girls from one store to another in search of the perfect set-up for our living room. NO LUCK. The Wal-mart couches are still an option I'm just looking for a great deal!! I just can't stand the thought of paying full price for anything. =)

But, I have ordered a new dinning room table (since I sold our formal one) that I'm very excited about. It's a farm-house style table (MUCH more kid-friendly) that I found a guy who makes them! They are awesome! And they are so reasonable!! I will be sure to post pictures when it comes in, which will be about two weeks.

So, How was your Valentine's Day?

I hope it was filled with love! Ours was kinda all over the place. I had a Sunday school meeting, Kris had to work, we had a sick girly and someone coming to pick up our formal dinning room set that we sold on Craigslist. SO.....it was pizza and a movie at home for us! =)

My husband is just the best! He surprised me with the Wii Fit for my present. I felt kinda bad when I gave him his box of chocolates! I'm totally addicted to this Wii Fit as is everyone else in my home! It's amazing!

Ok, on to this title of this blog entry.

Today I've been chatting with the Lord about what happens when our plans fail.

I see it happening everywhere right now, my own life included. The market is dropping, jobs are being lost, prices are rising, marriages are crumbling, kids are sick, houses full of dreams are being foreclosed on and somehow we find ourselves thinking.......this isn't the way I ever dreamed of my life turning out.

Can I share a secret with you?

Pretty much once a day, I take a deep sigh thinking NOTHING in my life has turned out the way I dreamed or even prayed it would!

But can I share something else with you?

I wouldn't trade everything that I've gone through for a million dollars!

Had I not gotten pregnant at the age of 19, I probably would have never become so sensitive to those who have gotten off the narrow road. Had my husband not been deathly sick and a daughter as well, I would have never understood what it's like to suffer through sickness and not know what's going to happen tomorrow. Had we not lost every possession we had and not had a single penny in our bank account, I would have never understood what it's like to have it all taken away. Had my marriage been perfect, full of smiles and love every day, I would have never understood what it was like to want to walk away and never look back. Had my husband never come home and said, "Honey, as of tomorrow, I don't have a job.", I would never have known the ways that God can provide if we are faithful to Him. Had I not suffered through post-partum depression, I would have never known what it meant to not want to wake up and see tomorrow.

Had my amazing Lord not been there through every step of the way, I wouldn't be here today.

My heart aches as I write this because I know so many people going through times harder than anything I've ever experienced. And it seems as if today, there is no hope.

As I read these words in my Bible's foot-notes this morning "Despair could become a daily battle", I thought how true those words are. We can fall into a pit of "Why God", "How much more" and "This isn't fair". No.....it's not fair, there could be much more and we may never know why.

We are in the midst of a battle today! But I want to share with you that there is hope. There is peace and there is joy again! There is strength to be found!

Isaiah 40:31 is one of my favorite verses! It says this: "But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Renew their strength!

Soar on like an eagle!

Run and not grow weary!

Walk and not be faint!

I don't know about you, but that verse just makes me want to stand on a mountain and shout to the world about how amazing our God is! Take heart in whatever battle you are facing today that God is still God and He is still our strength! And we will soar like eagles again because of who HE is! We will run this race because He is running right along with us!

I love you my friends and I pray that through encouragement, love and prayer we will all make it through these tough times!

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what is still possible for you to do. " -Pope John XXIII