Sweetness in sisterhood.

I am incredibly blessed with great friends. This is not a blessing that I take for granted. I have been hurt in relationship (haven't we all?) and view relationships as a risk. Relationship is very important to me and has immense value. It is truly at the core of how I am wired to want to connect with others. I know that the Lord designed me that way and I am so glad! I have found that I desire to have friends that truly accept me for who I am. That doesn't mean that they don't cheer me on to a better place but that they love me along the way. It is truly priceless. At the age of 38 I honestly have found that those are really the only close friendships that I desire. Isn't that Christ heart for us? To love us where we are at but love us enough to help us get to someplace better. Thank you Lord for the blessing of friendships. This daughter is eternally grateful.

The desires of my heart....

Desires.....we all have them. Sometimes I struggle with sorting out what it is that I want and want it is that God wants for me. Or maybe I serve the kind of God that doesn't make it that confusing! Sometimes I make things harder than they really are. I have seen time and time again where the Lord cares about what appears to be a rather small request or desire. Something I wouldn't dare voice but that He and I both know. I always describe those moments as God is just loving on ME! Because when He does that it feels so specific and makes me personally feel loved on. His ways just blow me away. I am grateful for big and small blessings and undeserving on them both. That is what makes it such a gift.

Meekness

Years ago when I heard that word I thought UGH...that isn't me! Does it have to be? However at the time I really didn't know what meekness meant. I thought I did but I was confused. On a daily devotional that I receive by email I was so blessed by this.....

Meekness is teachability. "The meek will he teach his way" (Psalm 25:9, KJV). It is the readiness to be shown, which includes the readiness to lay down my fixed notions, my objections and "what ifs" or "but what abouts," my certainties about the rightness of what I have always done or thought or said. It is the child's glad "Show me! Is this the way? Please help me." We won't make it into the kingdom without that childlikeness, that simple willingness to be taught and corrected and helped. "Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls" (James 1:21, KJV). Meekness is an explicitly spiritual quality, a fruit of the Spirit, learned, not inherited. It shows in the kind of attention we pay to one another, the tone of voice we use, the facial expression.

Boy could I read that each and every morning! I desire to walk in His truths and His ways and having a teachable heart is a great start.

If you are ever in Destin with a sweet tooth.....

You must stop by The Donut Hole. We stopped by there on the way home from our date night and the cases were almost empty but they assured us the next day they would be full of goodies. Andrew and I woke and went and picked out a dozen that looked delightful! This place also had cake, cream horns, key lime pie, cookies, muffins, etc. It was an amazing bakery and eat in casual place that I wish we could have brought home! If we had to pick a favorite I think it would be the coconut donuts or maybe the amazing raspberry jelly filled donut.....no way could we pick!!!

Our days in Destin!

We are home and getting settled back in, catching up on laundry and life. I wanted to take a minute to upload some pictures on my blog. Our trip was 5 days in October in Destin. They say it is on of the best months to visit Destin. I have to agree! No crowds, water is cool but not freezing, low 80's and great deals to be had.

We loved our condo, had no rain and had a lot of family time together. That was the purpose of the trip. We know that with a baby joining us soon our family will never be the 4 of us and wanted to savor things a bit. Andrew is growing up and with a job, sports and life here getting away is harder for him too.

We tried to make our trip special by allowing everyone to have say in what we did and how we spent our time. Andrew still enjoyed his nightly talks with his friend, Jacob requested a walk on the beach at night, we found a Honeybaked Ham store and enjoyed that for dinner many a nights! We also found the best donut shop ever and stopped by there a couple of mornings. One of their favorite things was going boarding with Trae when the waves were really big. We all enjoyed having some downtime and connecting with one another.

We have always found that the ocean is breath taking to visit but also can really wear you out. We turned in pretty early each night. Some of my favorite times were enjoying reading out on our balcony in the morning and long talks with my hubby in the evening while listening to the waves. Tis sweet!!!! We ever escaped one evening to enjoy our favorite restaurant that we found when we honeymooned there 3 years ago.

Break.....

I'll will be back! We are off enjoy Gods creation and one another.

But God.....

One of my favorite messages that I heard years ago and stuck with me was, But God.....I have seen so many times where there are But God.....situations and WOW it always blows me away. Where it shouldn't have happened, doesn't add up, nobody thought it would work, appeared to be the impossible.....BUT GOD!

Life has been full. A lot of things going on. Some very challenging and some just daily life but all of it making life very full. We are due to leave for vacation any day and I was trying to make everything come together. That is what moms do right??

Today was going to be a full day. Co-op, therapy and HWY meeting. One by one each one cancelled. Those are not often things that cancel but for different reasons they did. I felt like God just cleared my day and said here my daughter....take a breather. Get a bit more rest, prepare for the days ahead, relax and enjoy!

I have to say that I love But God...moments. Because it is so clearly ALL about Him!