times...they are a changin'....

so, what HAS changed? you might ask...

well, there have been quite a few changes in the past few years so let me just hit some of the highlights rather than bore you with four years of blah, blah, blah....

for starters there is this change right here.

yes.  they have all grown up.  and yes you are seeing correctly.  my oldest son is now taller than i am.  hush, frank. and yes, he IS only 11.  what exactly is your point??

moving on...

there is also this change.

i dropped 100lbs praise the Lord!!!

we also have this...

my family looks a little different now right??!! it has grown a tad!! and well, it's really a long story! and honestly, i don't really feel like the right thing to do is share all the details of it. but i do feel like it's okay to share a few things. hannah came to live with us about a year and a half ago. and it was hard. and i don't mean that in the way of adjustments here in the house.  that was the really easy part.  the hard part, surprisingly, was the reactions from others. see, instead of people asking us the what, why, how and all that,  they did what people do.  they assumed.  they heard from someone else what they assumed and made their own stories.  people that i just knew  were going to be there to support us during this time and to help Hannah through this difficult time in her life weren't.  most people were very good at hearing one side of the story and getting in their huddles with their buddies and discussing what we should be doing and what they would be doing if it were them.  but they never came to us.  never.  not once.  no one came and said "hey, i'm not really sure what's going on, but is there something i can do to help? can i pray with you guys? for you guys? would you mind telling me the story?"  any one of us would have been more than happy to do it.  people stopped talking to us.  we lost friends.  that's what i mean when i say it was hard.  and it was.

but, there is always a reason.  and God knew that i had lessons to learn.  and so did Hannah. well, we all did.  and, looking back, i am overwhelmed with thankfulness for every lesson.  i am better for each one.

one thing i learned during that time was that obedience matters most.  God is not concerned with what other people think about my obedience to Him or what it looks like to them.  and regardless of what i want, i do not need, nor do i have to wear a sign around my neck explaining what i am doing to make others feel comfortable. was not easy for me to learn.  and really, i'm still a work in progress...

as time passes, i also see how God has used this very thing in my life to prepare me for soooo many other things. and not just me really.  but my whole family.  i am very thankful that we were all willing to say yes at a very hard time.  it certainly would have been easy to just say no! i also think about how God gives us just enough of the details at the time to help us move forward. and interestingly enough...sometimes that's NONE!!

okay...enough for now... more about changes to come!!!