Today Paul is officially fully self-employed! In June he gave his employer notice that he would be leaving, and yesterday was his last day at his job. He has been employed full-time at the job he just left and has has his own business for over 3 years now, and it was just too much. He could not grow his own business the way he really wanted to, give his employers the time and effort they deserved, be fully involved in our family life, serve at church, and sleep enough every night. (Don't worry, he didn't sacrifice his family or short-change his employer. He usually skimped on developing his own business and sleep.) Now he will have over forty more hours a week to do what needs to be done!

The girls and I will be glad to have him home more. (I've been encouraging him to go ahead and quit for a few months now!) We've decided to let the first few weeks be primarily family time, and when school starts for him to spend some focused time developing his business. (I think the girls might have a more difficult time getting into the school routine if Daddy were home.) By the time his business is to the point where he won't need to spend as much time away from home, the girls should be in a good enough routine to keep going even when Daddy is around.

We're really trusting God to provide for us in our transition time. We think that our business will do so much better with Paul more involved, and he is also an investor in another venture, which we hope will prove quite lucrative. But none of this is certain. However, we trust that God will supply all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (See Phil. 4:19) The word "supply" comes from the Greek word pleroo which literally means "fill up." Our God is so good. He won't just give us the least He can. He will fill us up! Of course this filling up applies to needs not wants. He will give us a place to live, even though it may not be my Southern Living dream house! He will give us enough food to eat, even though it may mean we cook mainly at home instead of regularly eating out.

So, as we enter into this new season of our lives, we do so with excitement, faith, and trust in God's perfect provision! We believe He has led us here. And we look forward to all He has in store for us!

I just entered the drawing for free Horizon products.
The drawing is being held at 5 Minutes for Mom.
We've been using Horizon milk for years, so $300 of Horizon products will definitely help with our grocery bill!

*I know this is stilted, but Blogger wouldn't let me link as I typed without turning everything after my link into part of the link!

We had an opportunity to see a great fireworks show this July 4th. It wasn't at a city park. It wasn't put on by professionals. We didn't even have to drive anywhere to see it. All we had to do was bring the lawn chairs to my mom's back yard! Some neighbors on the next street over put on an amazing show! This isn't one of those light the firework, run, watch it, wait a minute, set up the next firework deal. They had a whole show with patriotic music, several fireworks at once, and all were one after the other. And it lasted for about 45 minutes. They've been doing this since I was in high school, so they have it all down!

During the show I thought about how much money it must have cost. Thousands of dollars! And here we were enjoying it for free! We were a bit farther away than the paying participants, but we still had a great view. We could even hear the music! We were some of the beneficiaries of their generosity.

As believers we should allow God to shine so spectacularly through us that others will see it and enjoy it! Jesus in us shouldn't be a sparkler to be seen only by us (and maybe others very close to us). He should well up in us like those big beautiful starbursts we witnessed. Our lives should bless others. Even others who are just bystanders, like we were. I want Him to show Himself big and beautiful and powerful in my life! I want others to see Him in me and want to know more.

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven." ~Matt. 5:16

Memories of a wonderful summer evening:

*Viewing three planets through a powerful telescope. Venus and Saturn were close in the western sky. And Jupiter was visible in the east. Jack's telescope is so powerful we could see the rings of Saturn, some of Jupiter's moons, and the bands of color on Jupiter.

*Weeding my roses in the dark. It was much cooler than in the daylight hours. And I could fool myself that I had made more progress than I really had.

*Watching the neighbors shoot off fireworks. They must have been having a pre-Independence Day celebration. We saw everything from small ones that stayed on the ground to big, beautiful starbursts high in the air. (These are my favorite.) And when they were finished, the smell of the fireworks lingered in the air, continuing to remind us of the summer celebration.

*Watching my girls play flashlight tag in the front yard. They ran and played with joyful and youthful abandon. And only one minor fall occurred.

*Seeing the beautiful full moon looking bigger than usual. Because of the angle of the moon, it looks large. We've been watching it the past few nights.

*Taking a walk down the street in the dark. The girls found our late-night walk fun and exciting.

*Taking a relaxing shower after we came inside. Faith and Hope also discovered how good a shower feels after you've been sweating in the humidity. (I had to tell Hope to get out so she could go to bed.)

And today I am doubly thankful we seized the evening. Not only do we have some terrific memories, but it has rained steadily throughout the day today and more is predicted for this week, so another such night may not happen again soon. God blessed us with so much! And we took some time last night to enjoy it!

I survived Vacation Bible School! Actually, this year was quite pleasant. It was the first time I've had one of my own children in my class. Every year they would all ask me to be their teacher. But, since there are four of them and one of me, I chose to decline. I've been working with the same grade ever since we moved here, and this year Faith was in the grade I work with. Fortunately, Hope, Joy, and Grace are all now old enough to understand that when they are older, I will work with them, too.

Our church has a big VBS, so we have stations that the children visit. My job was to lead them from activity to activity, helping them when needed (which wasn't often). I had around 25 kids to lead. Most were girls. Quiet, sweet, well-behaved girls. Most of the boys were also very well behaved, and the couple that caused a bit of trouble were silly and energetic, not bad.

I really enjoyed having Faith in my group. I think she was finally old enough to enjoy being with me without clinging. I enjoyed seeing her enthusiasm for learning the Bible and her eagerness for answering questions. She's a terrific girl, and am so proud of her. She got to act in the drama part of the musical the children presented on family night. She was fantastic! The kids only had a few days to learn their lines, and only practiced a couple of times, but they did great, missed lines and all! She is incredibly comfortable on stage, and really gets the concept of being "in character."

Still, VBS tired me out. And it wasn't just me. Most of the grown-ups were pretty tired by the end of the week. (One of my friends is an ER nurse, and she was worn out!) And to top it off, I promised my girls they could have friends sleep over on Friday night. But God gave me the strength to lead those kids and not be too grumpy! And, even though I was tired, I wasn't totally wiped out, like I remember being last year. And no one has gotten the stomach virus. (Which has happened after VBS twice before in years past.)

I'm thankful for my VBS experience. God gave me the strength to get up early, get all four girls up early, and get us to church well before VBS started. God let me see several of the kids in my group make decisions for Christ. And God gave me a great week with Faith and some of her friends!

God is so good! We returned last night from a short visit with my family. My sister, whose husband is stationed overseas, was back in the States with her daughter for a visit. I enjoyed the time with my family. I enjoyed the climate. I enjoyed the scenery I grew up with. I enjoyed the fireflies. I enjoyed eating at restaurants we don't have where we now live. And I enjoyed the test.

Yes, there was a test. Not the written variety. Not an oral test. But a test from God Himself. He gave me a few opportunities to fall back into the approval pit, and I didn't! It's all God's doing. Sometimes I had just recognized the temptation to worry about something when I felt God's Spirit remind me that I had been delivered from such things, and that I didn't have to think that way anymore! And He gave me the strength to choose to think differently.

I count this test as a blessing. It was totally for my benefit. God already knew my heart. But He wanted me to know my heart. To know that when confronted with the people whose approval has been important to me the longest, that I could confidently walk in Christ and not worry about what I think they might be thinking. Not that there were any major problems or conflicts, but having that many people in one house can lead to minor issues. In my pit days years even these normal, minor things would have set me to fretting and feeling bad. But this time I was able to walk in freedom from worry or condemnation (even self-condemnation!).

God even gave an extra credit test! During our visit Paul learned of a family situation that required our help. In the past, this would have bothered me. I would have whined (in my heart if not out loud). I would have been resentful. (My reasoning would have gone something like this: "Why is this our responsibility? Why is he willing to go to this trouble or expense for someone else when he doesn't spend time doing X (whatever it is I've been wanting him to do) or spend the money on Y (some extra thing I happen to want at the moment)? It's not fair!" But this time I was able to discuss the situation without being defensive (I think). I was able to support him in his decision.

None of this is to brag on me. It's all to brag on God! He is so faithful! He rescued me out of the pit, and keeps me from slipping back in! And He graciously shows me the extent of His grace and deliverance! He gives new assurances of His love and faithfulness every day! All I have to do is look!

To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. ~Jude 24-25

Sometimes I think I have it together. And then God lets me know I don't. I was asked to facilitate our ladies' Bible study at church this summer. I guess my desire for God's Word and my wish to have others know it overshadowed my lack of organizational skills in the mind of the sweet woman who asked me.

I thought I was doing pretty well. Until last night. Last night was our first night to meet. I had recruited group leaders. (Actually, God provided most of them! Go God!) I had shuffled and re-shuffled the groups until I was satisfied. I had typed out some instructions for the group leaders and a sheet of questions to ask next week. I had created a list of the ladies' names and which group they were in, as well as a list of each group by color. I had enlisted Paul to be home in plenty of time for me to be there at least half an hour early. I was feeling --dare I say it-- rather together. And I had done much of it while watching two extra children (for a total of six girls ages nine and under)!

Then, as I walked into church, I realized I forgot the name tags! The big jumbled box of name tags that I had also forgotten to put into neat bags according to their group. I also had forgotten my mobile phone. A very kind friend let me call Paul on her phone, and he agreed to bring up the forgotten name tags. (Living only 5 minutes away from church has its advantages!) As I was waiting, one of the group leaders reminded me that she had asked for certain ladies to be in her group. I had placed them together initially, but I forgot to write it down. So in all the shuffling and reshuffling this group got separated. Fortunately, it was early enough for me to do a quick re-reshuffling and put them back in her group. The messy box of name tags arrived, and some helpful women (who must have had the gifts of service and organization) helped arrange the name tags and facilitate registration.

Everyone settled into her group and it was time for me to give the introduction. (This is my favorite part. I really enjoy speaking to groups. Weird, huh?) Of course, the microphone had dead batteries. I enlisted the help of the woman who does this during the school year, and she suggested robbing the batteries from another microphone. They worked! I talked. The groups visited. We watched the video. I hope everyone left satisfied. Not satisfied in me or my performance. (Which was rather pitiful.) But satisfied in God. Looking forward to what He is going to do in their lives over the next few weeks. God is amazing. I trust Him to overcome all my deficiencies.

I think I'll be wary of feeling together any time soon. The only together I want is being together with Jesus. And that's the only together that matters!