Sometimes Thinking of a Title Stresses Me Out.

It's true. I sit down to write and sit there staring at the title line trying to think of the perfect, catchy way to sum up what I'm about to spew all over the world wide web. Ridiculousness I tell you.

I haven't felt like writing in a while...which I'm sure is quite obvious. I feel bad that I didn't post anything for Will's birthday. He's 1 now you know. He's a happy little guy, gets into my cupboards, loves splashing in the bath, always finds socks to crawl around with, and needs to be wherever his big sisters are. And the boy LOVES his daddy. Adores him. He's standing on his own and has taken a couple of steps so the walking should commence soon. Having a toddler will make for a crazy summer...no more sitting and relaxing while the girls run free and play. It's nice to have Anna's extra pair of hands and eyes with him. She does really well playing with him and keeping an eye on him.

So much is happening in my life I don't even know where to begin! We've realized this month that after three years, just like clockwork, our lives are turning down a different path. It seems to be a theme for our life together that things shift after that amount of time. Thankfully this shift doesn't involve a move to another state! : )

The door has swung wide open for me to be involved in North Star, the anti-trafficking group I mentioned a while ago. When I first started trying to get involved I felt like God was telling me it wasn't time yet. That was extremely frustrating. I've been straining against invisible ropes since I lived in Colorado trying to join this fight and only in the last month have I felt the release of those ropes. I'm part of the task force and may be doing some speaking in churches and manning an information table at times. Through that another door has opened. As of this coming Sunday, I'm the point person of a new ministry at church focused on intercession for victims of slavery and doing our part to fight it. I also want to see a group of people come together monthly to stay aware, get training on what to look for locally, and possibly do outreaches of some sort. We are going to be connected with North Star and partner with them in other ways. I'm learning a lot about what is going on right here in our area and it blows my mind. The events leading to this decision have been completely God-created and it stuns me when I look back and see His had preparing me and laying the path before me. My faith has been strengthened knowing that He has heard my prayers and has been working on this behind the scenes this whole time!! On the other hand, it terrifies me. I realize that I've got to be on my game. I've got to be in tune with God and able to discern what He wants to see happen. I absolutely can't do this on my own.

Now add the bag business to all of that and you can see I've become a busy lady! After a bit of a break in February I'm now getting new orders daily. It's still a learning time for me and for our entire family, learning to balance time and priorities, but the end result is so worth it. We have actually been able to put debt pay-off goals in place and that is exciting! The craziest thing is that I have done no advertising, my website is terrible, and I can't even find myself when I try to do a web search for the product. Yet, most of my current customers are new. I can honestly say that the success I'm experiencing is not of my doing!

Wow, if you are still reading this you must really love me. I'll stop rambling now. Just needed to get some thoughts down and document this mountain top feeling! I know that life is ups and downs and being able to go back and read about the ups helps us hang on during the downs. I'll leave you with some Beth Moore words of wisdom. I'm doing her new James study and my spiritual bum is sore from all of the kicking.

Happy Spring Forward Weekend!!

"When, like a laser, the call of Christ sears a hole through your self-protectiveness, you go wherever He leads whether or not you feel like you fit."

"Oh, that we would not try to make others earn what we freely received."

"Temptation attempts to tear open the package before its due date and, in so doing, disfigures what's inside."

And my favorite so far..."You don't live this kind of life accidentally. You make up your mind who you want to be and daily die to the rest. You surrender yourself to living in the tension where you'll always be stretched and often be broken. Religion pure and undefiled is grit without the grime. You accept that far easier ways to live exist, but you were born for nothing less."