A Better Plan...

We are finally settling in to our new home and conforming to a brand new pace of life. No more traffic... hectic schedules... long days out of the house... running to get fast food or carry-out for dinner (the nearest fast food restaurant is 30 miles away)... And we LOVE it! Of course, there are a few things we miss - the children still ask for in-n-out regularly and we miss our friends dearly. I would love to be able to attend CBS again - but the new life we have gained by moving here has been well worth the cost. We have a TON of family time now, we have survived our first "official" semester of homeschooling and we are surrounded by a wonderful cloud of witnesses here that encourage us in the Lord daily! God has been so good to us~ and yet we are so undeserving of his mercy and grace. While watching the movie "Up" today with the children I realized that this is our Paradise Falls. We have arrived. Thank you, Lord!

Of course, the transition has not been without a few hiccups. One day I am sure we will look back in laugh about them.

Just about a week after we moved into our new home, our black lab puppy (about 20 weeks old) was hit by a car and killed. The kids were devistated (as well as our 3 year old yellow lab) and Abigail kept saying, "Mommy, Lilah's cold...Lilah come home." This melted my husband's heart and 2 days later we had a new Lilah...a 6 WEEK OLD black lab puppy. Now let me tell you - 6 weeks old is WAY TOO YOUNG! But it was done and we loved her and Abigail was totally satisfied that Lilah was back home. About 3 weeks after our new Lilah came to live with us she was taken right out of our front yard. Apparently the town hoodlum needed a Christmas gift for his girlfriend and thought our puppy was the perfect thing! Unfortunately, we had no idea then who he was or why our puppy never came back from her potty outing. As daddy threw the 2 smaller kids in the car to go searching for her, Nicole and I stopped to pray for our puppy's safe return home. Nicole was confident that God would answer our prayers and that Lilah would be returned that night. Worried that she may be let down, I explained that we don't always get what we pray for...that sometimes God has a better plan for us and it was possible that God had a better plan for Lilah's life. Nicole looked at me a little funny and said, "You mean, maybe it would be better for Lilah to come home tomorrow instead of today?" I could only imagine the disappointment she would feel if we didn't find our puppy.
The next morning, David called the radio station to put out word and printed out a flier to put out at all the local hot-spots. Just as he was about to leave, we got a call from a young lady who said she had heard from a friend that we were missing our puppy and she thought that it was at her house. She brought our Lilah home at lunch time and we were thrilled! I guess God's better plan was to bring Lilah home "tomorrow instead of today."

As always, I was extremely humbled by God's grace towards the prayers of my children. Oh that one day I may have faith like a child...

Mark 10:14
When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

^{James 1: 6-7}
But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.

Lord, please help me to have faith that is as great as my 5 year old. Thank you.

The Beautiful Ballerina herself...

Samson and DeLilah together again.