A New Chapter

If you told me a month ago that my life was going to change I would have laughed at you. My life is my life. There are good things and bad things but for the last couple of months it's been on an even keel. I have been mostly (gasp) content. (Everyone has discontent moments)

Then all of a sudden...some kid at church told us that we needed to host an exchange student. After all we did have two spare rooms and the foster kid thing wasn't working out. We said no and laughed. Some time after that our pastor sent out an e-mail saying that a friend of his was a coordinator for an exchange student program and needed families. So we prayed about it and a week later we were waiting on a sixteen year from China.

So now we are sharing our home and our lives with a Chinese teenager. We are still settling in and getting to know each other but it feels like we've been doing this forever.

On Sunday night we were in the living room and he was practicing his sax I looked at my husband and we both knew he had done the right thing. Even the dogs like it when he practices.

It's like we really didn't know what we were missing until now. So now I am content, even more content than I ever imagined. Thank you Lord.

So now I have a new theme song...

The Happy Song

Hey!
CHORUS
Oh I could sing unending songs
Of how You saved my soul
Well I could dance a thousand miles
Because of Your great love

Verse 1
Yeah!
My heart is bursting Lord
To tell of all You've done
Of how You've changed my life, and wiped away the past
Oh I wanna shout it out
From every roof top sing
For now I know that God is for me not against me

CHORUS
Oh everybody dance!
Verse 1
CHORUS
Oh everybody dance!

Everybody's singin' now....cause we're so happy!
Everybody's dancin' now....cause we're so free!
If only we could see His face
And see Him smilin' over us
As unseen Angels celebrate, cause joy's in this place!

Tattoo

This is my left ankle, not my bootie!!! -------->

I have a tattoo. It s a very small tat that is one the inside of my left ankle. It took me a very long time to decide that I wanted it. It took four years after that to convince myself that I was not going to hell if I got it. Now that I have one I want more., at least two more.

Growing up I was the youngest child, problem with the being the youngest is that the road has already been paved by the time you start walking down it. I have a brother that followed the rules, a brother that was rebellious and a sister who was in-between. I watched them, tried to imitate a different characteristic in each. But the bottom line was that I towed the line. I didn't drink until I was 21, I have never smoked a cigarette, I can count the number of guys I dated on one hand. Of course I was in church every Sunday. I thought if I followed the rules people would love me.....

I did some things that were wrong...maybe not following ALL the rules..and I still didn't find the love I wanted...Then I met my hubby..I got the love I need...I realized that God had loved me like that the whole time.

I learned that it didn't matter what others thought of me- God loved me and hubby loved me and that was all that mattered.

So for the biggest act of rebellion in my life I got a tat when I was forty. My tat? As you can see is is an ichthus (a Christian fish.) How big? Smaller than a dime. I put it in a place I can see it everyday and it reminds my that Christ died for me, that God loves me no matter what. I also know that when I turned forty I did something that I have wanted to do for years and loved every minute of it. I have never regretted it. I think it would be cool when I die someone will go, she wasn't really a crabby old woman forever, she must have been cool once upon a time.

So I found a road that none of my siblings have gone down and very few of my members have gone down ( I think there is just three or four of us) Sometimes when you go a new way you are forging a way for those who come behind you. I don't think tats are right for everyone. But I believe that you must be who God made you to be, even if that means going off the beaten path every now and then.

Decisions Decisions

Several years ago through a series of events my hubby and I realized that God was leading us to leave the church we were attending. So we found another church. A church were we are accepted and loved for what we are. We still love the people at our old church but God was speaking and we moved.

We have been at the new church for two years now (we at the other one for 15 years.) Over the last two years I have wondered how big a part my hurt feelings had to do with it. Was I just throwing a hissy fit because I wasn't getting my way? Was I was trying to call someone's bluff cause I wanted them to tell me the church would never manage without me? Was I mad because no one was listening to me? The answer always came up no but I always wondered.

Now I love my new church. I love the CHURCH. I have found family there... moms, dads, sisters, brothers, nieces and nephews. People who celebrate my victories and mourn my losses. Every time we leave church I turn to my husband and say...I love our church. After two years to still feel that is a great thing.

Something happened on Sunday that forever sealed that decision my mind. It was little things that added up to big things. There was a community worship service at the old church. My hubby was singing in the choir. I was going. I don't know what I expected but I was trembling in fear. When I got out of my car I thought "Just like Daniel and the lions den" So I stuck out my chin and walked in. There stood a lady from the new church. "Praise the Lord, I don't have to go alone" was screaming in my head. Before I could even sit down two children (maybe teenagers, we act like children) wanted to sit by me. My heart burst with joy. All the fears I had God took care of.

My family was there for me. They love me. I also realize that my old church still love me too and although I worship with a new family now I don't have to choose between the two. it doesn't have to be one or another. A Girl Scout song says you can keep the old friends and still make new friends. Why as adults do we think we have to choose?

When we got home last night hubby and I were talking about the service and he summed it. "They love us" We can feel the love. Oh and they accept us as we are, warts and all. They accepted us when we walked through the door the first time.