Quiet in His Love

How has it been two years? Two years without your laughter, your corny jokes, your deep wisdom, your encouraging words...two years without your meal time prayers, your hugs, your special knock on the door, your dreams of the future...two years without you. How can it be true? We have gone through the seasons, through birthdays, through holidays, through ups and downs...all without you. You are experiencing things beyond our imaginations, and we are experiencing life in a new form, a new way. Heart hurts, belly laughs, new memories made...all without you. I know that the pain will lessen...it will become easier... At least that's what I'm supposed to believe. The truth is that if I let myself think too much about how you left us, my heart will not be at rest, peace will flee. When will I have peace? When will life be okay without you here to share in it with us? When will I trust the goodness of God again with my whole heart? You are missed. You have left behind a legacy - a her...

Date nights can be a challenge when you don't have a sitter nearby.  My honey and I enjoy our date nights and look forward to 2 a month, but our regular sitters (my parents) have been unable to watch our 4 kiddos since April 22nd.  The other week it became obvious that with the stress of all that has been going on in our lives in the past 2+ months, we needed to make a way to have a "date night."  My honey and I were snapping at each other and stressing and just not really enjoying each other's presence too much.  I needed to go out for some reason, so I sent my honey a text asking him if he was available for a date at 9:00pm that night (after the kids were safely tucked in bed). I bought cheese, crackers, meat, juice, dessert for 2 and headed home to do some last minute prep work.  I got the basic idea from the Dating Divas website for our activity and then made it my own.  I found a blank bingo board template and printed it out and then added spaces w...

Where do you go to get refreshed?  Do you find time or set aside time to refresh yourself?  We need refreshment and rest to really be operating at our best.  God set aside a day for rest for a reason.  He knew we needed that body-refreshing rest to continue on in the work and everyday duties, tasks, and struggles of day-to-day living.  If you were given the choice between two hours of quiet, restful refreshment and a chance to scroll through all the "news" on Facebook for one uninterrupted hour, which option would you choose?  Be honest.  Which option is the one you truly need on a stressful Tuesday when the weekend is still 3 days away?  Or on a Thursday when you've driven three kids to 4 different places, gone through the drive through at your least favorite fast food place for the fifth time this week, and you are pretty sure the shoe you're wearing on your left foot has drool from Fido in it?  Yep...you know what you need...the rest...the...