Full of Joy

Please welcome back for the SECOND time, my dear friend, Lisa Beavers! *** It was Valentine's weekend. It was also the same month that marked 10 years since my husband had gotten down on one knee, opened up a box to reveal a princess cut solitaire diamond, and asked me to marry him.  I was enjoying an evening out on the town with my coworkers as a treat from our boss who gave us tickets to see the show “Grease”. We had dinner before the show, then afterwards spontaneously decided to swing by Krispy Kreme because what's better than fresh, hot donuts at 10:00 at night? I came home giddy from sugar, bubbling over with stories to my husband. I plopped on the couch next to him, and suddenly noticed as I looked down at my left hand that something was very wrong. The diamond from my engagement ring was gone . The prongs stuck out, empty of the treasure they had held onto for 10 years. Not the actual ring ;) My heart plunged. On...

I was sitting on our cozy, more than well-worn couch with my hands wrapped around a warm mug of coffee. The windows were open because the house was stuffy, but I found myself getting chilly by the slight Fall breeze. My friend Molly was sitting across from me on the other end of our larger than life couch. As we were discussing our Bible study lessons for that week, I blurted out, “I’m so annoyed by this author. I wish she would give us REAL LIFE examples as to what she’s talking about! Her references to her struggles are so vague.” Molly whole-heartedly agreed. As much as we were learning and growing from the study, we longed for stories that had actually happened to the author that could help us navigate through our own real lives. A few days later, my friend Lisa (who recently wrote the post, “Disease to Please”) and I were talking about the struggle of blogging. Lisa’s words echo my heart completely, “I’m still that same person that struggles with the things I’m writing about! ...

I would like to introduce you to my dear friend and very first guest blogger, Lisa Beavers. Lisa and I grew up in the same church community in Northeastern PA, but it took us moving out to Minneapolis in our twenties, and becoming roommates to realize we were kindred spirits. Both us of married guys in full-time ministry, and we each had our two kids just months apart from each other. Thank you Lisa for sacrificing your valuable time, and stretching your Mama mind to share these honest and vulnerable thoughts with us. Jesus' blessings all over you! I love you dearly! Not only was Lisa one of my bridesmaids, but she also played the piano and sang during our wedding! It was beautiful!   Hello readers of Abigail's blog! First I want to say that it is a true honor to be invited as a guest blogger here. This is a place where honesty is found and truth and Jesus are sought after. One of the things I admire most about Abigail is her courage to be honest about ...