Full of Joy

Today is one of those days.  It actually started last night.  Got some disturbing (to say the least) news over the phone about someone I really, really care about.  About someone I love.  As I tossed and turned in the night, my prayers for this person were my waking thoughts.  I'm glad God can make perfect sense out of those twisted, half-awake prayers.  But before I even went to sleep I received another disturbing text from a friend whose Granddad was dying.  He may or may not have a personal relationship with God.  News like that seems to sprinkle my heart like black dust that you wish you could just wipe away with an old rag. So today began with a heavy heart, which caused me to lay (or lie?  I never know.) under the covers longer then normal.  There's nothing like a sweet husband to crawl BACK in bed with me in those moments, though.  As the day has progressed, the weight of the world looms like a cloud over my head. ...

It had been a year and five months since the whole side of my immediate family had been together until last weekend.  Our previous gathering was Chuck and I's wedding, and since then another family member has been added.  Meet Rocky, or rather Rockford Glenn.  He is just the sweetest, chubbiest little guy you will ever meet.  Much bigger then his brother was at seven months.  Our destination was a house in Western VA that belongs to Chuck's side of the family.  It's pretty much the ideal vacating spot because it's warm the majority of the year, yet surrounded by beautiful farm land AND mountains.  Literally surrounded.  The view there is breathtaking.  I even contemplated getting married on "Granddad's" land. So there we landed, all 9 of us in one big happy house.  We were able to exchange Christmas gifts (for those who won't be together for Christmas), and celebrate November birthdays. Much of our time was spent sitting around...

Several years ago Chuck began quite a search.  He had already graduated from college, and was working a job in his field.  He began to feel restless and knew that God was leading him to something else, but he just didn't know what.  The story that I'm about to tell came about because of this very search. Early last week, my sweet husband surprised me by saying we were going OUT on Friday night, on a date.  Normally we like to consider Fridays or Saturdays our date nights anyway, but I knew this one was going to be special.  He informed me that it was a surprise.  But in the end, the surprise only last about 2 minutes as I am not a fan of anticipated surprises.  Because I knew where we were going and what we were doing, I was able to revel in the complete form of excitement.  Unfortunately, Friday turned out to be very windy which put a damper on our date, so we rescheduled for Saturday. Now, as I was saying earlier, back in the day when Chuck ...

There are just times when I know God is subtly speaking to my heart.  I can't pinpoint the exact moment this started, but I know when the realization of God's prompting came alive recently. A leadership group of teens from our youth group meet twice a month on Sunday nights.  On this particular night, the teens were instructed to pick anyone in the room and ask that person a question from one of four areas of spiritual growth. Prayer Life Bible Reading Evangelism Christian Fellowship  As soon as our Youth Pastor mentioned to the teens, "You know you can ask leaders, too." I got a sinking feeling inside.  I knew I would be the next to be called on.  And so it was.  The guy sitting beside me said, "Abby Dubbe" (he only ever calls me by my first and last name because he finds it amusing).  At that point my heart started pounding because I KNEW he would ask me to share about "evangelism" in my life.  If you haven't guessed it already, that...

has a blog.  I am ecstatic!  =) http://blog.lproof.org/

I wrote in my personal journal this morning how grateful I am that I'm NOT going back to school today.  It's true.  I feel anxiety just imagining the thought of going back to school again.  If you're reading this, you probably already know that I have hated school for my whole entire life.  It must have started in Kindergarten when my oldest brother left me in the hallway all alone, scared, and having no idea where to go or what to do.  Apparently I really liked my first Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Bird.  When my family moved in the middle of my Kindergarten year, I even called her from all the way across the country.  Like I said, I'm just beyond grateful that today I do not have to go back to school.  Yes I've been out of school for over six years now, but the relief has never worn off.  When walking through Target, seeing all those pencils, folders, erasers, folders, notebooks, and binders I STILL get this sick feeling in my stomach....

Amber sent us a gift card to Friday's for our anniversary earlier this summer. We went back to thee very Friday's where we met for the very first time less then two years ago. Who knew we'd be married, living just a few miles away, only a few months later in life? I still have a hard time believing it's true. Thank you God! Happy and blessed. Where it all began. Not our original table, but it worked.  We try to embrace change. ;)