Chasing Frogs...

The last few months of our life have brought a lot of joy to my life. I have had a new found clarity as to the magnitude of importance being with my family and providing for them has in my life. We have made some major adjustments in many areas of life and at time I feel like we are RUNNING 24 hours a day. My husband works from 6:30am to 8pm many nights during the week, I work everyday as well trying to hopefully increase our family income by giving us a little freedom. Now does what I just described sound like freedom to you? Sure doesn't to me. But then Sunday night it was bedtime in our home and our youngest was beside himself because his "Lightning" had been left outside and had to be slept with... We grabbed the flash light and as a family headed to the back yard to rescue the car. It was Bryce who first stopped dead in his tracks and stared at the grass, then the rest of us saw the small frog leap into the air. We all laughed as Bryce squinted his eyes bracing himself for what he believed was an attack, but the frog just continued on his way. After the first jump we had to find more. So we located "Lightning" and got back on our way chasing frogs. We would get close and it would jump. Then we would use our flash light and find them again. Finally I was able to catch a frog, I turned to saw the boys who both started laughing because the frog peed on me. "Do you want to hold it?" "no it peed on you". I would then let the frog go and we would search for another and so on and so on for the next hour. But it is reflecting back that I realize I just want to catch frogs with my boys. I just want my whole day to be about teaching them they do not have to fear the unknown. Yes you might get peed on, but you can wash it off. Yes the frog might jump right out of your hands, but there are lots of frogs. I asked Judah to trust me as I was helping him to hold a frog that he so desperately wanted to hold but was scare to. "Trust me I will help you, there is nothing to be scared of Judah it is just a frog." Then I hear the Father say "Trust me Leah I will help you, there is nothing to be sacred of, I created this frog for you to catch, I put the desire in your heart to catch it, I dimmed the sky so that YOU could see it, trust me and hold the frog." Trust the Lord with your dreams, you may have to work hard now, but He is there to hold your hand and help you catch that frog. So go, Chase some frogs!

But Wait....Are you sure...Maybe...

2 weeks ago my oldest son started Pre-School. It was a new school for him this year and although he was excited he was very nervous. He continued to ask questions all summer long as we would frequently pass the school. "Will I have friends?" "What about my old school?" "What about my old friends?" "Mom I think I will just make friends at my old school..." As the summer went on it became more and more clear this was not going to be an easy transition. I began to try and build up this new adventure to Judah hoping that he would see or start to feel like he was being rewarded, because at the time it sounded like he felt punished. Then on the first day of school I watched as my two young sons walked hand in hand through the door of Judah's new school. At that moment I realized how much time had passed by me so quickly and how now I was at a transition point in my life. I realized my two babies that I had longed for and prayed for were now walking away from me in the blink of an eye. What had I done to prepare for this moment? What would their relationship with on another look like in 10 years? What was I doing at this very moment to guide them into that next 10 years? Oh but wait, my job is to be obideant to the Lord and HIS timing. It is not like I have been sitting around for the past 4 years twittling my thumbs, no I have dilegently and sometimes reluctantly serving Him. And yet somehow he still found joy in my childlike insecurities. "What am I doing Lord?" "When will I see the purpose and the plan?" "Are you sure you don't want me to do something else?" "Maybe you should just consider doing it my way..." Sound fimiliar? Sure did to me. Once again I found myself relating back to my 4 year old son who was walking through the doors of his new school in simple obedience, not so much joy. I know at times I have felt punished. I have felt uncertain that the Lord truly had my best interest at heart. But out of simple obidence I continued to walk forward without being able to understand. I don't know what will happen to my boys in 10 years. I pray that they will be the best of friends and walking through life together. I pray that they will each have a personal and deep rooted relationship with the Lord. I don't know where I will be in ten years. I know that right now I worry about spending enough time with my kids and husband but work hard with the hope to have more time. I know that I don't always see the path clearly which is why I only take one step at a time. But I do know that the Lord continues to blow my mind with the things that He has planned. Once again the part that blows me away most is that I am a part of that plan.... You see God does not require perfection from us, that part is for Him. What He wants is simple obedience. We place such a value on "seeing the forest" when really He just wants us to look at one tree at a time. When the timing is right he will show us the big picture, but in the mean time we need to look at each detail and be grateful that He took the time to place that detail in our journey. If we just focused on the end result we would learn and receive nothing.

...And sometimes He sends a ship...

In my last post I was talking about the importance of getting in the rough sea and learning to swim. I want to follow that up with a thought that sometimes when you are in that sea swimming...The Lord then sends a boat or a ship to pick you up out of those waters and get you on your way.

My husband and I have just started our AdvoCare business in the past two months and have been so blessed by the people we serve with. I know when others think of direct sales they think "oh you have to work with other people to make them money." But with AdvoCare that is not the case. We have been so blessed to have others come along side us and help us get the word out about AdvoCare. To the point that yesterday one of our team members and their family came to our house, conducted 2 of our meetings, watched our kids, and put the decals on my car. How many people do you know that would drive 8 hours to do that for someone they have only known for 8 weeks.

The truth is why are we not all willing to do this for others? Why are my less interested in what we can do for others and more interested in what is in it for ourselves? I don't know why the Lord has allowed Chris and I to be blessed by doing AdvoCare or why He choose to place us in AdvoCare but I am thankful. Here we were swimming in the tough sea knowing that when we had learned the Lord would pull us out. But what an amazing gift to have a ship show up with 5 other people on it to pick up and help us on our way.

Sometimes, really most of the time, God provides a path or vessel you would never have chosen for yourself. But if you don't trust Him enough to go down the path you will never know where it leads. Reflecting back on the past 8 weeks if I had not had the courage or desperation, either way, to try AdvoCare, I would not be who I am today nor would I feel the way I do. I am tired of feeling like I have to be ashamed of how grateful I am for AdvoCare and those we have met, and so today I am just thankful. Just simply thankful.