Season of Thanks

It has been a while since I had time to post, but I am hoping I can start with a renewed commitment over the next few weeks. With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought I would spend some time reflecting on the past year of our lives.
The past year has been full of spiritual ups and downs for our family. We struggled with the whys of moving again, yet being thankful we had a job and a place to live. We realize several things: 1). God is in control, and I have no choice but to believe He will meet my needs, because that is what he promises in His word. I am not in control, period!! 2). You realize how much you don't need, and there is so much you can do without. We learned that we wasted a lot of our money. That is a lesson I hope we never forget. 3). It gives you a heart to help others facing the same thing. You know the fears they have of losing everything. You will do whatever you can do to help them out, specifically lifting them up in prayer.
Many people have asked if we are involved in a church here. I hope people would know our family well enough to realize church is an integral part of who we are. We have a great church family. They took us in immediately and when we aren't there, someone never fails to let us know they missed us. They made sure we got involved. Colby and I worked in VBS this summer, we have served in Children's Church and Terry and I work in Awana. We were also just asked to be involved on the Missions Committee. Terry and Colby were involved in helping on a project at our parsonage. Colby is an active part of the youth group. He takes guitar lessons on Wednesday night from our youth pastor, and Dalayna received her first lesson this past Wednesday. Dalayna is in Awana, too. There are always things going on at church. We have been attending there a year now. I remember how hard it was to think about getting to know yet another church family, yet we made it through the first year just fine, by God's grace. My advice to anyone facing that situation is to GET INVOLVED, don't sit on the sidelines, be a part of the action.
In my mind I have kicked and screamed about being in a place where I don't really want to be, yet despite my complaining, God has continued to be so good to us. Life here is different. Terry and I have decided we must have been living in different world before. There are so many people who have had tragedies happen in their lives. I have NEVER seen so much tragedy. There are so many people with needs. At first, I thought, "Get me out of this place!", and maybe someday God will, but for now, what a wonderful opportunity to minister to someone. Please pray that God will use our family in some way for however long we are here.
I have also met a lot of wonderful homeschooling moms. They have been very helpful in telling me what is available for homeschoolers around here, especially the ones that have been in my prayer groups at co-op. None of them read my blog, so I can say, honestly, they are wonderful ladies. One of them is from St. Louis!! There are a lot of neat kids in the group, too, so I don't have to worry about who my kids friends are.
One of the other blessings we have received is more time as a family. My husband has the first job since our marriage began where he is home in time to eat dinner and never works weekends. The 70-80 hour weeks are a thing of the past. We have enjoyed it so much. Would we ever take another job where we would have more money but see him less? Not by choice, because we have come to realize the money is not worth the sacrifice. The company he works for is so good to their employees, too. They give rewards for safety, gift cards for birthdays, parties for the employees. You just don't see that much these days.
I am more content with where I am. It has taken a long time to get there. My friend Betsy was very blunt when she said that we were supposed to be content with where God has put us. I cried, because I knew what she said was true. In this season of thanks, I have much to be thankful for, as God continues to grow and stretch me. May I never forget all I have to be thankful for!!