What Has Been Going On Since I Started All This Writing

Since I started writing this blog back in May, the blessings have been profound and the challenges have been heavy. Here is a sample:

I have tried to manage being a parent to three girls in various stages of life. One is months away from graduating high school, one is just entering her teens, and one is eight years old and faces significant surgery in the coming year.

God has provided for me new friends and acquaintances who have also been through programs similar to the Apprentice Experience.

I have lost a close friend to addiction. A friend who I put forth many hours and extended myself in ways I have never done before to try to help. I did help him, but the addiction was too much.

I have had people come up to me and tell me that they have shared my blog with a friend whose non-believer husband has chosen to read as well.

My dad had reached a low point in his battle with cancer.

But then, he had several months where he felt better than he had in a year and was getting to do all the things in enjoys doing.

I have faced a situation at work that was filled with difficulty, shame, guilt, and drama and it is not over yet.

I have prayed with more urgency and consistency than I ever had before and seen those prayers answered in miraculous ways.

I have also seen my prayers answered in ways that I didn’t ask for and don’t understand.

I have started the seeds of a ministry and hosted a party that raised over $500 to go towards my training and future ministry efforts.

I have nearly had my dad die because of liters of blood that surrounded his heart.

He survived and we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with him this week as well as my parents 50th wedding anniversary.

I spent four and half days in Wichita, Kansas with 29 of the most sincere, compassionate, Christ-centered people on the earth. God showered me with his love. I learned to trust him and rely on him for everything. I had moments with God that I can only describe as divinely designed.

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I know that I am on the right path because God’s blessings have been so unique, good, and beautiful. But, I also know that I am on the right path because Satan’s attacks have been SO personal, SO pointed, and designed to bring shame and guilt and present roadblocks in any kind of progress I am making.

I have faced tremendous challenges in the last seven months but somehow I keep Growing Up, keep understanding more and more about God, and keep moving forward in his grace.