Thankful

In the recent weeks I have been reflecting on how truly blessed I am. Not that this is a new revelation. And not that I have never reflected on this before. Something that I have been newly reflecting on is the fact that not only are we truly blessed, generally, but right now, particularly, we are experiencing a season of peace like we haven't experienced in a long time...perhaps ever - in our time together, at least, and childhood doesn't really count - lol!

It is not that everything is perfect in our lives right now. We are currently still awaiting orders to find out where we will be living in 2-3 months, which is not fun (though, obviously, this is a very temporary 'discomfort'). We are dealing with attitude issues in our kids that are very frustrating, at times. I, personally, am still not doing as well as I'd like to be with keeping up on housework and scheduling my time well. (will I ever be doing as well as I'd like to be? Hmm, my guess is no.) So that is not why I am saying we are so specially blessed right now.

Things are not perfect, but there are many things that are going very well for us right now. We are doing very well financially. We are not rich, we still have to stick to a budget - which we are doing well at, and which makes such a difference - but we have enough to make ends meet just fine, we have finally paid off all credit card debt - which is a huge burden lifted and we are able pay extra on our cars each month...what more could we ask? I realize that in the scheme of things money is not the most important, by far. But after years of struggling and feeling the burden of debt that was getting paid off at a painfully slow rate, I know that being in a good place financially is one of the reasons that we are experiencing such peace right now.

Josh and I are in a very good place in our marriage. We have both matured a lot, both individually and as a couple, and we have reached a point where we can (usually (-; ) deal with conflict in a pretty healthy way. Of course things are not 'perfect' here either, but I would definitely say we are having a season of peace in our marriage, as well, and I am thankful. (And just to clarify, I am not saying that we have ever had a 'bad' marriage - in fact, I think we have really been so very blessed in our relationship, especially when you consider some of the truly difficult times that we have faced together.)

Last, but not least (lol), I am personally experiencing a time of peace and rest such as I have not experienced in a very long time. If you are reading my blog you probably know that I had several years of struggling with severe depression. Then, as I started to see that getting - somewhat - under control, I realized that there was something wrong with me, health wise. It took over a year (once I got a doctor who took me seriously and started looking for answers in earnest) to 'rule out' several possible causes for my symptoms.

In time we found out I had anemia, excessive stomach acid and acid reflux, low potassium (which we've corrected) and a vitamin D deficiency. Ultimately I was given a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - which can only be diagnosed by ruling out everything else that might cause similar symptoms. After finally getting these answers it took me a while to come to grips with the fact that I had certain limitations that were not going away and that I was just going to have to accept, and adjust to.

Over time, I have made that adjustment - I don't like it and at times it does get me down, but for the most part I have accepted that this is the way it is. I am thankful that I am not worse off than I am and I know that God has brought this trial into my life for a purpose.

(As a funny aside, back when we were trying to figure all this stuff out my doctor sent me to a psychologist because my case was 'complicated' - well, that's fun to hear from your doctor - and what did the psychologist have to say? 'Your case is complicated' - what else?! After some despairing moments I took this as a reminder that God is in control, while my case may have been 'complicated' to those guys it was not 'complicated' to God and I could rest in that.)

So, while I have to live with the limitations that come with CFS, I have been off of anti-depressants for over two years now and I am doing very well, thanks be to God! I know that we will almost certainly face more trials in the future, that we will have difficult seasons again. But right now I am enjoying this time of rest and I am thanking the Lord for it!

As I said, I have have been reflecting on this a lot lately and I just wanted to share my rejoicing with you. I hope that you, too, are experiencing a season of peace in your life. If you are not, currently, then I pray that God will allow you to see His purpose in whatever you are going through and that He will accomplish that purpose in your life in His time. In the meantime may you continue to find your strength in Him!

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Christ Jesus. - Philippians 1:6

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in any affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. - 2 Corinthians 1:24

And because a post here just doesn't feel right to me unless pictures are included here are some fun photos of my silly munchkins on a rainy day a couple of weeks ago. I thought they were so cute out there in their coats I wanted to just get a cute picture of the three of them together, I asked them to just stand together for one minute so I could get a 'nice' picture of them...this is what I got. (-;

It is a good thing they are cute! Lol!