“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

Lord give me strength today...

the result of impatience...

I finally got my car back yesterday, over 3 weeks after some jerk ran a red light and crashed into me. My car looks as good as new now, but it had definitely seen better days a few weeks ago...

fun new toy & homemade jam

We had a a busy, family filled weekend here, and it was absolutely wonderful! My fantastic hubby turned 27 on Friday and my parents came to visit us. We just made dinner here Friday night and had a small cake from the bakery I work at (that was possibly the best thing I've ever tasted). Saturday, the hubby and I both had to work, so my parents did some shopping during the day. We got home from work and even though it wasn't my birthday, my parents bought me a present!

I've been planning to buy an external hard drive (to store all the photos that I'm not taking recently) for awhile now. My parents saw a good deal, so they picked one up for me! It was really nice of them and now I have a new toy to play with! :)

We also went out to a nice dinner and they treated us for hubby's birthday. We didn't get to spend much time with them because we both had to work, but it was nice to see them and we were really glad they came.

My parents left Sunday morning when we left for work. On Sunday afternoon, my father-in-law and his girlfriend came to visit us! My hubby and his dad went to play golf and his girlfriend and I went for a nice walk around town. We had planned to make them our fabulous grilled pizza for dinner, got all the ingredients ready, went out and started the grill, then when I went out to put the dough on the grill, the flames had gone out and I realized we were out of propane!

We ended up cooking it in the oven and it came out alright, but not as good as it would have been on the grill. They only stayed with us until Monday morning because they were headed to the cape for the week, but it was really nice to spend some time with them too!

They also brought us some of my hubby's mémére's homemade raspberry and blackberry jam. Every Christmas, we get a small jar of raspberry jam from his aunt, and we make it last as long as humanly possible because it's so amazingly good! Now we have 2 huge jars and we're in heaven!

As you can see, yesterday afternoon we already dove into the raspberry jam! Man, there's nothing like it! In fact, I think I'm going to go make myself some toast now...

This roller coaster is my life

Sometimes something can come into our lives that we think is such a blessing. We think that life couldn't possibly get any better. Then, what we thought was such a good thing for our life is taken away.

I've been on quite the roller coaster of emotions the last couple weeks. At first, I was holding on as tight as I could to that bar in front of me on the roller coaster car I was sitting in, doing everything I possibly could to keep myself grounded and not completely lose control.

After a few days, I let go of the bar in front of me and just threw my hands up in the air. Up or down, this roller coaster is my life, and if I don't enjoy it and move forward, it's just a waste.

Sometimes, we have to lose something we think is good for us, something we think is good in our life, in order to make room for something great to happen. And that is the attitude I am trying to have. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe this thing that I thought was so good, was really something that I wouldn't be able to handle at this exact moment in my life.

And that car I'm sitting in on the roller coaster, God is sitting right next to me and is in complete control. He knows each twist and turn, each up and down. I do not need to know they are coming, I do not need to understand them. They have a purpose. My husband is sitting on the other side of me, holding my hand, and I am sandwiched between the most love and strength that could ever exist. In the seats in front of me and behind me are my family and friends. They are right there with me, protecting me, supporting me and guiding me.

How do I know this? I consider myself a pretty self-aware person, and I know that I do not have this kind of strength within myself. I know that it is God's strength flowing through me. I know that my family and friends who are praying for me, and thinking of me, and sending so much love my way, make that strength flow stronger.

I want to write about everything that's going on. I want to share what I'm feeling with other people who are feeling this way, because I know it can feel like a very lonely place to be. But I'm just not comfortable putting it all out there yet. Until then, I'm going to try to get back to writing about every thing else going on in my life, and taking more photos to share with all of you!