I never want to forget this feeling so I am blogging about it!

I have not been this happy in 15 years…….since before my mom got sick.  Even then, not having been through any real trials in my life, I don’t think I had experienced pure JOY in Jesus Christ.  I look back over the past 15 years of my life and think of all the good and bad and I am in awe of God’s perfect plan. 

Let’s see where should I start…….my mom’s battle with brain cancer, watching her health deteriorate, watching her pass away, experiencing extreme grief, learning from her death, a miscarriage, then having our first child, experiencing the loss of a job twice in a row, re-establishing a life in Dallas, the Lord dropping the perfect job for Cliff in his lap, watching Cliff succeed in his new career, the loss of my grandpa, not having success with a second pregnancy, starting the adoption process, finding out we were pregnant, putting adoption on hold, having a child 11 weeks premature, knowing that it was a miracle I even went to the doctor that day, seeing the doctors save his life after 5 minutes of not breathing, choosing to have our 2 pound /29 week baby have heart surgery, seeing him make a miraculous turnaround after trusting God with that decision, finally bringing him home, having Logan rushed to the hospital after nearly losing him to a choking incident, having him diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy , accepting that we have a child with special needs, going through hours and hours of therapy, being told it may be a misdiagnosis, and then experiencing his miracle healing. 

I am tired just thinking about the past two years alone and these are just the ones that stick out in my mind.  We have had so many trials and so many joyous occasions and answers to prayers.  I just wanted to share them with you so you can see how God has been so good to our family!  I feel healed more than Logan.  After years of depression and anxiety, I can honestly say I am content and happy.  This is something I can only attribute to God.  He has healed my heart through years of trials and finally deciding to just trust in HIM.  I am in tears just thinking about how He has worked in our lives over the past years just to get us to this point.  The crazy thing is that I would not change a thing!  My joy comes from seeing how God has worked in our lives.  My joy comes from within…..from Jesus

Not only has he carried us through this past couple of years, but he has brought so many wonderful people into our lives!  I am so thankful that in the midst of our trials, we found a wonderful church like Keystone with so many beautiful people!  So much of my inspiration came from the stories and encouragement of HIS people in my life.  Thank you Lord that Your people are fearfully and wonderfully made!  I am grateful for each and every friend, old and new, that he has placed in my life! 

My prayer is that I can be an encouragement to all those who are in the midst of a trial.  I remind you.……”This too will pass”!  It really does pass and the joy on the other side is like no other.  If you are experiencing loss, sickness, unemployment, infertility, or whatever else it may be, know that God has His hand in it all and He has a perfect plan for your life.  He will carry you to the other side of your trial if you just put your trust in Him and Him alone.  So often we try to fix things ourselves and figure out what the “perfect plan” should be, but we are human and our plan does not even compare to the greatness of His ultimate plan!   It is such a great feeling to share my joy!  I hope this will encourage you to keep on trusting in Him and learning from your struggles because there is a reason for everything!  God has a plan for you too!