Well, HELLO!

Myyy goodness. It sure has been awhile! Lots & lots have changed since I blogged last. Actually, there have been months on-end where I have literally forgotten that I had a blog and just how fun it was to write! I write so friggin' much for graduate school that I practically run AWAY from the computer after I'm finished with schoolwork. Updates? There are many. And for my regular readers (if ya'll are still alive?), you'll probably  be quite shocked.

In October of 2011, I graduated with a BA in Psychology and was pretty pumped that I set a goal many years ago and finally saw it through to the finish. I have a tendency to be a little flighty with follow-through. It's not that I don't ever want to complete things I start...I just procrastinate...it's in my blood, I s'pose.

On November 5, 2011, I married a high school friend of mine. :) Here he is:

Isn't he so cute?! We re-connected on Facebook (yep, you read right) and after several months of flying back and forth from Tampa to Indy (he lived in Tampa at the time), lots of begging (on his part...lol...I kid!), and prayer, he asked me to marry him the day before Easter of 2011. There is trust, friendship, safety, rest, and certainty in our marriage. Best of all: he loves my quirks and doesn't tear me down because of my faults. God hand-picked Harris for me. Isn't that so like God?

In the beginning of February of this year, I started graduate school at Liberty U to get my MA in Professional Counseling. I am loving my classes and cannot wait to see where God leads me when I finish in 2014. I considered a degree in social work but the program, the cost (come on, we all know that's an important factor too!), and the Lord's leading led me to choose counseling instead. I will become licensed in IN. and will go from there!

The bigger news: also in February, we found out we were expecting our first little miracle!

Baby boy's feet.

It's a boy and his EDD is October 5th. We are still busy getting the nursery prepared and we have roughly 9.5 weeks until he is finally here!

So. I feel a little more caught up with my blog. I don't know if I'll get the chance to write on here much after the baby is born, although that would be ideal. My posts will most likely change from ramblings about my own life to ramblings about my life as a wife and mother. Of that, I'm super excited. :) Praise God for this journey called LIFE.

 

Over and Over Again.

I can't believe I've waited this long (a week to be exact) to write about what's been happening...

God hears and answers us when we pray.

Let's back up a little. I was f-r-e-a-k-i-n-g out last weekend. In a matter of a week, I knew I needed a new couch ASAP (roomie took hers), my dryer stopped drying (what do you call it now? A 'not dryer'?), and my dishwasher decided it didn't want to work any longer either. Soo, needless to say, I had barely a dime in my pocket that wasn't already going towards my mortgage and bills and I was mentally preparing to buy two new major appliances and a place to sit while I watch HGTV & episodes of "The Dog Whisperer". I sent out a little e-mail to a group of prayer warriors that I knew would plead for the Lord to hear and answer in His perfect way.

God answered almost immediately in one area...that Friday night, I went to pick up a dryer from a friend for $50.00 that he no longer needed! That was only the beginning to what God would do that weekend. That same night, some girlfriends and I went to a prayer meeting/cookout at a dear friend's house. The Spirit of God was so beautifully sweet during our prayer/praise time that when it began to storm pretty badly, it startled many of us. I, stupidly, asked Dre & Cari if we could head home so I could get home to my pup, who is terrified of loud thunderstorms. Little did we know, we'd be praying all the way home as well. The streets were already flooded in the area we were leaving. 'Jack' the Jetta had flood water coming up over his hood and the streetlights were all out as we were trying to get home. God answered. Dre's car didn't stall or get stuck in the floodwaters. Indy had tornado watches and warnings so when we got to Dre's, we headed to her basement to wait it out. There was no way they were letting me leave to drive 20 minutes to my house in that stuff. So, we prayed when we sat down with egg-carton mattresses over our heads and candles lit beside us. He answered us. It quieted down shortly after and I made it home safely to Spikers (who was shaking like a leaf and wouldn't leave my side the whole night).

The next night, we were at a friend's house for a get-together. Sometime late in the evening, we got a call from another friend who was at a separate party hosted by our Associate Pastor. Our Pastor's four year-old daughter was missing. She had been playing and had disappeared. The cops, along with 20 or so guests from the party, looked all over the house and neighborhood for almost two hours, to no avail. We, at the party I was at, began to pray earnestly. We got a call ten minutes later and was told the girl literally appeared in the middle of the hallway right behind her father. When asked later on where she'd been, her only response was that she didn't remember..and then she said she'd been behind a living room curtain the whole time. When our Pastor was tearfully describing the incident the following Sunday morning, he said that one of his guests had just fallen on his knees and pleaded with the Lord to, "Just allow her to appear." God answered.

Sunday rolls around. I came home from church feeling refreshed with my faith in the Lord strengthened tremendously just from seeing His hand move in remarkable ways that weekend. I literally went to my dishwasher, put some soap in it and turned it on. It worked perfectly. I just started laughing! I mean, of course I was thanking God, but I was just completely amazed! I need to stop putting God in a box. If I pray for something and it's in accordance with His will, why am I shocked when He answers?? Ugh. I'm still growing. :)

God's good. Over, and over, and over again...