New Life

I hold her baby.

A beautiful bundle of sweetness.

 I look at this girl.

This beautiful mom. 

I think how blessed I am. 

I am the step mom. 

A woman she did not ask for in her life. 

Circumstances beyond her control. 

Yet, she has opened her heart and let me in. 

She has shared so much of who she is with me. 

She's daddy's girl you know. 

And another stole her heart.  

And now I hold her second born. 

I want to weep. 

I want to weep for my boy. 

I want to weep for all that will not be. 

And all that will be. 

The pace of life travelling on. 

Moving. 

Ebbing. 

It's hard to catch your breath sometimes. 

You want to stay in the here and now. 

Press on. 

Move forward. 

Yet the tension remains of leaving behind part of your heart;

 part of who you are. 

I hold the newest child. 

Evie Ann Brittain. 

She joins big sister, Lilah Rose Brittain

Who, only the other day, seemed to be the baby. 

The future. 

Hope. 

Isaiah 43:19

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; 

do you not perceive it? 

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

Each day is a risk. 

We choose to love and live. 

We choose joy. 

We are not guaranteed anything. 

Moments lived to make minutes; which become a lifetime. 

All held in the Father's hand. 

So I breathe in the scent of baby. 

I close my eyes. 

Here is the next generation. 

The oldest Farm girl will pass down the stories 

and all that farm life encompasses. 

She will nurture the hope that comes. 

We will share about her Uncle. 

Uncle Elijah. 

We will share his love for his Creator. 

My farmer and I will watch. 

We will guide when asked. 

We will marvel. 

We will give praise for new life.

I Really Don't Want to Write this Post Day #3 of Thankfulness

The day is beautiful. 

Picturesque. 

Warm. 

Colors spectacular. 

It is easy to step into Praise. 

To give thanks for all. 

But what about the hard times? 
Those days when you can hardly breathe. 

I really don't want to write about this. 

I don't want to be uncomfortable. 

How does the gratitude work when your 

son resides with the King of Kings?

When you watched your mom struggle with 

every breath her last weeks on this earth. 

When your spouse is diagnosed with cancer. 

When the finances are so bad you can barely hang on. 

When two of your friends head on ahead of you to meet Jesus. 

When you get the news your nephew now too resides with the King of Kings. 

When moment after moment the hard knocks on your door. 

How does the praise work?

How do you crawl out of bed to face a new day?

Zechariah 4:6

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:

'Not by might nor by power, 

but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.

It is not by our power we do these things. 

It is by the power of Christ in us. 

By the surrendering of our will. 

To be held captive by Him. 

We can't do it. 

I know I don't want to. 

Can you praise him for the difficult things? 

2 Peter 1:5-7

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love

I am working on this. 

These are hard things. 

My flesh wants answers and to understand. 

My spirit needs to yield. 

I can not see the whole picture. 

There is a plan. 

I just can not see it. . . yet. 

I am able to praise him in the storm. 

To live fully for him. 

Praising him for the storm. . . I am working on that. 

~30 Days of Thankfulness~

I am grateful for:

learning how to Praise Him for the storm

praising him in the storm

the ways in which we have grown since Elijah's home going

for the people we have met along this journey

dr's and nurses who work so tirelessly with cancer patients

a community that never lets us go

a display in the sky of God's never ending promises

3 days in a row God sent a rainbow as we celebrated Micah's life

for a sister in law that grieves displaying amazing grace

for hot coffee and time to ponder the hard

Won't you join us in 30 days of Gratitude? 

Jump right in. 

Let us know how it is going for you.