Praying for guidance and direction

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

I tend to be a worrier by nature. But honestly, I don't "worry" about things in the typical sense of the word, but its more about planning things and over thinking things. I don't truly worry because I  know in my heart that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). So I know I don't have to stress about something as long as I'm involving God in my decision. God is in control and will bless me and whatever my situation is ACCORDING TO HIS WILL. And that is one of the hardest things to understand sometimes because God doesn't say bad things won't happen to us, but He will work them to glorify His name and we must trust that HE is in control and will see us through the storm. It is our responsibility to keep a positive, trusting attitude through the storm.
All of that to say that I have had a big decision weighing on my mind for a few months now. It has kind of turned in this direction and that direction and I have prayed for God's direction and clarity through every twist and turn it has taken. I THOUGHT I was ready to make a decision a little while back and then God really convicted me to wait on HIS timing. (That is where my worrying/planning comes in. I sometimes have a problem being patient and waiting.) So I went back to praying and waiting and praying and waiting. I really wanted this decision to be in accordance with God's will for my life because it could either greatly benefit our family and bless our lives or be a major burden for our family.
As of yesterday I still hadn't received the confirmation and clarity and I was waiting on God to give me. Last night though I received some exciting news about this "potential" opportunity and immediately I started praying again. This morning I opened my devotional, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, and it said "You gain confidence through knowing that I am with you-that you face nothing alone. Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: 'If such and such happens, can I handle it?' The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs. It is this you-and-I-together factor that gives you confidence to face the day cheerfully." Wow! Did I need that or what? And then on top of that one of the verses it gave was Philippians 4:13 which says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." I am so thankful for these reassuring words. Because of this I know that as long as I am seeking God and walking with Him I can take this opportunity in confidence. I thank Him for this opportunity and will continue to pray for guidance and direction each and every new step I take. I have spent the whole morning today cleaning (yuck!) while listening to the Chris Tomlin station on Pandora (yay!) and through these worship songs I have felt a true peace about this decision and with my husbands blessing I am so excited to take part in this new venture. I can't wait to share it with you soon!!
And if you are looking for a GREAT devotional, I highly recommend Jesus Calling by Sarah Young.

I got mine on Amazon here for about $8.

My new favorite workout

Since running my half marathon back in January, I have kind of taken a break from the strict running schedule. Honestly, I got a little burnt out by the time I finished all of my long training runs and the actual 13.1 mile race. I still like to work some runs into my workout schedule, but its usually because I'm too sore to go to this class:

This class is my new obsession! It is a great weightlifting/strengthening class that totally works your whole body. The website says "BODYPUMP™ is one of the world's fastest ways to get in shape as it challenges all of your major muscle groups while you squat, press, lift and curl." It really will get you some rockin' muscles pretty quickly! I try to attend the class at my local YMCA twice a week and then add in a day of running. I took last week off to help my parents move and yesterday I went back to my BODYPUMP class. Let me just say that I'm feeling it today!! It's hard to sit down and when my daughter jumps up in my lap it kills my leg muscles. I'm feeling it in my legs, back and arms the most. But I know that means its doing some great things to sculpt my body. Just thought I'd share my newest favorite workout. If you have one of these classes at your gym, I highly suggest you try it!

Here's to new memories!

I still don't think it has hit me that my parents have moved. Friday we moved them out of my childhood house to Texas. I am so excited they will now be 10 minutes "down the road" from us, but it still seems a little surreal that I will not be going back to the house I grew up in.

We worked HARD for several days packing, cleaning and loading the moving truck.

My super hardworking, packing extraordinaire Dad:

My beautiful, super organized Mom doing her thing:

Even the girls got in on the packing fun!

Saturday we drove 9 hours from Alabama to Texas. We went straight to their storage unit (because they don't close on their house in Texas until the end of July) and unloaded the trailer we had attached to the SUPER LARGE UHaul. Talk about a long, exhausting day!!

The next day we unloaded their UHaul truck into their THREE storage units!! Whew! Another long, exhausting day! I ended up taking an hour and a half nap yesterday and had no problem falling asleep last night. Usually if I nap long I can't sleep that night, but apparently I needed that nap. So now we're waiting until the end of July for them to close so that we can finally move (again) everything into their new house!! I can't wait for all of the new memories and traditions for our family in Texas. (Did I mention we just moved my sister and her family here about 2 weeks ago?!?! Thankfully they had movers who did most of the work for them)

So here is to a new memories, traditions and lots of love here in Texas!

Blog Inspiration

I love reading blogs. Especially uplifting, informational, or positive blogs. I probably know I spend too much time on my computer, phone or ipad (Just going to call myself out there) but when I do I want it to be beneficial for me, my family or my walk with Christ. A lot of times it isn't, but last week I found this blog and fell in love. I saw a link someone had posted on Facebook about "Being a Godly Wife" (you can see her blog post here) and although I don't usually click on those links I felt like it was maybe something worth reading. I now know God led me to her blog, Butler, Party of 2 because not only is she beautiful and just had a sweet baby boy, but she blogs lots of uplifting, informational and positive information. She is a strong Christian disciple (make sure you check out her post about that here), health nut (I say that lovingly because she has some great ideas and information about making your body the best body God made it to be and makes me want to be in the best health/shape I can be) and is pretty funny too. (After re-reading that I realize it sounds like I have a new crush---and honestly, I kind of do! She is pretty cool!)

I ended up reading her blog for pretty much the whole 8 hour trip we took to Alabama last week! She has inspired me to eat healthy, work out more, be bold in my faith, love my husband as Christ has instructed us to, be a better friend, mom, wife, daughter, sister and person, and sparked my desire even more to walk closer with Christ each and every day. She has also made me want to blog more. I want to document my life better and share my faith more. I ended up going back to the beginning of her blog and back tracking through her blog posts. Its so neat to see how her faith has grown, the path God has led her down and how she has gone from being engaged when she first started blogging to now having a newborn son.

So all of that to say, hold me accountable for more blog posts and I hope that I can provide just an ounce of the inspiration and motivation to one person that she has given me.

Megan

 

Saying Goodbye

Change is hard. But change can lead to bigger, better things.

Tonight I sit here my parents house that our family moved to over 16 years ago when I was just 14 years old. But tonight will be the last night I get to "spend the night" here. My parents are moving to Texas! Just 10 minutes down the road from us. I can not describe how excited I am that they will be just down the road from us after living 8 hours apart for the past 5 years. But tonight it just hit me that it will be the last night I'm in this house that holds so many memories for me.

This is the house where I got to decorate my own bedroom with a beautiful sage green color on the walls (a color that I now have in my own house because I love it so much). The house I remember my parents pulling up in my first ever car when I was 16 years old. The house where Matt use to pick me up from for our dates. Where we use to watch movies and CMT for hours while we were in high school. This is the house where I remember posing, taking pictures and putting on Matt's corsage for our first homecoming dance together. This is the house where my whole family stayed as they came to celebrate my graduation from High School. And then where they stayed to celebrate mine and Matt's marriage. This is also the house my first born child use to stay at 6 years ago so that my parents could watch her while I worked. This is the house where my girls love to swing on Gigi and Pampaw's red swing together. This is the house I remember my daughter flying down the driveway on her bicycle and making my heart nearly jump out of my chest as I saw her heading straight towards the neighbor's mailbox. This is the house where so much love, memories and happiness has been.
It is hard to imagine my parents anywhere else. It is hard for me to think about my children one day not remembering this house. It is hard for me to imagine not coming back to this house. That I won't be pulling up the driveway from a long trip from Texas to find my parents running out of the house to greet us immediately. But you know what? I am so excited for all of the new memories that we will be making in Texas. That my parents will be able to attend all of my children's school functions, pick them up from school for an ice cream date and help me out when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
So as we finish loading up the moving truck tomorrow and say goodbye to one season of life I know I will be sad, but I feel so blessed and thankful that God has allowed my parents the opportunity to move just 10 minutes down the road from us and can't wait for all of the new memories we will be making. Goodbye Alabama, hello Texas!