New Shoes

It's fun getting new shoes, right?! It is the breaking in of the shoes that isn't so much fun. I got a new pair of shoes for the school year-brown leather. They were so cute, but they hurt my feet so much! I wore bandaids on my heels because the shoes cut into them, and I had red marks from the buckle at the top of the shoe. It took everything I had to keep my shoes on until I got home! Infact, I usually drove home barefoot because I couldn't take the pain. But, I loved the shoes, and I needed them. So, I endured the pain because I knew in time the pain would stop.

Mark and I (and the boys) left everything familiar in our lives about a year and a half ago-we changed jobs, churches, and the boys went to a new school. We knew we had to make the change, but it hurt. We have been trying to fit into our new life, just like I was trying to fit into those new shoes. There was a period of hurt. The boys trying to make new friends, missing the old ones. Mark trying to learn the new job, doing things that didn't come naturally to him. And myself, putting on bandaids for the hurt I felt, and trying to help everyone (including me) fit in. I knew it would take time. But the waiting was difficult.

And then it happened. I started noticing the pain was going away. We were healing from all the "red marks" and "heel cuts". We were able to look at the past and accept it for what it was, and look toward the future. We were starting to feel more comfortable with the "new shoes." Our life was starting to fit.

Today marks a special day for us. We are becoming members of MCC (our new church). It is more than just becoming members...it is the sign that the "shoes" are broken in. It has been quite a journey that has led us to this day, but all along God has brought specific people in our lives this past year that has inspired us, believed in us, encouraged us, and were simply there for us. God has taught us so much about Himself, and has revealed so much about Himself that I sit here amazed!!

The brown shoes? They're broken in now. Without the pain, there would be no enjoyment of these shoes. And just like our life, sometimes we have to be uncomfortable in order to better appreciate the comfortable.

Knee Deep

After a little over a year of not directing any major play, I am back and in full swing! YIKES!! Directing "A Baby Changes Everything" at our church in Minier and running into all sorts of snags. I had difficulty finding actors and keeping them, (which I still need one more!), trying to free up acting areas by removing cumbersome trees/pianos off the stage, and scheduling practices where people are able to show up! "Welcome Back, Amy."

I am, however, so grateful for the mountain of support that I have felt from our new church family. People who connect me to other people, volunteer to help out, support and pray for me-I can feel the love!

Suprisingly, I am not as stressed out as I have tended to be in years past. I know that God is in this production-He will work out the details. I just need to let Him be in charge and watch the great things He will do!!

Matthew 19:26 (The Message)

Jesus looked hard at them and said, "There's no chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

Oh How He Loves Us

I am completely obsessed with the song "Oh How He Loves Us" by Jared Anderson. Here are the lyrics:

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these
Afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are to me and
How great Your love and affections are for me.

He is our portion and
He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking
So if Heaven meets Earth like a sloppy wet kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don't have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about the way

That He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
How he loves us so!


My finite mind cannot fully comprehend the love God has for me! It's hard for me to accept this kind of love because I know the kind of person I am. There is absolutely no good in me...yet God chose me, loves me, and pursues me completely and wholly!

"What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it-we're
called the children of God!" -I John 3:1
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His
Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." -I John 4:10

I am so thankful that God looks past the mess that I make of myself daily, and loves me despite of who I am. Without this love, I am nothing.