We live in a world of sin and imperfection. I am a child of God striving each day to live out my calling. Welcome to my blog where you get the inside scoop of this Child of God's life!
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." - 1 Timothy 4:12
Adah,
I pray that you never lose this smile. The pure joy I see in your face is all the fuel I need to go about my day. I pray this harsh world will never take the light from you. You bring joy to everyone who sees you and I pray that is always true. I don't know who you will become in your lifetime, but I pray you never lose this pure happy spirit you have now.
Oh the lives you will change, if you never lose sight of the little girl I'm holding right now. If you can keep sight of the simplicity of life as you now know it.
I pray you will always have ambition, joy, love, and understanding. I pray that God will protect you and hold you when I cannot. This world is dark but you were born in love! The world needs your smile, and I pray you never lose it. Keep smiling my love!
That seems crazy. The last year has been a whirlwind to say the least. I remember the night before my birthday last year Adam and I had our biggest fight ever about his job at the jail and how much he hated it. I remember finally caving and letting him put in his 3 week notice at work, even though he didn't have a another job to go to. I remember feeling sick all day on my birthday with the stress of everything we had going, we had just gotten back from a mission trip and we were supposed to be moving that week and my husband was so depressed. A year later we have moved yet again, we have a three month old beautiful baby girl, Adam has a job he doesn't hate and we are happy.
The ways that God has worked in our lives this past year have been incredible. Every time I look at my sweet little girl's smile I can't believe this is the life I have been blessed with. I have a job that I not only love but it allows me to keep my daughter with me and experience everything there is to experience in the first few months of parenthood. We have been through some crazy experiences this past year and I know without a doubt that there is no place I would rather do life than here, and no one I would rather do life with that Adam. Birthdays will always mean something different to me from now on because 39 weeks and 2 days (or 9 months) after my birthday last year we became parents!
As I sit in my office this beautiful Tuesday morning, I found myself listening to K-LOVE, like I normally do. I just laid my daughter down for a nap and started some Bible Study. Then "Tell Your Heart to Beat Again" by Danny Gokey came on the radio and even though I have heard it many times, for the first time it felt applicable to life. It was as if he was singing to this community of Hesston. We walked through the Valley of the Shadow of Death last week. But the sun came up this morning, we cheered our high school boys to another Swather Basketball victory last night. Today I drove to work without seeing a news vehicle. Yes, Excel is still closed, and there are hospital beds that are still full, and funeral arrangements still being made, but the sun came up today.
Today starts a new month and with this month will come a lot of healing. We have to remind ourselves that it is ok to live our lives, if our hearts are still beating and our minds still working, we have a job to do. We can't let fear and guilt strap us down. I believe the three beautiful souls that left us last week wouldn't want this town to feel guilty for moving on. We must tell our hearts to beat again. Even though we are still processing this in a lot of ways, we still have to go about our lives. Our children need a sense of normalcy. The true way for us to be #HesstonStrong is keep living. Let's let today be the beginning of the rest of our lives. We may never get back to who we were before, but we shouldn't, this should change us, but change us for the better not worse. Today we get a new beginning, we get to keep moving forward. Hesston, it is time to tell your heart to beat again, we don't have to live in the fear, guilt, and pain, of this past week, God is offering us the grace and mercy to move forward. We get to leave the shadow of last week and walk in the light. God is calling us to strand strong, and to move like we have never done before. We have the opportunity to stand on grace and share God's love with each other and the world. We get to heal, we get to breathe, we get to be here today! Tell your heart to beat again and enjoy today.
Tell Your Heart to Beat Again - Danny Gokey
Broken like you've never been before
The life you knew in a thousand pieces on the floor
Words fall short in times like these
When this world drives you to your knees
You think you're never going to get back to the you you used to be.
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away, step into the light of grace
Yesterdays a closing door you don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
Tell your heart to beat again
Beginning just let that word wash over you
It's alright now, love's healing hands will pull you through
So take one step, look back up
See the rise and feel the sun
Because your stories far from over and your journey's just begun
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away, step into the light of grace
Yesterdays a closing door you don't live there anymore
Say goodbye to where you've been
Tell your heart to beat again
Let every heartbreak and every scar
Be a picture to remind you, who has carried you this far
'Cause love sees farther than you ever could
This moment He is working everything out for your good
Tell your heart to beat again
Close your eyes and breathe it in
Let the shadows fall away, step into the light of grace
Yesterdays a closing door you don't live there anymore
