Finally some nice weather!  I’m so thankful for the warming temps and days filled with sunshine.  It refreshes my soul.  The kids are counting down until we leave for Folly Beach and get to spend an entire week at the ocean.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to grab a good book, sit on the deck and look out only 20 feet or so to the crashing waves of the majestic ocean.  I am ready to go now!  It’s hard to believe the school year will be over before we know it and the kids will all be another year older.  But before that can happen, I can’t wait to plant flowers and am already excited watching the trees bud and my tulips start to come back to life.

This past month has flown but not a whole lot has changed. Sidney is still in the midst of volleyball tournaments, and Brad had his first golf meet today. Trevor turns 12 on Saturday so tonight he has six great friends over for a sleepover. Right now they are at HyVee picking out snacks which they all thought sounded fabulous because they get to buy whatever they want. You know at this age it’s all about the food! Ryan is doing great and has been healthy now for a couple of weeks. He is as spoiled and spunky as always. It was so sweet to watch Trevor’s friends come upstairs to get nosey kisses from him. One of them ran downstairs and said “I just love getting nosey kisses from Ryan”. It melts my heart.  And here is another picture of our Shih Tzu, Chewie, who is now a year old.  He’s a good little doggie.

This past week has been full of stress and while it isn’t something we want to share with anyone, I can tell you this.  God is good and He absolutely listens to the prayers of those who come to Him seeking His perfect will and plan.  I’ve focused a lot on Isaiah 48:10,17 ~

I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction….I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

I can’t say that I have ever experienced an unknown situation as I did for six days this past week not knowing from one day to the next how God was going to work it out, but in the end, He was faithful and continues to be faithful even today.  I’m at a loss for words (imagine that!) to adequately describe what it was like to fully experience Proverbs 91:4 in a way I have never experienced before.  God truly covered me with His feathers and under His wing I took refuge.  His faithfulness was my shield and rampart. I have been humbled in ways I didn’t know I needed to be humbled which is a good thing.  And this experience, though it tested and refined me, also showed me how very blessed I am to have an army of family and friends who came around me, prayed with me and believed in me.  Just as this saying that sits outside my front door says, my soul has been refreshed.