Oh my goodness – to say this has been a busy month is an understatement.  I haven’t blogged simply because I haven’t had time!  My tour began, and is going perfectly well, so thank you for praying.  I have done shows in Dallas, San Francisco, and Chicago, and have New York, Atlanta, and Toronto remaining. 

In addition, we have done some family traveling – our first family vacation!  We did take pictures, and once I have a few free moments, I’ll post for you who care to see them.  We went to Branson Missouri to stay at Big Cedar Lodge, thanks to the PRECIOUS generosity of some wonderful friends.  The girls LOVED it.  For days afterwards, Grace asked if we could go back on vacation because she missed it.  She was so sad to come home – she fell in love with the condo.   We discovered if we do decide to downsize to an apartment or something – she’ll roll with it.  She loved the tight spaces!

We also had an unexpected trip out of town to celebrate the life of Justin’s precious grandmother.  His Nan was a sweet beautiful lady and we will both miss her very much.  If you think about it – please keep Justin and his mom in your prayers as they grieve her loss.

Justin’s freelance business is rolling.  He is serving at Southlake Baptist on Sundays and doing many freelance arranging projects around that.  In addition, he is doing internet/social marketing for a major construction equipment company.  The Lord continues to provide for our family.  We are not at this time talking to any other churches nor looking.  We just felt a peace about taking a break from all of that.  We are confident that when the time and place is right, the Lord will open a door and make His way clear.

Our house is on the market – and there is not enough space on this blog to explain how challenging it has been – and it’s all my fault.  I fall victim to the “tipping point” theory of housekeeping.  My house will be mostly clean but there is a certain amount of clutter (or laundry) that will tip it to where I feel like it is filthy (which it really honestly is not).  So as a result, I try to keep our house at the standards I expect for each showing 24 hours a day, to stay far away from the dreaded tipping point.  My poor husband – pray for him – I’m sure I drive him NUTS cleaning up around him all day everyday.  Bekah thinks it’s a game – she takes the toys out – I put them back in, 18 times a day. We have had quite a bit of traffic through the house, and have one serious buyer deciding between our house and one other, so pray for us!  We are really excited about selling – feel a great peace about the decision, but I’m sure when the reality of a move hits me in the head (especially given our current schedule and workload), I’ll second guess myself.   But we trust that God will provide the mental and physical energy we need to get it done if He opens the door for us to sell.

My sweet sister is in Africa, and those of you who know me well know that I feel like a part of my heart is there with her.  Not only do I miss her, terribly, but she is in a place where I feel called to serve.  She is ministering to the most hurting, the most forgotten, the most wounded by this terrible fallen world.  Pray for her – she is being the hands and feet of Jesus.  I am so grateful she is there.

All in all – we are good.  I am dreaming much of the days ahead.  I am prayerful for so many hurting people around us.  And my internal clock is counting down to the big date in my head – in a week it will be a year since Justin was laid off and 6 months since I also was laid off.  I’ve done this long enough to know that those milestones provide an opportunity to either react in faith and trust and rest, or to react in panic, disbelief, and unforgiveness.  I pray that the Lord will grant me faith and will find me faithful.  I do believe – I want to act like it.

Love you all – I’ll try to be better about updating.  J