It's all about the timing

When I started this blog I started it to help inspire with simple, fun stories that have happened in my life or to people close to me. Now I'm going to share a story about God's timing, and how it has worked in my life. When I was a junior in high school, I started dating Keith. He became my best friend and we spent a lot of time together. He graduated at the end of that year, but we continued to date. After my senior year, we both went to the same college. About half way through that first year of school, we broke up. We went our separate ways for a while. For the next several years, we would go out a few times, but it never seemed to work out. After college, I moved to Alabama to work at a camp and started teaching there. Keith worked in Madison and eventually moved back to Winder. But we went out over Christmas and sometimes when I was home. It never seemed to work out. At one point, he was engaged and I dated another guy for a couple of years. We both had our own lives. Then December 1996, I was home for Christmas and God told me it was time to move back to Georgia- this is another story for another time! I moved back in May; bought a house in August. At my new house, I needed a fence, and called Keith's dad. Little did I know that Keith would come out to give me an estimate. We started talking, decided to go out a few times, and the rest is history. We married the following June. It had been over 8 years since our initial breakup! It was not in our timing, but in God's. Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything, but we must be ready for each time. "a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing," (Ecclesiastes 3:5 NIV

Alarms or Not

Today is my last day of Christmas break. One of the perks of being a teacher is I have off almost as much time as our children. This is not the case for my husband. He builds fences for a living with his brother and, except for 2 weeks a year, if he doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. Currently, he is my alarm clock. He wakes up each morning with no alarm and just before he leaves for work, kisses me goodbye. When I'm off work, I try to go back to sleep- this works about once a week. When I'm working, he wakes me as he gets up, and just before he leaves, he wakes the kids.

Living where we do, we have many different alarms- the roosters next door are only one. Our three donkeys, Bonnie, Clyde, and Rufus are another, and probably my favorite, but not in the least predictible. Of course there is the typical alarm clock, the phone alarm (which is what my dad dad uses), and the oven timer (that I often forget to use and therefore burn things!). We also have our house alarm- ours is our dog Gravy, fire alarms, tornado alarms, silent alarms, email alarms, appointment reminder alarms, and the list goes on and on.

But, I believe we also have internal alarms. There is the mother who wakes up just before her child starts crying. The father who wakes just before a middle of the night phone call about a sick parent. And we've all probably awaken 5 minutes or so before our waking alarm goes off. But there are also internal alarms about our decisions; small whispers from the Holy Spirit trying to lead us in God's direction. But when life gets busy, the voice or alarm is often over powered by worldly desires. During this new year try to take time, be still, and listen for that guiding voice to guide you on God's path. After all, He is the only alarm we really need.

In with the new!

I've been wanting to begin a blog for the past two years, but I've always been so busy! Well, I decided what better day to begin than the beginning of a new year? Generally new years begin with resolutions, or ways to improve our lives, our health and in general our outlooks. By beginning a blog, I hope to share some inspiring stories and some encouraging words. For this first blog, I'll simply say if you are trying to begin anew, begin first by seeking wisdom from God. "... For the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.". 1 Chronicals 28:9 God will guide you on the right path, but we must first seek him.

Good luck, and happy 2012!