There's Always More Going On Than We're Aware Of...

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He Hears Us When We Call

Monday morning I bundled up and headed out to a special dentist I needed to see (an hour away.) I barely made it out of our driveway because of the drifted snow, and the roads had a lot of snow packed on them. I cautiously proceeded, but there was quite a bit of traffic, so I felt in good company. What I didn't realize was that there were occasional patches of ice. I was following a large truck and when he put his brakes on, I put my brakes on, and it didn't go so well. Except that it did. As I lost control of the vehicle on the icy patch, I cried aloud to Jesus (which my parents taught us from an early age to do in times of danger.)

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I didn't regain control, but as I skidded into the opposite lane, God held back the oncoming traffic and I landed safely in a whole lot of snow, several feet off the road. I couldn't get through to AAA even though I tried several times (guess I wasn't the only one in the ditch that morning!), but several people stopped to check on me, and one man even gave me his number and offered to come back with a chain to pull me out if I needed him to.  

I had only gotten about 10 minutes from home, so Dan bundled up the kids and came to rescue me (and got the surprise of seeing me on the wrong side of the road since I'd forgotten to give him that detail. Right. "Thank you, God, that my wife was not just smashed to smithereens.") 

Just as Calvin, Easton, and Dan started digging the car out, someone stopped and offered to pull the car out.  We were so thankful for God's timing and provision because the windchill was below zero and it was not weather you really want to stand around in.  

I never made it to the dentist (still have that to look forward to!), but I received a powerful reminder that God always hears us when we call out to Him!  He protected me, and I am so grateful.

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The kids have been spending extensive time building forts and tunnels in the drifted snow along the creek.  One of their tunnels is about 15' long!  Their hide-out protects them from the wind, and we make them wear face masks, so the cold weather is not deterring them in the least!

Here's a track they made for pulling each other on sleds:

In the afternoon we enjoyed a family game time.  I took on Calvin and Abigail in Scrabble 

(they are a tough team and beat me solidly!)

And Dan engaged Easton in a game of chess, which sparked a renewed interest in chess 

so now all three big kids are keeping a game running.

His Track Record is Perfect!!!

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TRUST

I wasn't looking for one word for the year.  But it came to me.  And then it was confirmed over and over. So who am I to fight?  This is it...my word for 2014:

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God stretched me and strengthened my faith in 2013, but I know He wants me to trust Him so much more.  With everything.  Especially my kids.

Just today He helped me to trust Him in a new way with my children...accepting the reality that they will grow up to have various issues (just like I do!!) and that He will be there to faithfully grow them and change them and bathe them in His grace.  So I don't have to carry the impossible weight of trying to get them to make all the right decisions in their years at home that would spare them pain as adults (and don't start worrying that I'm not going to parent to the best of my ability - that's not what I'm talking about.) They aren't going to get it all right now (just like I don't) and He will be there with them in every year to come, helping them as they need it.  Oh, the relief that comes with trust.  May God grow me in huge ways this year as I seek to allow Him to enlarge my trust in Him.

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