I just finished leading worship at our church's Celebrate Recovery ministry & came home to a house full of women. Ash is hosting a "ladies night out" for the company that she is a consultant for, Intentional Moments (www.intentional-moments.com). This means I'm hiding in the office, so I figured, "Why not update the blog?" So here I am.
Now, what to say...
Well, let's start with the updates. Ellie is doing fantastic, though she seems to be fighting off a bit of a cold. She's growing so quickly. I can't believe that she is 8 months old already. I'm beginning to understand why everybody told us to savor each & every moment because it goes by so quickly. She brings us joy every single day & I am so grateful that God blessed with such a wonderful child. Everybody that sees her tells us they can't believe how happy & joyful she is. She is truly a special little girl & I can't wait to see what God has in store for her.
Ashley is doing well. She's such a great mother & wife. I don't know what I ever did that God saw fit to bless me with such a wonderful partner. She hates to have to leave Ellie everyday to go to work (as I'm sure you can imagine). We'd both love for her to be a stay at home mom and we're working towards that, though it's financially impossible right now. As mentioned previously, she is working in her spare time with a company called Intentional Moments that is a Christ centered company that is focused on strengthening and rekindling romance in marriages. They do in home parties (Girls Night Out) that are ladies only & apparently very fun. It's still a very small company, but we hoping to watch it grow into something big. It is really a great ministry opportunity for her. It's something that she is really passionate about and we're hoping that it can eventually replace enough of her income that she'll be able to stay home with the baby.
On to myself now, I suppose. I'm finally getting over a bad cold that's been with me for about 2 1/2 weeks. I'm also recovering from back problems that have kept me from working for the past 4 weeks. There's not really anything structurally wrong, just a muscle strain/inflammation/whatever you want to call it that has led to back spasms and general discomfort. The frustrating thing is that this is the 2nd occurrence of this in just over a year. I'm hoping it's not a repetitive stress thing, because that means I'll probably be dealing with it on and off for a long time to come. Luckily, my company has great benefits & my time off is covered at 100% pay through short term disability, so this hasn't hit us in the wallet.
I guess when you have 4 weeks to sit around with your thoughts, you start to gain perspective. And guess what? Even with the ailments and pains and discomfort and lack of sleep, I still feel incredibly blessed by God and as happy as I've ever been. I've got a family & friends that love me and care about my well being. I've got a roof over my head, shoes on my feet, clothes on my back & food to sustain me. I think I'm starting to understand some of what Job must have gone through in his trials. Thankfully my problems are nowhere near what his were, but the principle is the same. When you break it all down, the only thing that really matters is God. He will never leave us or forsake us. In the tough times, if we draw close to Him, He will carry us through it. I know this is a message that all of us believers--and probably a lot of non-believers--have heard a thousand times, but it really is true.
God cares more about you than any person on this earth possibly can & He only wants what is best for you. It may not always seems like it at the time, but He is constantly growing and stretching us & if we listen to His will in our lives, we will find true happiness.
If you've read this entire post, I appreciate your love & friendship, because it means you actually care what I have to say. I pray that all of you believers continue to strengthen your relationships with God & I pray that any non-believers among you can find the love and grace and mercy and happiness that only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ can give you.
Thank you guys for reading this & I promise we will try to better about updating more often.
With love,
John
P.S. We'll be posting some more recent pics soon, so stay tuned. Also, if any of you guys have blogs, let us know. We'd love to add a link to your blog to our page.
