I have to say recently that I haven't been able to land my thoughts very easily. My thoughts have been in a whirl once again. Trying at times to make sense of difficult things is rather impossible, I know. Again I've found my heart in a grieving place. I'm reminded of Solomon's words in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. We've found our hearts once again broken and grieving. We just lost a beautiful friend, Bonnie. We were just cheering our boys on together on the volleyball court the other day. Now she's in glory enjoying the rewards of her labor on this earth. I worked with her on occasion and enjoyed every minute of it. She made working a delight and I loved every opportunity. What a tireless servant. She instilled in others that same desire to serve. I will so miss seeing her at the volleyball games. It was a joy to sit and cheer along side of her. It reminds me of our lives at times. That we should do more cheering each other on to good works. She did that. What an example she's set for me and I know for countless others.

I say thank you to Jesus for putting people in our lives that cheer us on and also reminds us to cheer others on as well. They may only be in our lives a short time. I again realize the brevity of life. We have no idea of tomorrow. We only have today. Through Jayden and Brooklyn's life, I am reminded daily to live in this moment. Tomorrow is not a guarantee. They inspire me to embrace today, finding the joy that is not our natural inclination. Yes, life is hard. We've been grieving a long time now. But I know He will show us how to live in this moment and to dance again. That's my prayer.

Eccleciastes 3:4 ~ A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

I seem to be reminded again and again, that life is precious and fragile. We are only given today. I'm constantly thinking about that. I'm learning to embrace today. Our tomorrows aren't guaranteed anyway. I'm also reminded in the Psalms that He leads me beside still waters. He leads me. It's not that he's calling me, or out front motioning me, or showing me by pointing the way. He is ahead of me leading the way. I have recently found that small portion of the Psalms a precious reminder of His loving reflection LEADING ME! I'm also reminded of the Children of Israel being provided manna, but just enough for one day. And when they gathered more than what they needed for one day, it became rotten. So maybe there's a lesson in that for me too. Learning to gather only enough manna for today. So my prayer is Lord thank you for the manna you've provided today. Let me enjoy the manna you've provided, whatever that might be. While He provides manna, He also promises a lamp to my feet. So we may not know what will happen tomorrow, but we know that He leads the way, provides the lamp and offers manna. I guess, what more can we ask!

Benefit ~ thank you!

Thanks to so many for creating a wonderful evening for Justin and Stefanie. The benefit was an amazing out pouring of love and gracious giving. I was very emotionally moved by the benefit. I found myself saying how I couldn' believe people care this much! It was a wonderful picture of a loving community of family and friends. When person after person came up to me to either introduce themselves or just want to know more, I was so moved. I tried to hold back tears, but some moments I just couldn't. It took a community to put on a benefit like this. My niece Ashley was the instrument God used to get this off the ground. She did an awesome job. Ashley and her friend Kim literally went all over the community and received hundreds of donations. Then word of mouth took over and pretty soon there were so many donations, there was literally no more room to show them all. It was unbelieveable! I think for me one of the most moving moments was when Ty and his volleyball team came walking in after their tournament. That was a sweet moment! God bless all those who put so much love and work into this evenng! It was perfect weather as well, a beautiful day! God is good!

Congratulations to Tyler! He had a fantastic game on Wednesday night. It was an away game against Libertyville. He served 13 straight points 8 of which were aces. They were able to defeat the wildcats in 3 games. The News Sun was there and wrote a little article about his game. It was an exciting game to watch. The Zee Bees are playing in a tournament in St. Charles this weekend. They won their first 2 games. Hopefully they will do well today. They have the ability to play well and win this tournament.

Each day I'm learning something new in this journey of brokenness and blessings. It's an amazing journey, one that I never thought I'd be on. It has changed me in so many ways. It has slowed me down to where I want to enjoy each moment, whatever moment I'm in. I want to learn how to enjoy whatever experience I'm in and learn from it. I've been relating it to driving on a nice paved highway, driving as fast as I could to get where I was going without really enjoying the view or taking the time to pay attention to the view. Now I'm driving on a very different road, one that is quite bumpy, a road that I wouldn't necessarily have chosen to drive on. But I need to drive this road very slow, but maybe now I can look around and really pay attention to the view. I have missed so much because I've been more interested in getting to the next place or doing the next thing and getting there as quickly as I could. Often worried too much about silly things, that quite frankly mean nothing to me now. San Fillippo entering our lives has changed my outlook on life completely. Life has definitely become more fragile and more precious. I desire that God will be glorified in and through my life. As we prepare for the Boyce Benefit, I'm so humbled, by the gracious gifts that people have given. Many people are complete strangers, and have never even met Justin and Stefanie. But yet have given from their heart in unbelieveable ways. That Christ would be glorified in this event and in all our lives. Christ in us the hope of glory! That's His promise!

Colossians 1:27 ~ To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God bless all of you who have given so much and so graciously!

Just wanted to ask for prayer for Justin and Stefanie as they go to Childrens Hospital today. Brooklyn is having her tubes put in today. I know it will all go well. But just thought I'd ask for prayer for them. The doctors said it should only take minutes. Pray also for Justin, he's had a lot of pain in his back. He's been to the chiropractor recently, so hopefully he's on the mend. He hasn't felt good for a few weeks now.

Thank you so much for your prayers....we can see God's hand in our lives on a daily basis! I'm reminded of a verse....in Ephesians 3:20 ~ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

We continue to praise Him even when we can't see beyond the storm!