SEE, I am doing a New Thing!

So we have to go to the beginning....well, not the beginning. This is our journey as a family seeking God in the circumstances we find ourselves in. Always changing, sometimes challenging, always a noisy chaos that I call home. I can't remember anything-it's a chronic problem. And baby books, I love them but they are not filled to the brim with memories; and really we still are making some really great ones, so I want to be able to share them one day with our brood.
I think a great place to start is the latest adventure. My oldest Tinlee and I just returned from a mother/daughter retreat. We traveled to Van, TX to the Sky Ranch facilities (I can't say enough about them-more on that later) and spent the weekend enjoying intentional Mom & T time. HARD...and so worth it. I say that because I come from a non-traditional mother/daughter relationship. I learned a wealth of information! And when I learn something I love to share it. We are preparing our children to GO. This I already knew, but it's a hard tidbit to digest. I am so thankful that God chose Derek & myself to steward our sweet kids. And I want to do that well. And sending them to Go, that's hard to fathom when they are so tiny and dependent on us. But, as they say, time flies...does it ever.
My Tinlee will be 8 in July. Of all the things I can remember her birth feels like yesterday. Time has just blown by and now I stare at this dark headed blue eyed girl in amazement. She is kind & tenderhearted. She loves JESUS-and she wants to know HIM more...she did for others this weekend like I have seen glimpses of, but she was just really showing me how much she has blossomed. Maybe all these attributes I don't get to enjoy on a 24 hr bases but she really went out of her way to let me SEE her. And she is something! I've always been open and honest with my T about my hurts and struggles & it's been a hard part of the journey...but I received a sweet note from a friend today!

...this is for your home-a place of ministry, hope, restoration, & redemption...

My cup runneth over; it's so special to have the Lord speak into your empty spaces and send a sweet remember to keep going!!

And then a sweet conversation with my cousin-she could put all this into words much more delicately than I can, but she said I love how the Lord is sewing in places & restoring those empty places (like the one from not growing up with my parents), and He is making it good! Replacing it with sweet moments with my daughter!

She couldn't be more right...and I stand back amazed at His goodness. And I've seen the wilderness, or better yet felt like I had been deserted, but it was All for my good. And honestly the loneliest moments are when I choose not to seek His face, but try to soldier on as if I have it all under control.

"SEE, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19