When it rains.. You step in a lot of Mud.

Well what a week I have had..I'm not going to go into all the details, but its pretty much been an emotional roller-coaster. Some of these situations I look at and think 'How did I end up here?' or "How did this all happen?" But I have to remember that through trials comes grace, and I have been giving lots of Grace lately. I can honestly say that this week has proven to me that God can in fact, get you through just about anything..Its ironic too, because at the first of last week everything was all roses and cotton candy..How quickly things can change..But I do think its on the upswing, or at least I hope it is, so hopefully things will calm down a bit..

Well the other day Lauren & My mom were at my house and Lauren made the crazy mistake of parking on the side of the road by my crazy neighbors house.. She came out and glared at her for awhile..then we all get into mom's car, and she races out..sits on the bench by her door, sticks her hand down the front of her pants and starts scratching her crotch.. Lauren and Mom thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen, however, they don't have to live by her!! She looked so scary that day that I thought she actually had a mask on!! Then she ran out by the road, shot us the bird, and watched us drive off. .How is she still in her house???? She is certifiably INSANE! I wish I had had my camera, because I totally would have taken a picture of it.. I know how you all love to ready the stories of my crazy neighbor, and on this day she DID NOT disappoint.. seems like she is crazier when Lauren was around, because the last time she was over, the woman charged me in a giant Turban and had her grand kids come after me..I think she is evil. MJ is even scared of her because he says she gives him the heebie jeebies.. lol.

I went to the farm last weekend..the weather turned and it was nice to be home..I always love to go out there and just spend time back in nature. The dog babes of course LOVE IT because they get to go around with the cow Dogs thinking they are 'working'.. or at least Sawyer does..Miss Pays is like "huh uh, Cows are giant and weird" so she leaves them alone..A herd of them were following her the other day and she got scared and ran back to the house. I think the cows are like "What is that? A bunny? A Rat? A dog?..we're not sure".. So they are always intrigued by her..

I'm going to an awesome church class right now called "Hard Questions".. Last night we talked about Why bad things happen to good people and the knowledge was pretty awesome.. So you want to know the answers? Alright..well assumption #1 is that There actually are good people in the world and they deserve good things to happen to them.. Who are we to know who's good and bad? Thats not biblical..Assumption #2 was that we should be able to judge..Are we really in that position? We can't judge because our fears and insecurities get in the way..so we don't have that ability.Thats also not biblical. God's Goal for us is for us to look and act like Jesus. He wants to shape us, but God is not interested in events, he's interested in who we become as the result. This is something that hit very close to home for me this week. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may become mature and complete, not lacking in anything."~James 1:2-4.. So wait a minute..we are supposed to be thankful for trials and hardships!!?? Yup..we are.. Why? Because it shapes our character..The Lord is willing to trade a few hardships for the end result/bigger picture, which is way better than anything we could come up with.

This is a hard concept, especially for those who go through tragedy..But in the events of tragedies we really don't see the alternatives, or the blessings..because there are things worse than dying..and if We know what God knows and could see it through to the end, we would have to make some really tough choices, and I don't think we are capable of always doing that, so God is gracious for NOT showing us the whole picture all the time, and NOT telling us why.. We'd probably gripe about the answer anyway! You also have to remember that life is not always all about you.. Maybe sometimes your hardships (or mine this week) were actually there to help others..So we always have to remember that he is working things out for the enternal Good..He loves us, and God is big enough to take something really crappy and make it work out for good..So if you are going through the trenches this week.hopefully that will help.. If not, come on by the class next WED night at Crossings and I bet Terry can help answer your questions too.. Dang, he's a GREAT teacher. Love,
KC