Forever For His Glory

A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity. Psalm 68:5-6 Double-delight roses - a Californian favorite May 13th, 2004. The van was loaded with immediate necessities (including 5 dogs), the “goodbyes” were said, and the long drive to a strange new world commenced. When we moved to Texas from California almost 10 years ago (we arrived May 15th), I came crying, only appeased at the thought that we were going to move back to California when my Grandfather passed away and we inherited the house. As long as I persevered for those [short] years, I could go back to CA where my life was wonderful. Because, honestly, my life was awesome in CA. Pools. An awesome homeschool group. Cotillions. Renaissance & Country Homeschool Fairs. Wonderful friends. Amazing weather. Mountains. Beautiful green sports parks everywhere. Long days at the beach boogi...

2013 was a hard year. A really hard year. My emotions felt like they were on an emotional roller-coaster as I learned to navigate never traversed waters. As soon as I would "learn" something new, God would throw a curve-ball at me to make sure I was staying focused on Him and not in my own ability. I definitely needed those curve-balls! My birth-certificate - after more than a year of figuring out what was needed, I now officially exist! This year has seen many family get-togethers, chaperoning, dancing, heartaches, laughing, crying my eyes out late at night (and not so late at night), new and old friends, learning new things, teaching kids, my first break-down due to stress ( not something I would suggest….), music with siblings, learning from kids, a new sister (and new brothers!), God’s love, ultimate volleyball games, a new job, a course change in our life, new ministry opportunities, and many other thing too numerous to count! Toe shoes unite! Raf...

Love. Probably the most misused word in our English vocabulary. I have spent many hours pondering “love”; what exactly is it? And how is it shown? Growing up, I watched the Disney Princess movies. I know, I know, if anyone has an incorrect view of love, it was them. Boy meets girl (via her singing or dancing, or being locked in a dungeon, etc), becomes smitten (fights off dragons, angry mobs, and jealous stepmothers), and ultimately gets the girl. In my 8 year old mind, I thought it was so romantic that Sleeping Beauty was awakened with a kiss (of true love!), and that Cinderella’s Prince fell in love with her during a dance. I thought it was so sweet! As I have grown older, I have been thinking about those relationships, and how carnal they were. Extremely handsome Prince meets beautiful Princess. Immediately becomes smitten and would do anything to save her. The Disney Princes were any little girls dream guy. They were kind, considerate, dash...

Last night was one of our monthly English Country Dance practices. And at the dances we have a mixture of people that have been doing ECD for many years, to those who have never danced before. Towards the end of the evening, one of my favorite dances was announced, Postie’s Jig. It is also one of the few dances where instead of dancing in long lines of guys and girls facing each other, each group is compiled of only 4 couples (4 guys and 4 girls). I *happened* to end up in a group that was almost entirely composed of advanced dancers (myself included). 5 of us were part of the first group that had started the ECD practices, 2 others had been coming for over a year, and the other boy was the type of beginner that teachers dream of. As the other groups formed, I noticed that most of the other groups were composed entirely of all beginners (there were a lot of new people that evening). I mentioned to one of the girls that maybe one or two couples in our group should go trade places wit...