Wherever Life May Lead Me

Hi friends, I have been so busy lately.  Derek has been on his last vacation before he leaves for Afghanistan.  I never thought I would be writing this but here it is...Life has been really amazing lately.  There isn't one thing that I can pin point and say has been my turning point.  Honestly I think it is a culmination of a whole bunch of things changing.  Derek and I have begun to make friends outside of the Army and from our church.  I have begun to crack away at my sadness, I don't know if it has been the amazing onset of lots of sunny days this summer or if it is just Jesus or likely both, but it is nice to not feel like you are just surviving from one day to the next day.  I realized this summer that I can be the person I am back at home right here in Washington where God has planted me for this season.  I used to think I could only be who I am with my friends back home.  At one point I longed for home.  I longed for my friends, I longed for my life I had back home.  Then it hit me, I realized I am worth people's time.  I have been so guarded and scared of people the last few years.  I have felt like the only people who would understand me are the people who walked with me through those tough and very dark times.  God has really placed it on my heart in the last few weeks that vulnerability begets vulnerability.  I have finally gotten to the place where I am somewhat okay being vulnerable with others.  This is a huge step for me since I am the type of person who prides themselves in having it all together. I think this has made it a little easier for Derek and I to put our walls down and friendships are beginning to bloom!  I am so grateful that there is life after death and that dark seasons allow for incredible opportunities for growth.  This summer has been such a time of growth and gratitude.  I wanted to leave y'all with a list of how incredibly blessed I have been this summer:

1. Derek and I have made a priority to have a date each Saturday, we have enjoyed spending time together running each week.
2. Faith has been developing such an amazing vocabulary and it is incredible to have actual conversations with her.
3.  Faith is my heart.  She is loving, kind, stubborn, and oh so wild.  She is so my child and she keeps me laughing!
4.  I have been able to speak my heart so much this summer and it has been like a healing salve to my soul!
5.  Derek and I have joined an amazing life group at church and are beginning to make friendships and are actually starting to put down roots.
6.  I am beginning to feel like life is amazing!
7. Derek and I are finding our love again.  It was never gone just trampled a bit by life's circumstances.
8. Washington is starting to feel like home for now.
9. This year I will have been able to visit my family and friends back home 4 times.
10.  The painful layers are being peeled away and life is becoming happy again!

Sometimes life requires a perspective change, prayerful insight, and  few moments taken to count our blessings.  So friends take some time today to reflect, find some insight, and count your blessings, because in the mist of it all life can still be good.