Love

Love...

As I read my Bible this week I ran across some verses that struck me...

1 John 3:1 See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

1 John 4:16b God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

And then during our band devotional time this week we were reminded of...

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal live.

I'm blessed to know a life filled with love.  There are days when I wonder HOW I even ended up where I am today.  

I'm married to a man who loves me, is committed to our life together, and seeks to make me happy.  

Our children are beautiful and healthy.  And they love to snuggle with their mom which makes my heart happy!  

We not only live close to our extended family, we have close relationships and, we get to have a front row seat to watching our nieces and nephews grow up.

My life is filled with friendships that sometimes feel more like family.   They are people who celebrate the joys of life with us and encourage and pray us through the tough times. 

Our Dinner Group doing a Murder Mystery Dinner

Yes, I am blessed and on any given day it's not difficult for me to recognize how loved I am!  It is for these reasons that I heart Sinclairville!

It was during worship on Sunday when we sang Jesus Messiah that it really began to hit me...

Yes, I am loved by my husband, children, family, and friends.  But before any of them could love me and long before any of them did, I was loved first by God!  He loved me enough to send His son to die for me, and He loves me enough to call me one of His children...and THAT is love so amazing!  

Take a moment and soak in His love for you today...

I Know the Plans

Growing up I had a list of expectations for how my life would turn out.  I painted the picture of what my life as an adult would look like and nothing was going to stop me from getting there!  This list included things like...

1. Go AWAY to college...my heart was set on Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
2. Study pharmacy in college and one day be a pharmacist.
3. Meet and date the man I would marry while in college.
4. Live in the suburbs in a track development like where I grew up.
5. Have 3-5 kids...at least one boy named Nathan or Joshua and a girl named Abigail.
6. Live happily ever after in my fairy tale life!

There is nothing wrong in dreaming and working hard to reach those dreams.  And for a while I was on the path towards marking everything off my list!  There was one MAJOR flaw with my list though....it was MY list created by ME!  What's wrong with that, you ask??  MY list was missing God and God's will for my life!  Enter God and this is where that list stands today...

1. I went away to college...Duquesne even!  LOVED my time in Duquesne but I ultimately ended up returning home to Rochester to finish my education.
2. I'm currently in my 12th year of being a Special Education Teacher which has NOTHING to do with pharmacy.
3. Once I returned to Rochester, I met, dated, and married Matt...we will be celebrating 12 years of marriage this August!
4. We bought our house in the village of Sinclairville three years ago.  Where is Sinclairville?  I asked the same question years ago.  It's a little rural village in the heart of Chautauqua County in Western New York.  I absolutely HEART Sinclairville! :)
5. We have TWO kids.  Mattie is now 8 and Nathan is 6.  
6. My life may not be a fairy tale, but I'm certainly living my happily ever after.

2011 ~ Our first year in Sinclairville.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

The Lord had a different plan for me, and while it may not be what I expected, I can honestly say there was no way of dreaming up a life this good!  My life is not perfect or problem free...it is blessed beyond measure!