Josh bought a laptop for me! It will assist me in my home school endeavors. He may have been tired of me commandeering his laptop each Saturday or Sunday for making the weekly checklists for each kid…or maybe he just wants to encourage me as I attempt to teach our kids for another year! I cannot even believe that the weekly checklist making will resume in just a few short weeks. This has BY FAR been the shortest summer of my life. Anyway, on my new laptop I have access to all of my old pictures. What used to take about half an hour to pull up one old picture on the desktop we have used for almost ten years, now takes two seconds. I ran across these jewels of the kids….
He still likes Krispy Kreme. 
She is still serious about her ribs. 
And this one still doesn’t like when I try to fix her hair.
I even saw pictures of the house Josh contracted for us, and we lived in for about a year and a half….lots of people we know now have never seen it before. 
It was a great house in a great location, but I am thankful for where we are now because I know God led us back to where we are. He has been so patient with and gracious and faithful to us over the years. The house is like a stone of remembrance. Sometimes we drive around and find ourselves riding past the house, thanking God for never leaving us alone to figure out what was best for us. He went before us and made a way, despite our stubborn selves! Life is much more peaceful when you are waiting on the Lord, rather than when He is waiting on us. Just this past week we had a situation arise that I believe was solely a faith test. I’m not 100% sure how we did, but I did find myself praying all day long and waiting expectantly to see what God would do. I also found myself confessing my sins often…of worry, anxiety, impatience, and hatred. Whew. It was a long week, but as always, God provided an answer…and a great one at that! It was a reminder that no matter what the circumstance or how long one must wait for an answer, God will be faithful; I want to be faithful to Him through those tough times when our circumstances tempt us to doubt and lack faith in God. I wouldn’t recommend designing and building a house, moving into it, and then having to move out of it in order to have such a “stone of remembrance.” I would, however, challenge you to identify times in your life when God has shown Himself strong in your life and remember it! Thank Him for it and look expectantly for how He will work in your life day in and day out.
