walking next to you...

so, i am just sitting in my classroom on a lovely sunday afternoon grading and finishing up a test. why? because i can:) busyness never seems to end here but that is not me complaining because i love what i am a part of here. the past few weeks have been nearly maddening for me but i have gotten through simply with the 'one day at a time' approach. that is one that i am really bad at and the Lord knows it and luckily, He is a really good teacher:)

i have been learning so much in the past couple months since this change took place. change being the move to Florida. it could not have come at a better time and the more that time passes by, the more i realize that and the more i am grateful. even though i will experience pain here and there, i am slowly learning that God, in His grace, can heal, and does heal. and just knowing this brings a great amount of peace to my heart. and it's not just me, we all go through things and that will never change. healing does not come over night but that is a good thing because as it comes, we can experience rejoicing. if it came quickly, we might miss it or just forget to rejoice because we just want to be done with it. time is always key, always.

i am finding healing through the people around me. and the Lord is restoring my heart. and there is a crazy amount of hope in the air. that even though i don't know where He is taking me, He has plans that are bigger than i can ever imagine. hope. hope is real. even when we can't see the end result or how God will get us there. it is real. hello, look how far He has already brought me, and trust me, it wasn't because i am so faithful. i lack there, i admit, but HE is faithful:) all of this doesn't mean that i don't have bad days, because i do, but God is in those to! last week, the cutest thing happened, and i was so grateful for it. i was sitting at lunch and i could feel someone's eyes on me. i turned around and behind me was the cutest little blonde kid looking right at me. he smiled and turned quickly, so i turned. when i turned again he was looking right at me, smiled, and turned quickly. we continued in that pattern for the next few minutes and i laughed so much and the gratitude in my heart was flowing. being grateful for the little moments and remembering them is what gets us through some of the hard times we encounter.

i love that i am going home in two weeks. i love that my entire family will be together again even if only for a weekend. i love that i will see their faces and get to hug them and plant kisses on their cheeks:) my heart races when i think about being there.

i hope this week is everything it was meant to be and some extra on top! our Creator can totally do that:)