The A Girls: Life, twists, turns and a cord...

many weekdays are spent in separate zip codes, i do a good bit of the day to day here on Faith Lane as a single momma.....

so, when we are fortunate enough to have all the stars align

(aka, grandparents graciously and willingly offer to help, no major schedule conflicts and a trip where wives are strongly suggested to attend)

i jump for joy to get a little time away to explore with my best bud!

we have been so blessed to visit quite a few islands. but this little jewel is simply a beauty. its only 19 by 5 miles and tucked away at the bottom of the other islands in the caribbean. the water was incredible. the scenery surrounding the beaches was just beautiful. hard to believe such a vast difference in locations can be on such a small patch of land.

life has been a lot lately.

just A LOT.

we ventured out a year ago on a road less traveled. while the sweet Lord has never forsaken us, been more than gracious in our favor in the battles and granted us a family unit stronger than anything i could have imagined available by this course.......it still is somewhat weary on the soul to take such twists and turns.

when i decided to post the pics of the trip on the blog (which i had all intentions of using as a family journal but more than anything has now with our current season of life turned into more a high points and vacations type of recording tool) i was reminded of the verse i have always used in my heading. it struck me odd. almost the same feeling as being on this trip with so many wonderful people from all over the country that jon has the pleasure of working alongside when they would ask the common question of "how many children do you have?" i never knew and still don't know how to answer it. i know what the Lord has told us. i trust Him at his word. i live it out daily with unknown before us but the faith abounding from my heart. but just as real is the truth of reality. the legal standing of the in between. so i do the best i can to say 3/4 and not at all seem like a single one of the 4 of them means less than the other.

but, back to the "cord of three strands." that's who we were at the start when we married. who the girls are in the sisterhood they so sweetly created. who at the heart of it they will always be. they instantly without any legal promise of more became cord of 4. but the 3 will never be broken. i smiled so deep inside at how easily one could think something like what our family has been through could unravel the cord. how the bonds could be tethered by the enemies tauntings if we falter even slightly from the promise of goodness. but no matter the number....3,4, or 6...traditionally a family or NOT.

~we are us~

the cord that holds all strands together is our One and only Himself. He is the number 1. so that no matter how many other cords, or at what time in our lives He decides to weave in another strand....our

marriage can grow amazingly stronger, our sisterhood can bind deeper and our unit as a whole can rest firmly in the security of the "known" in Him even within the "unknown" elsewhere.

its an odd thing.....little by little in what looks like (im sure from the outside) a year of confusion and stand still~

He has taken us all 6 (plus my sweet parents) on a journey toward complete and total dependence and trust on the greatest provider there is.

......and, we all have been able to experience the ultimate security found only in Him that when viewed from outside our "cord" may seem false.

yet, we can say "you have been set apart....and he has chosen you"---deut 14:2

THE WILL OF GOD WILL NOT TAKE YOU WHERE THE GRACE OF GOD WILL NOT PROTECT YOU

i may never have been able to say this before without wandering into fear. but, i can say it now even without being at the end of this phase of our journey.

He alone is enough.

He will offer joy despite the hard.

trust and faith is always a choice.

while it won't change Him being true to His promise to never forsake you and only hand you what is good, it WILL affect how you live out the journey.

CHOOSE it...

so back to the original purpose~~

mommy and daddy take on Aruba

8 less footprints, a little lighter load

morning jogging views make you just want to keep going

can i just add what a great group this is that put on the trip for work?....

i mean if you just offer out spots at the spa for a massage for the wives, you WIN in my book

we've had many "downs", but it surely makes the "ups" so much sweeter

a first, i've never ridden a four wheeler with this guy before. the girls still strongly suggested i not break the streak. but, this adventure through the desert along the shore was breathtaking at times. (no, not just because of the dust. we had bandit masks for that...bahahaha)