damage control

Last night something terrible happened--hail! We've had so much of the stuff this year and I don't like it one bit! Here's a picture of the garden in my backyard. Poor little guy. :(

I didn't have a chance to survey the damage this morning, but last night I saw that most of those baby plants were broken right in two. I'm hopeful that this garden will still produce fruit, maybe those cute little tomatoes and peppers will grow up to be big and fat and strong. After all, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? I think about all of the hours of watering and weeding that went into that little plot. Hours! My roommate has been so faithful to those tender plants. The really sad part is that the storm lasted, oh...5 minutes? All those hours of hard word destroyed in 5 minutes?!?

And then I started thinking about myself, and the storms that I have lived through. Is my faith weak? Will I break under the weight and pressure that life throws my way? Or, is my faith growing stronger each day, being refined and perfected by the storms and fires? I'm going for big and fat and strong faith--I don't ever want to be accused of having wimpy, skinny faith...ever! Big and Beautiful! Big and Beautiful! But, you know what? That kind of faith requires my willingness to allow the Lord to water, weed and prune me in order for the woman He created to shine as He intended from the beginning of time itself.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. -James 1:2-4

dancing on the rooftop top of the world

My heart truly overfloweth tonight. I've lived in Ft. Collins for 9 months now (9 months!) and tonight as I looked around a room full of beautiful women my eyes filled with tears. This is where the Lord wants me at this time, these are some of the women that I get to do life with, these are some of the women that I have the privilege and honor to pour into, to minister to, to encourage. And, they are the ones that I'm going to be leaning on and sharing my hopes and disappointments with as well. I left an amazing community of brothers and sisters back in Alabama and, quite honestly, I was really doubtful that I would find that here. It's different, no doubt, but good. No...it's great! What a unique community Ft. Collins has and I am so thankful that the Lord answers prayer even when my faith is small. He has provided me with more than I even dared to ask. I can't say that this happened out of the blue for I have been very intentional, but I can tell you that it happened naturally and rather flawlessly...almost like He knows the plans that He has for me... And by almost I mean assuredly so. Ahh! Community.