Loved THIS post from Anne Graham Lotz.

They closed up our backyard pit yesterday.  It was a looooong weekend trying to get everything ready for the plumbers to bring a backhoe in and dig up & replace our sewage lines.  We had to tear down a fence, cut up fallen tree branches that had somehow managed to grow into a rather large brush pile, mow both yards, dig up two gardens my kids had planted and replant the stuff or throw them away...by bed time on Sunday I had almost 25,000 steps (just for Sunday!)!

These last few months have felt uncomfortable and hard.

But God!

He has shown up in big ways, small ways, sweet ways, hard ways...

For example, right before the plumbing disaster my kids and I baked pumpkin bread and took it to all of our neighbors.  A few years ago one fall we found this really neat bread loaf pan at WalMart.  It lets you bake four mini loaves at the same time, perfect for gift giving! Well, on Saturday I was feeling completely stressed and sad and overwhelmed.  We went out our front door and one of the neighbors had bought us a HUGE bouquet of beautiful fall flowers.  It was just the thing we needed to lift our spirits.  Wasn't that awesome?  The plumbers we used are good at what they do, but they are also responsive and timely and compassionate.  I have had texts and emails from family and friends letting us know they are praying for us.  My husband has bought me a hot chocolate every day (I did gain three pounds, but the comfort of the warm chocolatey goodness was such a sweet, sweet thing for him to do!), a friend met me for coffee last Friday night, listened and commiserated with me.  Isn't it such a gift to have a sweet friend?

In writing this blog post I just spilled an entire bottle of water on my lap and my lesson plan book.  *sigh*  life is such a mix of mess and beauty isn't it?

I am praying for all of those affected by the messy part of life recently - whether it came in the form of rains or winds or fire or loss or constant financial stress or constant irritations/problems...look to God for your strength.  I believe He allows us to be spent beyond our capacity so that we can experience Him in a deeper, more real way.  The messiness of life strips away my facade of control and humbles me.  That is more precious than the comfort of days going how I planned for them to be, even if it takes being on this side of hard for me to admit that.  Mystie Winckler recently said something along the lines of showing up each day in faithfulness is the goal, not controlling the outcome.