18 Months down and a lifetime to go...

I can't believe it has already been a year and a half without my wonderful husband. I have been looking at pictures the last few days and I miss him so much. It is so hard to believe how God has changed my path so many times in my life. Last year at this time I did not want my birthday to even come and this year I am so looking forward to it.

A year ago at this time I was in so much pain I could not see past my own pain. I am so thankful to the Lord that he changed my path. I am no longer in pain daily, I have a future to look forward to & I have love in my heart again. The Lord is so good!

I am so thankful that I did not let satan win when I wanted to give up and turn my back on God. I am so blessed that the Lord has not given up on me. He is so amazing and so loving.

It is not easy to move on with your life when the one you thought was going to spend the rest of that life with you is gone, however it is necessary to do so. Jimmy would want for me to move on as he would want me to be happy and not just mope. I am sure Jimmy is happy for me if he can see me now.

I have moved to Tennessee, met an amazing man who loves me unconditionally and married him. I have been thinking about going back to school for my master's degree...as of now we have to figure out a way to pay for that if that is the route God has for me. My future is looking up and I am so grateful to God for that.

So much has changed in the last two years...sometimes I am overwhelmed when I think about all that has changed. But I am always thankful for those that stuck by my through thick and thin and prayed for me all the time. I am so thankful for my amazing friends that the Lord have given to me. I am also thankful for my family and the new family that the Lord have given me!

I am so blessed!!

Some Realizations...

First you find out who really cares about you when you say you are moving. Some people want to see me then others would be ok if I had moved yesterday. When I turned in my resignation at work they told me that they would pay through the end of the month when I said I would work until but that I did not need to come back in to work. Therefore Monday was my last day working, there have only been a few people get in contact with me from work.

It will be good to see who my real friends are through this move. There is no need for me to continue to keep people in my life that don't really care about me. It will be good to start this new chapter in my life with those people who truly want the best for me.

The next thing I noticed is that my appetite is back!! To be honest I had not realized that I did not really have any appetite until it came back this week. As I think back it has been since Jimmy passed away that I have not had my "real" appetite. I didn't care about what food I ate or if I even ate at all. Since I have been off of work I have been hungry nonstop & I actually know what food I want to eat!!

I am thankful that I now have an appetite because it was a struggle to eat when I had no idea what I wanted to eat. Yesterday I had red beans and rice and it tasted great!! I made French toast this morning for breakfast and also had cereal for a snack. I am looking forward to cooking again and eating as well. It is so awesome to feel somewhat "normal" again.

Yesterday I set a goal for myself to do something creative. I didn't want to set a goal something specific just that I do something. So I started crocheting a scarf for myself. It has been so long since I needed a scarf so the thought it would be fun to make one for this year. Of course it is purple! I picked out this yarn awhile ago and it is 4 shades of purple...I love it! I am going to see if I can also teach myself how to make a hat so I can have a hat to match.

 

I really  hope this is the start of me being creative again for good. I have missed being creative so much and it is so nice to do something creative now. I am also enjoying actually knowing what I want to eat and having the desire to cook. I am so thankful to the LORD for helping me to find a "new normal"!!!

Update on my life...

            I thought it was time to give you each an update on what is going on in my life. Since the beginning of the year I have felt like the Lord has been guiding me on a path out of Texas. When I moved here over 3 years ago I never wanted to stay. I only stayed after Jimmy went to be with Jesus because I did not want to make a huge decision in the "thick of my grief" so to speak. So I stayed as to not make a hasty decision and found a job at a work program for intellectually disabled adults.

            I have learned so much while at this job. People who are intellectually disabled have to be some of the most accepting individuals in the world. They love me no matter what and accept me even on my bad days. They are some of the most loving and positive people I have ever met. They have taught me that my circumstances should never get me down, that I should always give people the benefit of the doubt and to love no matter what! They really are so amazing!!

            The people I serve in this job are amazing however the staff I work with are nothing like the clients. Due to the work environment that has been getting worse since April I find myself in a position where I can no longer accept the way they treat the staff and the clients. So I will no longer be working there as of the end of the month. Praise God for Him making this clear to me.

            Also in April there was a huge change in my life, I met a wonderful man online (yes online again)! He is also a widower, lives near Nashville TN, retired from the military, loves the Lord far more than anyone else and his name is Joel. We were talking for 5 months before I went to meet him in person and we both knew right away that this was the start of something special.

            I will be moving to Tennessee November 1st or 2nd (had to be flexible for the moving company)! For those of you that don't know Jimmy and I had planned on settling in Tennessee due to the fact that it was in between our parents. I feel as though the Lord was preparing me for this even back when Jimmy and I talked about where to eventually move and settle.

            Joel and I knew that we were compatible right away even talking on the phone. We balance each other out very well. We even feel that we are even more compatible with each other than we were with our former spouses which can only be done through the Lord! When meeting in person we each knew right away that we were meant to be together.

            I have also decided that I want to go back to school to peruse a master's in Social Work to then later get licensed to be a therapist. I know that the Lord has brought me through so much in my life and it will be used for His purpose and His glory! I am still deciding if I want to be a counselor in a school or for the military, so please pray for the Lord's direction in this area in my life.

            For those of you that are in Texas I would love to meet up with you before I leave the area. I will try to set up a time for me to meet up with many of you at once before I leave. As for those of you in Pittsburgh my plan is to visit for Christmas!

 

Prayer requests:

Direction in our relationship

Direction as to when to look for a job and when to start classes for my masters

Peace and safety in the move

My continued reliance on the Lord

Selling Jimmy's car (this will help pay for the move)

What a sad & emotional day...

Today my wonderful husband would have turned 35, I am sure this number does not mean anything in Heaven. To me this means that there is one more birthday without him, a day to celebrate the life he so fully lived here, a day where tears flow freely, a day where the cycle of grief overwhelms me again & a day that I am grateful to "check" off the calendar. It is very hard to remember him now, hard to remember the "little" things he did to make me love him, the wonderful smile he had, the way he would love to annoy me (I am thankful that he did annoy me because that was a way for him to show his love), the toothbrush left on the counter with the toothpaste to match in the sink, the way he loved our "son" I mean cat ;)....there is so much I am forgetting!!

There are times when I see other people's pictures and it makes me sick to my stomach. What comes to my mind is..."why does this person get to have their husband and their kid(s)?" "why do I not get the 'dream'?" "why not me Lord?" I have gotten to the point that I don't even look at most people's pictures on facebook anymore due to the fact that it starts a whole emotional rollercoaster for me. It seems so unfair that they get to have what I always wanted and I am "stuck" with being a widow...for real WHY Lord? I know it isn't for me to question...but I do!

It is so hard to go through a day like today and not question what is going on in my life. How can such an amazing man of God be taken away so suddenly like that? Why not a husband who beat his wife? Why not a man who did drugs? Why not a man who was drinking while driving? Why not anyone else other than MY husband? This questioning gets me nowhere though. It just leads me down a road that is a dead end. Because I am not meant to know the answer to any of my questions at least for the time being if not until I am in Heaven with the Lord and Jimmy.

I am learning that I need to be content right where I am even though it is not  the path I would have chosen for my life. God is still good, He is still with me no matter if I think about turning my back on him or not, the Lord loves me no matter what, He loves me more than anyone (including Jimmy) ever could! However it is still a conscious choice to turn to Him, love Him, follow Him & trust Him every day!! We all have this choice, there are times that we chose to go our own way instead though. I have found that His yoke really is easy and His burden is light. All we have to do is choose to follow Him and trust Him not ourselves!   

Being needed...

While I was at work today there was a resident that came up to me and put his hand out to reach for me. I put my hand out and held his hand, he then pulled my arm close to his body as if hugging it. I then asked him if he needed a hug and he said yes, so I gave him a hug. He held me so tight as if I was going to leave or something. It made me feel so needed and wanted I can't even explain how much joy filled my heart.

In the past month or so I have been feeling like I have no purpose at this job anymore or maybe even in life. To be honest I was really feeling like I would never have a purpose again. I was starting to feel like no matter what happens I will always end up with pain and sorrow in my life. It can be hard to see any blessings when your entire life seems to be one hardship after the next.

Today I was reminded that my purpose is to glorify God be loving his people. There are times when his people are the very people that I have no desire to love. I wish I could say that it is always easy for me to love God children but some people that call themselves Christians are the biggest hypocrites. The Lord is teaching me that He has called me to love even those that I would see as "unlovable."

I just need to allow the Lord to teach me how to love all of His children. I have been asking Him to allow me to see others they way that He sees them.  I just want to be more like Christ and I know this is part of what needs to change in my life in order for me to be more like Him. Something else that the Lord has brought to my attention is that I have to put Him first no matter what. I still don't understand why this is such a hard lesson for me to learn but it sure is! Please pray for this with me.  

13 Months Down & A Lifetime to go...

Every other month as the 15th was approaching I would become more depressed and anxious. This month I was not nearly as depressed or anxious. So I thought that today would not be that bad however it was a very stressful day. On the bright side today was not all about me thinking about not having Jimmy with me.

I am thankful that my mind was not focused on what I have lost that is a huge blessing!!  I do miss Jimmy very much but I find myself not really focusing on that as much anymore. I am happy that Jimmy is in a better place, that he has no pain, that he can eat whatever he wants, he can sing at the top of his lungs...and so on. He is so happy that I can't even imagine how happy he is.

I have learned so much about myself in the past 13 months. I am much stronger than I thought I was but only through the strength of Christ! I am the type of person that likes things to be easy, normally when things are not easy I run the other way. I don't like to not be in control, it causes a lot of anxiety for me when I don't know what comes next. It is hard for me to trust anything without knowing the plan and also accepting the plan.

{ Things I need to work on }

Trust -- on God and authority

Staying when things are not as I planned

Letting go of my plan

Leaning on God for my strength

{ Please join me in praying for God to help me in all of these areas. }

The positive side of eating out alone...

There are a few pluses to eating out alone and I just wanted to share them...

1. You can sit wherever you want to.

2. There is no such thing as double dipping when you are the only one eating something.

3. No mindless chatter.

4. No one to eat your food because yours is better than theirs.

5. The entire desert is yours.

6. When the food comes out it is hot because you did not have to wait for anything else to be cooked.

7. You can play with your phone and text as much as you want to.

8. You can read a book and it is not considered rude.

9. You are treated like a queen (or king) by the server.

10. The bill is less.

I got to eat this all by myself!!!