Some thoughts

Warning, this is a long post with no pictures!

Daniel, Sadie, and I travelled to Texas for the Labor Day weekend. Daniel stayed just for the extended weekend, but Sadie and I were able to get in a full week. I have been meaning to post pictures from our visit, and actually posted some to Facebook (kinda amazing since I had finally sat down right before Labor Day to figure out how to exactly post pictures to Facebook!....just never have gotten into it that far I guess!), but have been reluctant to post a blog about the trip because I just haven't been in the mood. It's hard when we return from our Texas trips. This trip was most definitely one of the hardest (only emotionally). This was probably the first trip where Sadie didn't get overwhelmed by all the activity and people around her. So our ENTIRE trip was so enjoyable. She LOVED seeing her cousins (we missed Katherine's bunch unfortunately since Katherine's on bedrest awaiting an exciting arrival any day now!). She was nice to almost everyone (poor Grampi, Daniel's dad, and Uncle Will, my brother....Sadie was not as nice to them as she should have been). So everyone could see her true colors without having to come all the way up here to do it! We really had such a good time.

Since we've lived in Indiana (about 5 1/2 years now that we have both been here), I feel like we've gone through stages. During the last year, I have finally been at a peace about not getting anxious for the next stage or phase. When we bought our house over 5 years ago, we thought for certain that we would only be here 3 years. That was kind of the deal we made with each other. During those years, I remember thinking...I can't WAIT until we are back in Texas and therefore close to our family and friends. Then our three years were up, but we felt pulled to stay right where we were for the time, mostly due to our jobs. Then Sadie came, and we got motivated again to expedite our search for a life back in Texas. I know so many of our friends understand the feeling of being so far from your own families when you have a newborn. I wanted nothing more than to be with my family during those first several months of parenthood. Eventually we settled into being a family of three and became content again with our little life here. So after our Labor Day trip, it shook things back up for me. It's strange, but the way it feels for us is that we have a great peace about being in Indiana.....we love the area we live in, we love our church, we love our home, and we love our friends here....yet, when we drive around Texas and hang out with our family, Texas feels like home too. With all that said, we absolutely know we are where God intends us to be right now. We don't know what tomorrow or next year will bring, but we are content with where he leads us. We are so thankful to be able to be doing what we truly feel called to do right now and remain gracious for the many gifts God has given us throughout our life together. How great thou art!

I will post pictures from our trip tomorrow. Tonight though I wanted to share the thoughts above and some other thoughts/prayers for others.

I read about this family today from a friend on Facebook that was asking for prayers for them. I spent the entire two hours of Sadie's nap and another hour this evening reading through their blog. My heart just aches for them, but the thought that stands out the most amongst everything is that God must have an amazing plan for baby Chloe! They are in great need of prayers tonight.

The week before Labor Day, my Aunt Angela and Uncle Hank's home burned down. We continue to keep them in our prayers and know they have a long road ahead of them as they search for their new "home". I know some of you know them. So I wanted to post the link to the news story from right after the house fire. I meant to post it before we left for Labor Day, but didn't get to it between our trip preparations.

I was so happy to hear from one of our dear friends today that they are expecting. Congratulations to them! We have so many friends and family that are pregnant right now, with a few that are due VERY, VERY soon. I just wanted to leave them a note that we are thinking about them each day, praying for them, and anxiously awaiting news on their babies! Newborn babies are the best!