Today is Super Bowl Sunday. My family doesn't follow football at all, so the game is of pretty much no importance to us. This particular day takes me right back to Superbowl Sunday last year. We had just moved to Washington, and we were spending our third Sunday at Impact Christian Church. We had already felt "the vibe". You know, the one that you get when you think you've found what you're looking for. There was a woman there who had come up to me the week prior to invite me to her Superbowl party. Being 2 weeks from my due date with Lucy, and overwhelmed with unpacking and getting the nursery together, I politely declined. But she asked again. And then she made her kids ask my kid back in Sunday school. Then she had her husband ask my husband. Then I told all of them no. And then she asked again. And finally, I obliged. It's funny, those stubborn people that God brings into our lives, that we just can't imagine what the purpose could be, turn out to be dear friends. Today, she's a great friend of mine, her kids and mine love playing together, and she's the most educated woman on Fostering and Adoption I've ever met. What a wonderful blessing!
I'm thinking about all the things that followed that Superbowl Party, like my injury that came literally the next day. I slipped on some water in my kitchen and landed on the ground into the splits. I tore my groin muscles on both sides, and ended up immobile, housebound, and in total agony for the rest of my pregnancy. That wonderful church that we found and those persistent people there were some of the biggest factors in my pulling through that tough time with a smile on my face. The relationships we made at the very beginning of our journey here have enhanced this experience for us in ways we never imagined.
Today when I went in to church, I was so quickened to the blessing it was just to be physically walking into the building. And what a blessing it was to see that beautiful girl, the one that kept me awake for many nights since Superbowl 2011, walking around the place like she owned it with a smile on her precious little face. It was great to see my other beautiful girl, headed back to Sunday school excitedly and ready to talk about Jesus. I looked at my husband, who somehow grew more handsome this year, and I felt such an incredible joy. Today was such a new day.
Why am I writing about this? Why am I writing this hallmark, cheeseball, mushy-gushy crap that looks like a page straight out of a Stepford wives' diary? Simply because I want to remember. Life is hard, peeps. It's a blessing, and it's amazing, but sometimes it's downright hard. One year ago, it was the hardest it had been for me in a very long time. But we survived. We survived and we're on the other side, and life is good! I don't ever want to forget that for all those valleys yet to come, and those times when I feel like things are dragging on and progress is so far away. I want to remember the God that I serve, and the things that he does to prepare us and carry us through those valleys. I want to remember the support system that He prepares for us, (and maybe next time I'll say yes to the invite before the 7th time, right Mindy?!?), and the lessons learned that only He, in his perfect knowledge, could know that we'll need. I don't ever want to forget these things, because in those valleys it is so incredibly easy to lay down in the bed of self-pity and just waller around in it. And in that, our enemy rejoices.
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For two weeks now, I've been busy and focused on my eating habits. I've been praying and praying and praying for God to help me through this, AND HE IS! My momentum has been incredible thus far. There have been some tough moments, and some failures, but overall I'm happy with how things have gone. My focus these last two weeks has been portion control. I've been counting calories for weight loss as well (and I've lost 7 pounds!), but mainly focusing on controlling urges to eat more than my body needs. This is definitely a work in progress. I'm praying for God's strength through this, and praying that He leads me to great mentors.
Tomorrow is Monday, and I'm ready for a crisp breeze and feeling of renewal to come with the morning! I hope you all have a great week, peeps! Thanks for reading :)
