Emo girl.

I am a little overwhelmed lately...just very emotional. I find myself crying at least once a day and that is rare for me. I don't cry much...especially in front of people. I have just been coming in contact with so many emotional situations.

My precious Jade has a dear friend named Joe Houston (www.findjoeshouston.blogspot.com). He went missing on October 28. He was 29, a wonderful Christian man, and a navy pilot. His plane went down over the bay while doing a training exercise and after about three weeks of searching, they finally found his body last week. It just breaks my heart...to know that we are truly not promised tomorrow. Scripture tells us that; and I saw it evidenced so clearly in this situation. I cry for his fiancee, for his little boy, for his mama and Jade and all those who knew and loved him. I can't imagine.

My older sister Dixie has been married to her high-school sweetheart for eight years now, and the last four or five of those years they have spent trying to have a baby. She has had so many ups and downs...so many times when we thought this was it, when we felt sure God was telling us it was the time, only to be disappointed again and again. This week has been a beautiful week for her; just some progress made that gives us great hope, and that is emotional.

My friend and co-worker Luke was in a motorcycle accident this past weekend. He is okay...but had to have surgery on his knee, tore a thigh muscle, broke a finger and is just really banged up. It's scary...especially after hearing so much about Joe...to think that someone could just be here one day and gone the next. We never know. We never know how long we have here on Earth.

I've just been an emotional wreck...excited...scared...worried...sad...confused. But the beauty in all of these situations, even when they don't turn out the way we want or expect them to, is the HOPE present. I saw hope in the lives of Joe's searchers, his family, and his friends as they searched day in and day out for their sweet pilot. You would think that hope would be gone; with the news of this week; but it's still there. It's a different kind of hope I guess...not the hope that they will see him again here on Earth; that they will see his smile or hear his voice; but the hope...the assurance...that they will see him again one day...and that he is in the presence of his Savior. I see hope in Dixie and Steven...as they continue to trust that it is God's plan for them to be parents...and that it will happen...either through this or another avenue. Even with failure and disappointment they feel peace knowing that this is not the end of God's story for their lives. I see it in Luke...as he struggles to walk and sleep...but in spite of that, how he prayed a few mornings ago and praised God for his faithfulness; for his death on the cross; for his protection. All of us, including Luke, know it could have been much worse, and we have hope. We know that God is not done with Luke here. His plan does not include Luke being paralyzed or in a coma or unable to speak. Luke's story is still going on...God has a purpose for him...and I love to see that.

These situations bless my heart, the good and the bad, because I can apply that hope to my life. I can see how God is writing my personal story, and how things can change at any time. This moment - this day - was given to me as a gift from Him, and it is exactly what He wants for me. They teach me to treasure each moment; to know that God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts; to have hope when it seems hopeless. So hope in God! Know that He has a plan. Nothing surprises Him...and even when we can't see it we know that He does have a purpose...for EVERYTHING.

"But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more." - Psalm 71:14

2 more things.

1) Go to this website: www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

2) Go see this movie:

You're welcome. :)