Where Are We Now?

Just hangin out in sunny Pleasanton! We are down to less than 5 weeks...but who is counting, right? The weather has been beautiful here and guess what??....I finally met a dear friend. Right before it is time to leave, but I am so thankful for this. Patience is such a virtue..one I am constantly working on. I went to the final MOPS meeting and heard this amazing testimony from a girl who was to become the new coordinator for the upcoming year. She talked about how she and her husband got saved a couple years ago. Her story was powerful and genuine. I didn't meet her that day, but the next week I attended a book study and she just happened to be the leader. And there are only three of us in the study...the other groups have at least 10 people in them. The book we are reading is called Real Moms Real Jesus...side note. So the day after our first book study this friend calls me up and asks if she can take me and the girls to the Oakland zoo for the day. She has a Suburban so we all got to ride together. It was a beautiful day and my girls and her two boys had so much fun together. We rode a train at the zoo and were able to see a view of the bay area from atop a large foothill. It was breathtaking. This friend and I enjoyed a great day of talking and learning about each other. It was SO what I needed! This week I showed up for the book study and it was just the two of us. We had a hour and a half to just talk about life, Jesus, struggles, hopes, dreams, etc. without our children. It was refreshing and definitely by design that we met just weeks ago. Each week until we leave she is taking me and the kids on some sort of adventure. On another topic...I am reading a new book. Well, actually Dan and I are going to read it together but I got a head start. Before we moved you never would have seen me pick up a book and actually finish it. I was so busy I didn't even have time to really learn my children. I have learned some great lessons while being away...and one of them is to put my kids first. But aside from that, I have had extra time here so I have enjoyed reading. I always loved studying in school so it has been fun to read about topics that interest me. So our new book is called Grace Based Parenting. We kind of wore holes in the pages of the Raising Godly Tomatoes book and I think I have it memorized. We know what strategies work for our family from that book so it was time to put that book on the shelf and read a new one to help us continue to evolve as parents. There is always something to learn, right? This book seems to focus on the concept of communicating grace in your home. I am all about that so bring it on! And in the back of the book are study questions if you want to read it with your spouse. I am excited to start this new adventure and learn how to raise our kids with grace as they are getting older.