A Season of Change

We are now official residents of North AR. We moved into our new house at the end of October and we have been adjusting ever since; learning our new town, trying to get as much as we can out of boxes, celebrating the Holidays (we had Robby's family here for Thanksgiving), and attempting to make this place a "home". I admit, the vast majority of the time we've been here I haven't been well and so things are just now beginning to pick up as I feel better. And thank God for feeling better! We've decorated for Christmas and are planning to stay here for the holiday, as opposed to traveling back to Little Rock to spend it with other family members. Even when we lived in the area, Christmas was always so rushed and hurried, driving from one place to another. We really disliked that. So this year Robby and I came to a quick mutual agreement that we'd just like to be home with the kids and do our own thing, in our own time. I am very much looking forward to this, especially since Robby will be home for 5 solid days. :)

I recently bought a new curriculum called My Father's World to teach both Ireland and Jasper. Time4Learning didn't end up working out, as I quickly learned that it was more of a supplemental program, rather than a core curriculum, even though it was advertised as such. I researched different curriculums and teaching methods, and decided on MFW. I just received it in the mail two nights ago and I can't wait to get started! The thing I'm most happy about is that it's a curriculum that can be taught to multiple grade levels, so I don't have to teach one thing to Ireland and then another to Jasper (minus Language Arts and Math). Talk about a blessing! We're slowly getting the school room together and set up the way we want it. We've hung the dry erase board, a clock, some charts, etc. We have to get our school desks from a friend who is storing them for us, but we'll use a table in the meantime. I want to hang a curtain up and decorate a bit, but until then, it's still completely usable.

Things are really good. I have no complaints. It's a season of change, albeit good change. The Lord is working on me as well. He's showing me how to rid myself of guilt from the past; something that somehow wasn't obvious to me that I was hung up on. But I am and have been for a long while and it's only gotten worse as time has passed. I'm reading an inspirational book by Terri Savelle Foy (daughter to Pastor Jerry Savelle) called Make Your Dreams Bigger Than Your Memories: Don't Let Your Past Keep You from Your Future.

Through it God is teaching me how to let go of mistakes I've made in my journey, the unrelenting shame that comes with it, and not allowing the devil (or anyone) to tell me who I am in Christ Jesus. Because the truth is I am forgiven, I am loved, I am valuable in the eyes of God, and He has a specific plan for me- regardless of any wrong choices I have made and despite any opinions formed of me based on those mistakes. And, believe me, I have made a lot of them. Living in the past can and will hinder us from the future the Lord has laid out for us. And I don't want to miss out on His purpose for me. It's a process and one that I will stick through until I have been delivered. And I will be. I'm grateful to be moving on and to be looking ahead and not behind me. I have such a deep and genuine desire to GROW, to CHANGE, and to BECOME BETTER than the current version of myself. And to not be satisfied with where I am spiritually, until the day that I am standing with Jesus.