And life goes on

This week has been great. Honestly, it is my Easter in my Lent. I was so bogged down by worry that I couldn't seem to feel anything else.

I have been learning a lot about trust in God and what it means. It means to "let go" of your worry and not treat it as your possession. I have heard about this but never been able to put it into practice. Perhaps I haven't had something to really worry about until this happened with Luke. It's easy to worry and stress over little things and not even realize it. It's easy to let that worry become such a normal part of your life that you don't recognize it stress and worry, but rather, just a way of coping.

And then something big happens that shakes up your world, something totally out of your control, and you realize that you not only feel anxious but literally sick with worry--so sick that you can't eat or sleep. And worse than that, no one can help you, because not even the professionals can solve the problem, they don't have the answers and the only One that does have the answer won't reveal it to you, simply because it's not time yet.

And so I learned to wait and trust and wait and trust. But also to persist and pursue God in prayer. To never give up on prayer and to wait for Him to answer you--because you finally realize that He will answer you, because He's God, and it's just a matter of time. His time. That is what I've learned about trust, and I'm still learning and practicing.

In other aspects of our life, we are working on getting back to normal. Luke is back to school full time and the teachers have been very helpful. I am back to learning about dogs and trying to focus on finishing what I started. That includes the kitchen cabinets, by the way. I am really happy with the way they're looking!

I am looking forward to spring. That warm spell spoiled me that it seems unnaturally cold right now, even though the cold air is seasonal for this time of year. Today it snowed a little bit and Max didn't even recognize it. He told me that "ash" was flying through the air. I guess I can't blame him, because the neighbors were burning branches, so maybe that's why he assumed he saw ash instead of snow. But then later, Henry told me there was "dust" flying in the air. My kids don't even recognize snow anymore!

Day 3 on Lent. It's going well, but then, I can't be complaining already, can I? :-)  I have given up Facebook once again and as my "add-on", I am trying to always keep the kitchen clean. Being off of Facebook more often does give me more time to clean, I will admit, but it's still hard to get done.

Very quickly on our new addition, Ace. It has been an up and down experience. Ace and Joey don't always get along, or so it seems. One dog is stronger than the other, and that seems to be Ace. Joey naturally is shy and timid, however, he is also insecure. The first week that Ace was here, Joey would growl and Ace if he got too close. We always corrected Joey on that, but Ace would just duck his head and back away. He seemed to understand that he was on Joey's territory and was trying to be respectful.

But lately, Ace has been correcting Joey. When Joey tried to growl at Ace again, Ace gave him a sharp bark, Joey yelped in fear and ran away. This has happened a few times where Ace corrects Joey. I have to admit, it shakes us all up, because it happens so suddenly and for seemingly no reason at all. Sometimes I have no idea what started it. I suppose from a dog trainers perspective, it's very interesting to watch but from a mom's perspective that wants no dog fights in the house, it's hard to see it that way.

One thing I do know is that you have to allow dogs to figure out where they stand with each other. I try not to interfere in their "discussions" and so far, it's all been peaceful. Suspenseful, but peaceful.

Hoping to show the progress on the kitchen cabinets in the next post.