photo credit: Stephanie Bryant

Stephanie Bryant has written a wonderful post about hope in Uganda. Look at all the wonderful things that the Lord is doing there…though people just like you!

Lord, help us to never compromise. Thank You for Your grace to keep our eyes off ourselves and keep them on You and the prize that awaits.

Today is my sweet husband’s (and my mother’s!) birthday.  In his honor I’d like to share his portrait drawn by our 4 year old daughter.  She is the only child I’ve ever known to draw forehead wrinkles on everyone just because her daddy has a few.

Happy birthday honey! You’re getting more handsome every year.

So the question is this: Where do we go from here?

After the Lord opens your eyes, things are never the same.  And that’s a good thing!

My husband and I really started taking stock of our lives. Everything was on the table, ready to be questioned. One thing that kept coming up was our house.

We have both lived in the same middle Tennessee town for over 20 years. It’s near our parents, siblings, friends and church.

But, there’s only one problem…my husband works over an hour away. So, for over 10 years he has been commuting for over 2 hours a day.  Day in year out. He never complained..just got more  and more tired as the years rolled by.  His busy schedule plus the drive time was meaning just a few minutes a day with the children and lots of tears when they found out that Daddy couldn’t make it home in time for supper…again.

And that’s not how we parent! We are involved and love to be together as a family. So, we kept living for the weekend.  And that’s no way to live; struggling through five days a week just to celebrate for two.

It was time to focus on what was really important…to weed out the time and life stealers growing like a parasitic vine on our tree of life….to end the strangle hold of the enemy.

So we made one of the BIGGEST decisions of our lives.

And moved. Away.

We are selling our big dream house and 5 acres of woods. We left the county where all our family lives and moved to the town where my husband works. We moved into a rental house that’s about half the size of that we left behind.

And do you know what?  We are the happiest we’ve ever been. Trading his 2 hour plus drive for a 10 minute one…well, it’s wonderful.

(For example: He had a lot of work to do today, but was able to come home, eat supper and then go back to the office to finish up while the kids go to bed.)

We have finally come to the end.  And yet it is just the beginning. I’d love for you to come on this journey with me.

What things are you willing to let the Lord talk to you about changing?