Blessings

There have been so many blessings in my life as of late!  Almost a week ago, we got a "new" car.  It's a gently used Nissan Murano, gold on the outside and tan on the inside.  Our lovely Camry had been increasing its quirks the last couple of months, and we had been told by a couple of different mechanics that we would need to replace the power steering soon, so we decided that it would probably be a good time to trade it in. It took us about 3 weeks of talking, looking, researching, and test-driving before we found just the right deal.  David was meticulous about his deal-making, and also incredibly prayerful- I felt such a sense of peace throughout this process in leaving the final decision- though I still struggled with the temptation of all the shininess.  Sometimes peace is something that doesn't just naturally flow into us effortlessly.  Sometimes we have to choose peace.  We felt especially comfortable with the guy we actually bought a car from, just because he was brusk and awkward- he kind of reminded me of Rainman. He was very no-nonsense, but still gave us a very reasonable trade-in offer for our old car, and a decent price on the new car.  And, I looooooove driving my Murano.

Another HUGE blessing is that we have finally sold our old house! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! It's been on the market for exactly a year, and we are doing a short sale on it, and it's closing today!!!!  I kind of wish we could have gotten a little more for it, but there was no way  we were going to be able to get what we still owe on it.  We bought it at the peak of the housing boom, and now it's appraising at about 2/3 of what we paid for it.  So, short-sale it is! We sign the sale papers this afternoon, and are rejoicing over the end of making payments on it!

Also, another recent blessing financially is that David and I are both now graduated from marital and personal counseling.  We didn't go all that often for personal counseling, maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but we were each going to counseling in a group setting, and to a group marriage counseling.  We have been doing these since just before we got married 6 years ago, and have come to a place now where we feel confident about being able to manage our lives well and happily without it. So this is a huge personal blessing, as it's a mark of completion and achievement, but it's also a financial blessing as well.  With the lack of payments on the old house and the counseling it will be almost like we doubled our income.  Now, the next goal is to start saving up for a baby!

Which leads me to our next blessing.  Things have been going great with the diet.  I am now down 31 pounds since December 3, 2010.  The treatment that I've been on for my PCOD  is Metformin, vitamins, diet & exercise, and most recently The Pill.  I thought at the time that the Pill was being prescribed to me for the benefits of the hormones in it, but I was talking with my doctor's office the other day and they said that it was really just to keep me from getting pregnant until they felt I was ready to get pregnant.  So, I did some of my own research and talked to my other doctor, who is helping me manage medications, and talked with David about all of it.  We have both been feeling really convicted about using the Pill since the beginning of March when we went to the Above Rubies family camp.  David has been feeling even more convicted than I have, and has expressed to me many times his displeasure over us using it for any reason.  Which is why I began asking questions and researching and investigating. We have also spent a lot of time in prayer over it, asking God to direct us in His path for us.  I am quitting the pill.  David felt very strongly that this is what God is directing us to do, and there's no reason for me not to medically.  So, nothing has really changed (as in I'm not pregnant or anything yet), but I feel that it is a huge blessing nonetheless to be off the pill and delivered from the unpleasant side-effects.  Also, our relationship has been very blessed through this process of deliberation.  I have been greatly blessed and encouraged by hearing David's testimonies about what he's been thinking, reading, studying, and about how he feels he's being led by God.

Another good thing we've been doing lately is altering our diet.  We watched an incredible documentary called "Food Matters" last Sunday, and were both inspired greatly to re-think our diet.  We hadn't been eating too healthy the last couple of weeks, and had been slacking off on our vitamins.  After watching the movie, I was struck by the impact of vitamin therapy.  We talked about it all after the movie was over, and the next I went grocery shopping and bought a lot of raw fruits and veggies.  We have altered our diet to where it is 65% raw fruits, vegetables, and nuts, and have switched our bread to all-natural whole-grain bread.  We have also greatly upped our intake of vitamins (mostly by adding vitamin powder to shakes and smoothies). Also, we have started drinking distilled water.  The difference is amazing.  I lost 3 pounds in 2 days (I had gained a little so in the long run it only registered as being down one more pound...), and David has lost 4 pounds.

I don't know that things in my life could be going any better lately.  I went on the Women's Retreat with the women from my church last weekend, and I had a great time hanging out, studying, singing, and playing games.  The weekend before that I got to go camping for the first time with some friends from church, and that was also a lot of fun!  In a week and a half I will get to go to another Above Rubies retreat.  I have gotten to have some wonderful times with friends at Bible studies, great conversations with family, and have been cherishing and adoring the alone time I have with my excellent husband.  He has been so good, kind, and strong, and such a wonderful leader and inspiration! He's been going to the gym with me and working out, and his arms are getting huge. I have really been enjoying my work-outs because I have been listening to my podcasts of Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and I feel so convicted and motivated after hearing her messages!

That's about all I can think of right now.  One last thing- Trinket says Hi.

This is a picture of her in her grass pot, licking the yumminess off her lips.