Some Random Thoughts

* To all of you who have called, emailed, texted, or in some way messaged me that you are praying for me, thank you.  You have no idea how much that means to me.  I love you all for your compassion and your understanding.  You have blessed me beyond words.

* To all who have taken the time to check on me and ask if everything is alright since finding out that my husband and I have separated, thank you as well.  Your concern warms my heart and reminds me that God has placed you in my life for a good reason.

* To everyone, I want you to know that I'm okay.  As a matter of fact, I'm better than okay.  It was difficult at first.  There were moments of distress, of sadness, of bitterness, of anger.  Thanks to counseling (I can't express my thanks enough to my pastor for recommending it to me) I knew that these emotions were normal, and that through prayer and leaning on the Lord I would move forward and find healing.  And I have.  I'm at peace now.  There's still an occasional moment of sadness, and moments when the anger begins to creep in, but those are fewer and far between.  I'm thankful that the distress is gone.  There were times I didn't know what would happen next, and it felt overwhelming, but I was never alone, and the Lord let me see that, through His comforting in my heart, and through all the wonderful people who reached out to me.  The bitterness has been replaced with contentment, because I know that "all things work together for good to those who love God." (Romans 8:28)  As terrible as things may appear on the surface, I know for sure that God will turn things around and bring good out of bad circumstances.

* To prove that I'm doing well, unlike some people who eat when they get upset, I eat when I'm happy.  During a trial I'm more likely to lose weight, because my stomach closes up and food just isn't appealing to me.   This summer I was fitting into size 4 clothes with absolutely no problem.  Since my husband moved out, however, our home has been so peaceful that I've been able to eat again and enjoy it.  Enjoy it a little too much I'm afraid.  I weighed myself this week and found that since Thanksgiving I've gained 10 pounds.  :P

* The first thing I did was destroy the bathroom scale.  No, I'm just kidding.  It's still there, in working order.  I only gave it a dirty look ;).  Then I went on myfitnesspal.com and started recording what I was eating so I would stay within my calories.  I knew what my problem was right away.  Snacking.  Too much of it, and not the best choices.  The first day was tough.  I desperately wanted some potato chips, or a brownie with ice cream, or a large handful of Goldfish crackers.  I had to be strong, and say no.  There's plenty of raisins and granola bars to munch on, I just had to exercise self control.

* I'm happy to say it's gotten easier, and I've gotten lighter.  I'm not craving snacks at all hours of the day.  As a bonus, I'm sleeping better too.  Especially when Molly doesn't wake me up at 6am to let her out or feed her.

* As an update on my mom, who had triple bypass surgery in December, I'm thankful and happy to say she's been given a clean bill of health, and her cardiologist says she can do anything she was doing before the surgery, praise the Lord!  Unfortunately, Mom has a different opinion.  She wants to milk this for all it's worth.  She enjoys using the "I just had major surgery" excuse to get others to do things for her, then complains that they aren't done to her specifications.  I guess it's true what they say, we regress to our childhood in our old age.  I'm sure my kids are looking forward to that ;).  I'm just glad she's home.

* Another happy note:  My daughter made the dean's list again!  She got straight A's last semester, and now is in her last semester and has put in her intent to graduate.  Most people would say the standard, "Time has flown these 4 years," but to me they've been the longest 4 years of my life.  Now she has to decide what to do next.  If the economy were better it would be an easy choice: come back home, find a job in her field, and save up her money for the future.  Sadly, our economy isn't in the best state, and South Florida in particular is in a slump.  There are fewer jobs than there are unemployed folks, and finding work is not a simple task.  She's gonna start putting her resume out, and see what's out there.  If she finds employment here, then she comes back home.  If the jobs are in Central Florida, then she'll be staying there.  I've laid this at the Lord's feet and will trust Him to lead her where she needs to be.

I guess that's it for now.  There's always random thoughts going through my mind, so come back sometime for more.  God bless.