Circumstances and Joy

Ok, so I've been gone from blogging for a while. It mostly had to do with some circumstances in our family that got me a little down. For me, blogging is something to do for fun, as a creative outlet, and a way to share some pics and thoughts with family. When the circumstances of your life are not as fun, the desire to blog kind of goes out the window. However. The past few months, and especially the last 6 weeks have taught me that God truly wants our joy in life to not be derived from our circumstances, but rather from the love that He give us. The circumstances have not been pretty. My father-in-law has a cancer diagnosis that is slowly taking its toll. The circumstances are terrible, but we find joy in the fact that there are more good days than bad days for him. We find joy in a family united by prayer and petition. We find joy for each day and opportunity God gives us to share with him. My sister-in-law (his daughter) was expecting a baby girl in July and we looked forward to the joy she would bring our family. Then the circumstances of life took a turn that no one expected. Baby Lily was born with Zellweger's disease. A truly devastating diagnosis for such a sweet innocent baby. I won't go into all of the details of the disease other than to say that she has a life expectancy of 6 months. Circumstances stink. But joy still abounds. We are joyful that she was able to be released from NICU after 1 month and come home to live her life with her family. We are joyful for a sweet niece to love. We are joyful for the awesome testimony of her parents as they walk this journey. We are joyful for girly bows and dresses and for sweet baby cries. It is always Satan's plan to rob us of the joy of our salvation. When we are in difficult circumstances such as these, it has to be a conscious effort to allow your joy to abound. So we carry on and celebrate each moment and day that God has given to each of us.

"We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Cor. 2:7-9

Ok, now something unbelievably funny. Well, maybe not that funny, but we can't help but laugh. Last Sunday morning, we got up to go to church and this was the sight in our driveway.

Seriously. Someone, (or some-bodys) stole my husband's tires and wheels and left his truck on blocks. While we are so thankful that more damage was not done and that no attempt into our house was made (can you imagine!), we have laughed so hard at this all week. We can't help but chuckle every time we pull in and out of our driveway. It's just so ghetto. I hope that you are familiar with this hilarious YouTube post.

For real. Well, have you heard the remix version someone took the time to craft?

Even more hilarious. It's been the theme of the week around here. Even the smallest member of the family is singing....we gonna find you, homeboy.