It's Pretty Here

It's been so long since I posted here I forgot how nice the blog looks. And, really, this post could go anywhere I blog--my personal blog (here), my author blog, or my Friday spot at MMW--but I'm posting it here because it's more a testament of what's going on in my life than what's happening in the writing world--even though writing is part of my world.

It all started June 22--you know, the day BRAVE came out in theaters. Bryan and I decided it would be fun to drive our girls up to the closest theater (30 miles away) and surprise them by seeing the movie. We made it about 20 miles and the car died. Just. Died. It made a weird whistling noise like it was a futuristic car powering down.

I had just barely started a new job, so I reasoned this challenge was a blessing in reality because if I DIDN'T have a job we'd have no hope of paying for repairs--and due to the nature of Bryan's job we have to have 2 cars. It's not a negotiable issue--though I would gladly do without the gas prices if I could. Blarg.

Besides, so many people stopped to help us it was really a reaffirming experience in the study of the human spirit.

So--now it's July 2. Since the car broke down (and sat at the shop because they were backed up and didn't have time to look at it), we lost our clothes dryer, the toilet broke, the twins' bunkbed broke, and Friday the driver's side passenger window on the Durango decided to stop rolling up.

Sunday I fasted. People ravaged by fires in their areas need rain. Then I drove the kids 30 miles to church with in the truck with a broken window. Here's the thing--it created a vacuum inside the vehicle that caused so much intense pain in my ears I almost couldn't drive. It took me 20 miles of that to figure out that if I rolled down another window it would ease the pressure. Yay me. Boo for the migraine I dealt with the rest of the day. Evidence this morning suggested I may be working on another sinus infection and I haven't figured out what my health benefits are yet.

So right now we have a borrowed car and a huge pile of laundry. Bryan goes back to work tomorrow and I'm not off again until Friday. The kids need clean clothes. My idea of doing small loads and air drying them seems like a ton of work now--but I'll (read we'll) probably do it anyway.

Sunday I looked at all this stuff and thought, "I'm about to release a book and all hell breaks loose. Coincidence? Of course not."

Here's the thing--I deal. It's who I am. Stuff happens, I get bummed or discouraged, and God pulls me out of it and we get stuff done. Oh, and it's not all bad news. We still haven't gotten our tax refund yet, which isn't much but will help. And I just found out I have some money in a retirement account from 2008 that I can access. And both Bryan and I still have jobs. We have family helping us. But sometimes, it's hard not to feel discouraged.

I don't post all this on FB because that's not the side I want to show the world. I don't want to whine, complain, or moan about life's challenges. Without challenge there is no growth.

So I'll just keep growing.