Pleased As Punch

The last two weeks have been a whirl wind for sure! We have been through so many changes that sometimes I don't even know if I am coming or going. I truly believe that the kids and I have begun a new season in our lives and Shad is only a little behind as he is still over in the desert finishing up the bridge he's been building. (I absolutely CANNOT wait for him to get over here with us! I miss that man more than I can say!!) I was so concerned that this was going to be a difficult transition for the kids and I, but I was so wrong. The familiarity of being in this house and town, and all the people in our lives makes it feel like we never left. I sometimes wonder if all the time we spent in the desert was just a dream. A great one, of course!

I have just been so pleased with the love that has been poured on the kids and I since we got home. Pleased as punch, really. (Well, if I ever used that term in my normal, everyday conversation, which I never really have. But, anyway...) It just amazes me how many family members and friends were anticipating our arrival and are just chomping at the bit to spend time with us! My heart is swelling with gratitude to God for blessing us with so many loved ones!

Like I said in a past post, I am a different person than I was when we left for the desert 18 months ago. And thank God for that. My attitude has completely changed toward God, myself and the people around me. My greatest prayer is that the folks that I was not so great toward in the past will see that I have changed and grow to trust me again. I feel like I am starting afresh in my life, and I am so thankful for the chance to begin this new season with a more loving heart toward my God, my family, my friends and all other people I come into contact with in my daily life.

So here's to a new season and a new phrase because I am just so pleased as punch to be back in this house and this town.

"This is what the Lord says: Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.' See, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the ends of the earth. Among them will be the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor; a great throng will return. They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel's father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son."

Jeremiah 31:7-9