So what do you think of the new digs?  Granted, it’s one of the free themes that WordPress offers — but I did change the color palette to something a little less pastel.  Sometimes a girl just needs a new dress or pair of shoes.  I’d had the same theme for over two years!  So after trying a few on for size, I settled on this one.  Let me know what you think! In other news, I’m reading a fantastic book that is also shaking things up a bit — it’s called Epic Grace: Chronicles of a Recovering Idiot, written by Kurt W. Bubna.  I haven’t even finished the first chapter, mainly because I’ve been highlighting and marking it up like a three year old set loose in a library with a box of crayons.  With a little more cognitive intent, though, I hope.  I went to Hastings with my daughter to look for a specific book she wanted to read.  Hastings didn’t have her book, but I happened to see this one on the shelf and ended up buying it.  I think it had to be a “God thing,” because this book is really ministering to me and some of the things I’ve been struggling with lately.  Mr. Bubna is so real.  In the introduction, he admits the word “idiot” may not be politically correct, and that it’s difficult in today’s world to keep current on what words are acceptable, as quickly as our cultural lexicon changes.  That made me ponder how difficult it is to be authentic in our conversations about faith.  I mean, really!  The God of the universe tells us to come as we are — we don’t have to be perfect before committing our lives to him, but we have to worry about the words we use while sharing our experiences in our journey with Christ?  Do you find that a bit contradictory?  I know I do! I hadn’t even gotten to the first chapter (I was still reading the introduction) and found great comfort in his words: “Maybe you’ll find out, as I have, that God delights in re-crafting our sorrows, failures, and missteps into trophies of his epic grace.”

Romans 8:28 —  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

I am looking forward to seeing the Lord turn sorrows, failures, and missteps into testimonies of how He will never leave me or my family in the valley, of how we will come out on the other side stronger and more committed than ever to serving Him.