8 Days and 7 nights...
sounds like a description of some fabulous vacation getaway, doesn't it? Well, not quite. That's how long we were battling the stomach bug here at the Stephens. Mitch had it for just one day, but the kids had it for a week. Thankfully mommy was spared:) It has been quite a long week for us, but we are so grateful that it's behind us. And in light of all that sickness, the whole no sweets thing has been really easy!

I was reading a friend's blog the other day and read this quote which was very helpful for me:

Don't judge God's love by your circumstances, but judge your circumstances by God's love.

Just hours after I read that my car didn't start and, long story short, we had to pay a lot to get it fixed. I struggled all day because they money we used to pay for my car was the money we were going to use to buy our new computer at the end of the month. I was really trying to be grateful that we had the money to pay for the car, but inwardly mourning because I so wanted that new computer. Really bad. Really really bad. I had a choice here: to believe that God didn't love me enough to let me get that computer OR to beleive God loved me enough to provide money for our car without us having to go into debt to fix it. I chose to dwell on the latter perspective. To be honest here I must share that money is one of the main trust issues I have with the Lord. There's a song that opens with the line, "I have faith in the bank, and money in my heart." I wish that weren't true of me, but sometimes it is. The "faith in the bank" part is what I struggle with most. If we have enough money in savings, it'll be okay. If we have enough money for a nice down payment, then we will be able to get a pretty good house. Sometimes my mentality totally takes God out of the picture, but at the end of the day I realize how lonely that place is and I am brought to my knees asking for forgiveness and for the faith to trust in Him alone, not in a figure I read on our monthly statement. I am so grateful that this life isn't as good as it gets. So grateful. Oh, how hard (and depressing) life would be without the promise of eternity with Him. "Better is one day in his courts than a thousand elsewhere."