I have to laugh every time I see an ad created for She’s So There

the part that tickles me is the wonderwoman part.  Wonderwoman implies invincible.  I am surely not that.  My high energy, creative nature,and perhaps plain joy in creating helps me work through a good amount of things, however I am far far from invincible.  It is true that I like to help others “get it done” whether its their website, their book copy, or their personal chore that needs to be finished.  I know that in my own life working with someone along side me lightens the load and helps me gain perspective. I want that for others, I want that for myself.

Michael Hyatt wrote a great post today on “What Does This Allow” for the times things don’t go as planned. It was timely for me.  Last week the young lady and her baby we had moved into our home about a year ago with the thought that she would be family forever, with us until she was out of school and on her own moved out. Unexpected. There was no scene, no warning, or upset….simply one day a text that told us she’d like to meet at 4 pm and talk. That afternoon she was gone.  We know she’s safe, other than that nothing. Our hearts hurt.

It’s been a year of personal loss.  A year of trusting, reaching past comfort zones, working harder than I’ve ever worked and a year that friendships and close relationships came undone.  People I trusted deeply simply turned out not to be trustworthy.  The lessons have been hard for me to take….to be more cautious in whom I trust…to set in place more qualifiers before allowing larger projects to involve me. To keep in front of me that which we are based God first, Our Family Second and after that all else.  It’s been a year of seeing good friends die, other friends suffer financially and physically…and to see one lost  by their own hand.

How am I? I am asked a good bit this fall.  My answer. “Thankful”  for I truly am. For those who ask why the answer is “Because even in a difficult year, God is God.” This year more than almost any other I am so very aware how many blessings are in my life.  This year I have had to spend more time making sure I remember that as well.  It is entirely too easy to focus on the hard things and forget that we have a loving Father in heaven who knows our pain and seeks to comfort us and to guide us.  I have to admit this year I’ve just not understood much of what I and others have faced, but I am thankful that God has a plan and that includes me.