I miss you so much. You know some of the stuff I’ve been through over the past 4-5 months – got cheated on, stayed with the guy, the girl (his ex) supposedly got pregnant and supposedly miscarried, I got chlamydia, had to leave my job (unrelated, of course lol)without a new one confirmed and moved to be with him in the midst of all the madness, went through him feeling so guilty he wanted to break up with me cause he felt I deserved better etc., started a new job that has me working late more often than not amazing as it may be, had to move house again whilst up here. He starts a new job which we’ve been praying for and he loves, the guy he gets along with best there is the girl’s new boyfriend.

It’s crazy we seem to be going through so much at the same time. And I have a lot of the same thoughts.

I wanna talk to you. Can we Skype?

xxx

1) She knows me better than I know myself

2) She has had a front row seat to the saga of my broken life for the past few years

3) She has gone through shitty things too

4) She can lay it to me straight….and often does

5) She has held my hand through most of my crap…and by holding my hand I mean inviting me over to dinner. Not Panera Bread Dinner….like homemade Angela dinner. Completely made with love…and then enhanced a bottle of wine.

6) She has had avdentures in her life too…and she is great. And she is constantly pushing me to seek the adventures and to not be afraid of my own greatness.

7) She’s human and makes mistakes. She’s not some perfect hero that you feel like you could never be….she takes advice just as readily as she gives it
She is amazing at parties and getting people together and making them feel warmed and welcomed…in fact when I first met her I was in a heap of a mess – and I just showed up on her porch one day and decided not to leave for a few years….and she’s never made me feel awful about it

9) It was Angela that taught me what it looks like to be a woman. To have boundaries, to be brave, to laugh at life when it hurts you, to cook like you are loving someone, to drink like its the last night of your life, to sit around the fire and smoke hooka, to dance, to make cards and to take pictures. I think when that guy in Proverbs was writing about what women should be like…he probably had someone like Angela in mind.

10) Did I mention that she loves to drink?

….so clearly, Angela is a bad person. I think after seeing the convincing evidence on this list…we are going to have to stop being friends.

First of all, this blog didn’t end the way I thought it would. I like your ending better.

“He will never give you more than you can handle” — this verse is always taken out of context. I said this to Meg once when she was struggling and she flipped out. (”No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13) It is about temptation, not struggle. When I really studied this idea and thought about it, I realized He WILL give you more than you can bear. Because that means you will be broken. And your brokenness brings you to Him. And if you think you can do it on your own, you will. So He’s going to take it away.

“Who “makes me a person of character” through destroying my life every 12 months.” I know you can take this truth from me because I love you and want to see you grow — not because I’m mean. But remember that it’s not YOUR life. You gave your life to Him a long time ago, remember? You are merely the vessel, as your dad said, and the conduit for His beauty. The world is watching — people like you and people like Kelly here — to see what your reaction is. Will you, like Job’s friends wanted him to do, deny God and try to tackle life on your own? Or will you rest, knowing that EVEN IF the bottom of your world drops out, you are saved by grace. You are redeemed. You have already been rescued from this world.

I think it’s funny that Kelly referenced your WOLF entry. We never asked for easy, did we? We just never thought it would be like THIS!

Think of all of this from another perspective — you are at the forefront of a crazy race that has begun. A crazy change in the way our society operates. We’re all going to be there, Jenni. We’re all going to have all of this taken away. Show us how its done with grace!

First of all, this blog didn’t end the way I thought it would. I like your ending better.

“He will never give you more than you can handle” — this verse is always taken out of context. I said this to Meg once when she was struggling and she flipped out. (”No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13) It is about temptation, not struggle. When I really studied this idea and thought about it, I realized He WILL give you more than you can bear. Because that means you will be broken. And your brokenness brings you to Him. And if you think you can do it on your own, you will. So He’s going to take it away.

“Who “makes me a person of character” through destroying my life every 12 months.” I know you can take this truth from me because I love you and want to see you grow — not because I’m mean. But remember that it’s not YOUR life. You gave your life to Him a long time ago, remember? You are merely the vessel, as your dad said, and the conduit for His beauty. The world is watching — people like you and people like Kelly here — to see what your reaction is. Will you, like Job’s friends wanted him to do, deny God and try to tackle life on your own? Or will you rest, knowing that EVEN IF the bottom of your world drops out, you are saved by grace. You are redeemed. You have already been rescued from this world.

I think it’s funny that Kelly referenced your WOLF entry. We never asked for easy, did we? We just never thought it would be like THIS!

Think of all of this from another perspective — you are at the forefront of a crazy race that has begun. A crazy change in the way our society operates. We’re all going to be there, Jenni. We’re all going to have all of this taken away. Show us how its done with grace!

I can’t tell you much about God or how to relate to him that you already don’t know. One day, we’ll all be standing before him in heaven. We’ll all be given glorified bodies but where do you think our character and our inner strength will come from? I think we’ll bring that with us.

Love,
Dad

P.S. tell Dana that her Dad can’t beat me up!

My mommy’s heart breaks to know your hurting so much. And part of me wants to say, “God, I think You can stop now. She get’s it!” O.K. I REALLY did say that, in a not so nice way. And your right He can take it. And here is the crazy beauty of it all, unless we are as real and raw as you’ve allowed yourself to be, we will NEVER come to the place to “know” the depths of Him, His comfort, His mercy, His compassion and His greatness toward us. So, as it’s raining, no wait pouring, let me hold you with one arm and the umbrella of my prayers over you with the other. While many have only Job as a compass to navigate through the **** storm, you and I have Grandma! And the truth be told she has one arm around you and I and the other holds her umbrella of prayers over you and I. May you and I one day be the “Job”, no better Grandma to our daughters and grand daughters when life’s storms hit. Because they will come. Whether we press into God or away from God. I love you Jenni. I’m so PROUD of you. Many mother might brag on the accomplishments of their daughters, I brag about your HEART who continue to press towards God. Wow! I’m am the riches of Mommies because of you.