How To Know You're Alive

 As I was waiting to go up on stage at church this morning, I couldn’t help but think about 1) how happy I am going to be when all these presentations are over, and 2) just how GOOD I’ve been feeling, despite the nerves brought on by public speaking.  Good is a pretty lame adjective, so better stated, how alive I’ve been feeling lately. 

And it makes sense.  Because if you’re alive, you have to be growing.   
It’s our nature.  The only things not growing are dead. 

I’ve realized how alive I’ve been feeling lately because of all these things I’ve been doing that are NOT my strengths and are definitely not comfortable for me.  AKA, these “growing experiences.”  Public speaking, yes, but also the whole living in your second culture and in general, living less comfortably than we could be.  Which made me think, what does comfort do for us, anyway, besides hinder growth?

You can’t get any smarter without reading books that are beyond the knowledge you already have.

You can’t gain muscle or lose weight without the pain of a good workout.

And you can’t learn to truly rely on God without hardships or struggles. 

I am thankful for the challenges He has given me these last few months, because it has also led me to places that I know I wouldn’t be able to be without His strength.  And it is GOOD to feel this alive!!

So my question for you is: What are you doing in your life that is forcing you to grow?  Or maybe, what unwarranted circumstances are you allowing God to turn into growing experiences for your good?

It can be as simple as a thought-provoking book or a challenging workout routine, we just have to make sure we are actually living.  Because if we’re not growing in one way or another, what are we even doing? 

And speaking of growing…

there’s been a lot more of THAT goin' on around here lately!

Here we are at 24 weeks when the Irish completed their 12-0 regular season to be #1!!  







 
And if kids grow like puppies, or at least like Boss, then we're really in for it.  We've had Boss man for about a month now and as you can see he is a great eater.  We love having two dogs!  They play together well and are super entertaining for us.  Except for the time he ate my favorite pair of Chacos, which was the opposite of entertaining.  It's a good thing he's so cute...

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