Oh, where do I start?  It has been a while since I have blogged.  Last I blogged, we were dealing with the emotions about the job loss.  We steadily worked those feelings out, while trusting Jesus to take care of us.  My husband is takinga medical coding class that runs 10 weeks long.  I am very thankful for the hopeful future this provides.  What happens with it is in God's hands. 

We took a little time away together and went down to Gatlinburg, TN.  We were thinking it was going to be a cozy little woodsy spot...."WOW!!" is all I can say.  Wow, not in a good way, but in a too stunned to speak way.  We drove in at night and it looked like Las Vegas....but for families.  Bungee jumping, bumper cars, mini golf (not mini...HUGE set ups), and all sorts of things like that all through the town.  Our jaws dropped in amazement.  We have been all over the country and we have never seen anything like this before.  So, we chose to be ornery and not spend hardly anything.  We enjoyed going to an old mill and eating ice cream (huge cones by the way), swimming in our pool at night, and early morning coffee with the woods as our backdrop.  We tried to enjoy the simple pleasures and we did have such a nice time.  My boys came home with a 1.98 bull whip, and a 4.00 sling shot.  Not too bad for a get away!! 

We have come back refreshed and are enjoying the wonderful feelings of being home.  We came right home to preparation for hosting church at our home.  Yes, we home church.  We have been doing this for 3 years now and it is nice.  It is challenging at times to stay committed and be patient with others.  I think the biggest thing that I have learned with a small fellowship like ours is how we are each so incredibly different; gifts, talents, struggles, convictions etc. and yet can still love one another. We used to think we had every thing pinned down and cornered regarding Christianity, homeschooling, parenting, and all sorts of things.  We would declare all of our thoughts and opinions to others, assuming that they should believe the same hard core facts that we had found.  I am so sad to have done that.  That was not at all the love of Jesus!  We have been blessed to have this opportunity to see so many different people with different convictions able to fellowship under one roof, striving to be of one heart.  We have people that grew up Amish, Mennonite, Baptist,, and Full Gospel (us).  I have been humbled to see how God accepts each of us in our different places in life and works with us so gently to draw us close to Him.  Well, that is all for now,  Melissa