Blessed be your name

Hey everyone!!

Let's see.....my last post was to announce my engagement to the most amazing man on the face of the earth....and now, I will fill you in on what happened after that.

After another week of time well spent with family and friends, Jeremy and I headed here to Mississippi. Instead of taking the "normal" route we drove to Nashville to spend time with Abby, one of our good friends. After that we took the Natchez Trace (an old indian path turned into a country road that took us across the most beautiful parts of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. It was SO much fun! We stopped at waterfalls, and scenic over looks and things like that along the way, which made the trip very enjoyable.

The next day I had to return to dance, so Jeremy and I got to announce our engagement and celebrate with everyone at Ballet Mag.

Thursday morning Jeremy left for Chicago....and Saturday morning he headed off to Israel! If you haven't bee following his story, I would highly recommend it. You can access his blog here.

I want to start off by making sure that you all know that I am THRILLED that Jeremy is in Israel. I am fully convinced that this is what the Lord wants for him right now. The things that he's learning, the places he's visiting, the people he's meeting are/will make a huge impact on his life for the kingdom. I'm SO excited about that!

However, that doesn't necessarily make life easy right now. This last week was ROUGH. Having him in Israel isn't really the hardest thing.....it's not being able to be with him. I'm called to be here, he's called to be there, and that's just the way it is. In my mind, it seems better for us to minister and learn together....but that's not what the Lord thinks is best (and his plan is always the best).

The Lord is so good. He always uses these situations for his good, for his glory. He is WORTHY of all of my praise, no matter how I feel about any situation. My life cannot be lived by circumstance. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Period. No qualifiers. Whether I am rich, or poor....sick or healthy....joyful or miserable....BLESSED BE HIS NAME. That is not an easy thing to say, and even more difficult to live out.....but it's the cry of my heart. I want to bless the Lord at all times, I want to have his praise be continually on my lips. Lord, please use this for your glory! Pain is worthless if it doesn't draw me closer to you. Not for my sake, but for the sake of your name and your glory.

Amen??