Changes, Changes, and More Changes....

Kind of crazy to be sitting outside without a jacket, hoodie or coat on and it's the 28th of December.   

The kids have been running around barefoot playing.  

I think I'm gonna' love this Phoenix-thing a lot.

I've been trying to sort through boxes.   Actually pretty fun to get rid of most of the winter stuff.  Some people have said, "Well you'll want to hang on to that so when you go to Flagstaff to see the snow, you have it."  

Growing up in Buffalo, New York,  living for 7.5 years in the mountains of Colorado and then driving in a snowstorm while in Denver last week brings a smile to my heart.  

At the moment my thoughts are: if I only ever have a snow globe the rest of my life, I'm actually gonna' be just fine.  Surprisingly Dw and the kids are all feeling the same way - totally the Lord!  

The landscape is gorgeous!  I am loving the saguaro, prickly pear, and jumping cholla everywhere!  Graham had a lot of fun testing the jumping cholla cactus to see if it really does jump and latch on if you get too clsoe.  {It does and yes it is prickly!}  

Dw and I took a walk the other night.  It was just about dusk.  We saw three coyotes coming out of the shrubs on a neighboring street.  They are really kind of cool looking.  

A friend of ours is a tennis pro and offered to give Liberty and I tennis lessons for free.  I have always wanted to learn to play tennis.  Dw actually played on his college team.   He tried once to teach me when we were dating.  We came to the conclusion during that one time, that if we really wanted to stay together we ought not do that again.  So 34 years later I'm learning from someone else.  

Yesterday was Liberty and my first lesson - we had a blast!  We were wearing short sleeves and we both were actually sweating! 

We've met some new friends and last night actually had dinner with a bloggy friend and her family.  They have just moved here from Florida.  Coffee soon with another bloggy friend who lives 'in the neighborhood!'  And the people we have met in our community have been oh-so-sweet.  We are feeling very welcomed already!  And that, is a really wonderful feeling!

In fact, our neighbors across the street rang our doorbell on Christmas Eve and had a card {with their phone numbers in it} and two plates of Christmas cupcakes welcoming

 us to the neighborhood!  

How cool is that?  

 And then lastly, I am so aware that life can be very tricky around the Christmas holidays.  Expectations.  Disappointments.  Health struggles.  Older kids who once were present for the celebrations have moved away.  Marriage changes.  Relationship changes.

Betrayal.  Moves.  Death.  Job loss.  Financial crisis. 

Christmas can be actually some of the most difficult times in someone's life.  Many of you have written and shared your stories.  Your hurts.  Your pain.  As I unpack and sort through boxes, I have been praying for many of you.  That God would comfort you.  That He alone would fill you with peace.  That you would understand that even in the most difficult of circumstances He is ever faithful.  

And I've been working on a blog post, probably two-part, along the lines of "when God says no."  It needs to be tweaked, but I am sure that God will use it to speak to many hearts.  He's like that.  Taking our own struggles and using them to minister to others in their struggles.