More Than Enough- A year & a half in review.

Let me catch you up to date since the last post you have viewed.

Much has happened, changed, been lost, been gained, been destroyed, been restored, and forgiven.  Forgotten.

And I am thankful.

SO... we moved to Florida.

Jacksonville, to be exact.

This is the night we arrived, full of excitement.  Nothing could bring us down! We lived in a place that looked like this, had exciting downtown life, restaurants, people, and business opportunities.  In fact, Dane started working at a Verizon in St. Augustine, a new location that he was excited to be at. The plan was for Dane to essentially "launch" this brand new store and we would be there 6 months then move back home to Ohio.

We moved into a fabulous apartment {that had a POOL!} and I set out to get new jobs & enjoy our new location. 

The goodwills here were the bomb.com.  We got our new Florida clothes and I got new jobs at Starbucks and Panera.  Dane started looking like this:

I got red highlights in my hair, kept working out, and I was looking all like this:

We were having a blast.  Life was good.  Love was in the air.  We were going out to eat all the time, dreaming, exploring our new home, and loving life.  We were about to buy these beautiful bikes to ride on the beach.  According to us, and our plan, life was about where we wanted it as a young couple.

Then, every thing changed.

There was intense hardship we didn't see coming.

I drew closer to GOD.

God said really sweet things to me like "You are not alone" and "I love you more than anything" and "I love Dane that much too".

And I learned to say "I know, I love you too" and that turned into "I know I can trust you" and that turned into "I trust you with everything" and that turned into "YOU are my everything.  Nothing else matters".

I lived like I never lived before.  I threw caution to the wind.  I loved God, I loved people, I loved my husband, with nothing in return.

For four months that summer and fall, I worked 80 hour weeks to stay where I was.

I worked at Starbucks a regular shift of 5am to 1:30pm and then a shift at Panera from 2pm to 11pm.

Then, my alarm went off at 3:45am and I did it all again.

Boy that did a number on me physically.

I said I was still dieting and losing weight but the reality is I was starving and overworked.  I looked like this:

When I was too exhausted to breathe, GOD gave me breath.  When I was more alone than ever, God gave me DIANA.

My mentor, my friend.  Diana was the friend of my manager at Starbucks.  She introduced us and little did we know what would happen next.  Diana was more than I deserved in a friend.  She was a breath of Grace into my life.  She taught me and poured into me.  We shared life together, we shared countless hours we should have been doing other things.  We shared our deepest parts of our souls.  She taught me SO much.

A year later, I learned that I even taught HER.

I was living and feeling more than ever before. 

I was walking in His strength daily.  I was attending Access Church, I was even teaching piano lessons to my Starbucks manager's son.  Carlisle was my faithful pal, forgiving me for the walks that turned into runs because I had to go back to work and snuggling me when I cried a little in my bed at night.


They also offered me promotion to shift supervisor at both Starbucks and Panera and the managers poured into me.

I worked with all my heart and lived with all my heart.  And prayed with all my heart.

And my prayers were answered.

On October 22, 2013, in Delaware Ohio this happened:

If you know me, you know this story and what is depicted in this picture.

If you don't, you don't know the story, but you just need to know this part.  GOD is enough.

God is ENOUGH. 

GOD IS ENOUGH.

He carried me through and walked beside me and I knew His promises to me were sure.  And I knew HE loved me and I knew He loved Dane and I knew that was enough.

The rest, as they say, is history.  The rest is just the details.

The meat is in that picture and in my heart.

Three Years of Marriage

God is MORE than enough.