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Recently my husband, Tom, and I decided to redecorate our bedroom.  As part of the new decor Tom wanted to have "Trust God's Love"  scribed above the bed.  The art came out beautifully as the attached photo shows, but that is not what is on my mind today.

It seems that since we have posted this note of inspiration/thought I have been presented with a variety of challenges that force me to remember those words. 

Many items in my life that are normally stressful have become overwhelming.  I continue to question if I am where God wants me to be.   

As the days come to a close and I have the few precious moments driving in my car from work to home, I pray and a small voice reminds me "Trust God's Love". 

Trust that He will direct me in the best way possible.  Trust that He has a plan that I don't understand at this time, but may someday.  Trust that just as I take care of my children and do what is best for them, He loves me so much more and will do the same.

So as I start today, still feeling a bit overwhelmed, I will again remind myself to Trust God's Love. 

The saying goes, "It takes a village to raise a child", if this is true I would like a few of my fellow villagers cast out!  Before anyone thinks I am being irrational, let me explain.  I am trying to raise my children to be respectful, resourceful, functioning members of society and thanks to a few of my fellow villagers this is getting harder each day.  Take for example a small thing like Winter Formal. 

My 15 year old daughter is a freshman at Frontier.  She let me know that formal was coming up and that she wanted a new dress.  "Fine", I said,"Save up your money and buy one." You see, in our family the children receive an allowance.  My husband & I hope that through this our children will learn the responsibility of handling money and that if you spend the money on nonsense items instead of saving, when you really need/want something you will not have the funds. 

The allowance is theirs to spend on whatever they chose.  Or as I have explain to them "If the only person who benefits from an item/event is you--then you must use your allowance." To me Winter Formal falls into this category--it is an optional, entertainment event and if she would like to go she should pay for it. 

But it seems that other villagers are not of the same mindset.  In fact my daughter quickly let me know that her best friend's parents had bought her a dress for formal that cost "over $400!"--WHAT?? Oh and it didn't stop there--another friend was getting extensions costing over $500 for the event, and another was renting a limo!  Did I miss something here?  these are Freshman & sophomore kids--not the senior prom--no a winter dance!

So you can imagine the tireless conversations we had to have, as my daughter continued to tell me how her dad and I were so mean, unfair, irrational, etc. because the example of the other villagers was no the same.

This is the same type of conversation we have on a continued bases regarding things such as Myspace, a personal cell phone (we have a "shared kids phone" for when they go out), talking to friends after 9 pm, hanging out at the Marketplace, dating, having to buy her own car when she drives to name a few.  I am tired of these conversations and really wish a few more of the villagers would use their heads when raising their children rather than handing them any material item asked for without hesitation.

So how did it turn out? Well, my husband and I stuck to our principals as I took my daughter shopping, with her own money .  She purchased a darling dress & shoes with the $60 she had saved, spending the final $35 on the ticket to the dance. 

The sky did not fall, nor did the earth move because my daughter had to make a financial decision on her own.  She attended the same event, had the same fun and when I picked her up at 10 from the dance I could not tell which girls spent $100's of dollars compared to those who wore a sisters hand-me-downs.