General Update

Aimee got her license!! I am so proud of her. She was very nervous before the test, but she passed on her first try. Now she's convinced that we should let her take David's car any time she wants. (Yeah, right!) Soon she'll need to learn to drive my car (stick shift) so that she really can go more places by herself!

Chloe is sold! I was a little sad to see her go, but since I don't want to spend money each month to keep a large lawn ornament, it was a relief to know that someone else is going to love her and work with her. I won't miss working out in 20 degree weather but I will miss the fun I had with her on the ground. All my hard work paid off in one major way- she loaded into the trailer with NO PROBLEMS! One of her first owners told us that Chloe was "crazy" and took over 2 hours to load into a trailer as a young horse and there was no way she would even try it with her again. Is it wrong for me to want to call this lady and brag about how Chloe was loaded on the trailer within 10 minutes and was a little scared but still calm??!!

I had a tooth pulled 3 weeks ago and had a partial denture put in. (It may be the world's smallest!! lol) It's meant that I've made a trip once a week down to Florence, KY to have the thing adjusted. The pain has been excruciating at times and I've been taking a lot of advil but hopefully the process will be done soon. I would have gladly opted for an implant but cost was a major factor. I can add that to my wish list for Santa, I suppose. (Don't get me started on the whole dental insurance thing again!!)

I've also been meeting with the Jehovah's Witnesses once a week. Don't freak out- I am in no danger of being converted! I have to admire people who are so diligent in their beliefs that they go out every week to teach others about God's word (as they understand it.) It's been very interesting to learn what their beliefs are. I wish I had this opportunity with people from many other faiths/beliefs. I can understand and respect how they've come to believe most of what they do, but in my heart I KNOW it's not quite right. It's made me more and more grateful for having the true gospel in my life. I know how arrogant that sounds, but after learning about so many other religions (including Christian denominations) nothing fills me with the sense of peace that Mormonism does. It doesn't mean that I never doubt or question some doctrine, but when I look at what else is out there- I haven't found anything that has so much truth in it.

A lot of my scripture study lately has been directly related to these sessions with the Witnesses. It's been great to go back over our basic doctrines and study the scriptures more in depth to see what I think God's word says. It has really strengthened my testimony. (I'm sure the Witnesses would be disappointed to find that their study has had the opposite effect of what they're hoping for!)
It doesn't surprise me at all that there are so many different religions all based on only one bible. If I can read one thing and think it means something, and then have them read the same thing and find out they think it means something entirely different... it doesn't take much to imagine how many other interpretations there would be! I think that they think I'm nuts sometimes when I tell them what I believe because it's often drastically different than their own beliefs! I wish everyone had the opportunity to try to see their beliefs through someone else's eyes. It's fascinating.

David has some great news. One of his sons, who he hasn't seen in almost 17 years (they were adopted by their step-father) is coming to visit! We are really excited about this. He will be here the week after Christmas and we are looking forward to getting to know him better. Aaron, David's son, has gone through a real transformation over the past few months. He used to be bitter and very angry about the past but has worked to forgive, move on, and accept Christ's healing power. It's amazing to hear the difference.

Most of my days are plenty busy but with the kind of stuff that no one really wants to hear about. I guess that's why I haven't been blogging as much lately. I'm happy enough when there isn't a lot of drama in my life so it's not a bad thing to just be doing the stay-at-home Mom thing.