Resolutions

This year, Hays and I decided to find a church and join it. This is our major goal for the next few months. I am Episcopalian, and Hays is very comfortable with the Episcopal Church, so we have decided that this is the denomination for our family. Yesterday we went to church for the first time, I am embarassed to say, in MONTHS. I have been so tired and sick that on Sundays all I want to do is sleep in, but since that is starting to ease up a little bit, I have made the commitment that when we are in town on Sundays, we will be going to church.
I really enjoyed the sermon we heard yesterday. It was about "Mountaintops and Valleys" and basically said that you feel God there when you are in a great place in your life, but it is so much harder when you are in the lower points in your life. It also said that Christianity is not a religion of feelings, but of FAITH. I really felt like this applied to me for several reasons, a few of which I will mention.

I have felt lately like some people think I am much less fun and interesting now that I am pregnant. I am finding out who my true friends are, which I think is a good thing, all things considered. But it has really made me sad and has made me reevaluate what is really important to me. Even though we didn't plan this pregnancy, we feel like it is such a blessing and a wonderful gift from God. We are so excited and as much as you may try not to, when you are pregnant it takes over every part of your life. It is the first thing you think about when you wake up in the morning and the last thing when you go to bed at night. You eat, sleep, drink, read, and dream around it. But it doesn't mean that it is everything that I am now, or everything that I want to talk about. I still need my friends and my family, and many, many people understand that, but a few do not, or just don't care.

This applies to my faith discussion because I have faith that even though I may not understand my feelings now or how other people may feel about it, I know God is taking care of me, Hays, and the little gift He is busy making for us. I know somehow He is using these feelings and situations to prepare me for what is down the road and to help me to understand my true character and the kind of family member and friend that I want to be from now on. He is helping me to understand what a precious gift Hays is and to appreciate that He brought us together at the perfect time.

Right now, I may be in a little "valley," but I know I see mountaintops in my future.