17 Things I Learned From Our Summer Living in a Cabin

This year our summer was much, much different than normal. Our house sold in April and we didn't have a permanent home yet, so our only option was to find a month-to-month rental that would allow us the flexibility to stay there until we found a home. It wasn't the plan I had for our summer. It wasn't the path I wanted to take. When we first put our home on the market, I kinda (foolishly) expected that we wouldn't sell our home until God brought us the right home to move to.

But God had a different plan. His plan included us living by faith for our summer. And that plan included us living in a cabin for 3 months, 1 week and 3 days to be exact.

It started out rough. And it ended rough.

Yes, the cabin was a roof over our heads, and for that we were thankful. But it wasn't our first option.

Yes, we had some good times there. Great memories. And we did things as a family that we would have never done if we didn't live there.

Even though we had many trials over the summer, I know God's plan for our summer was perfectly designed. As I sit here in our permanent home that God has given us, I realize just how much "cabin life" taught me. I realize just how thankful my summer in a cabin has made me. I learned things that I would have never learned in a more comfortable environment. I have become a person who has learned to thank God for every blessing in our lives...even the little things.

So, here are 17 of the many, many things I learned this summer:

1) I can live without most of the "stuff" I have.
We only brought a few suitcases to the cabin. We didn't have 99% of our kitchen stuff with us. I lived with the very, very basic things all summer. The same handful of outfits...the same few pairs of shoes. And do you know what? I survived! In fact I didn't even miss most of that stuff.

2) I own way too much stuff.
It's crazy unpacking a storage unit after more than 3 months. I saw things I forgot we even owned. I unpacked boxes of things that I realized I don't even need anymore. Living with just a few things all summer made me realize how many unneeded things I truly have.

3) I VERY much appreciate having a washer and dryer.
I am completely thankful every time I do laundry and I simply have to carry the basket of dirty clothes to my laundry room. I don't have to lug it across an entire hotel complex to the washer/dryer set they have on every floor. I don't have to pay extra to do laundry. I don't have to pray no one else is using the washer and dryer. I never was this thankful for my washer and dryer. Going without one for most the summer really made me realize how much I am thankful to have one in my home.

4) Cooking/Baking defines me more than I ever realized.
Try to cook a meal for your family with one working burner on the stove....AND without a working oven. Try going 3 months like this. Yeah. I missed baking sooooo much. I missed the ease of making meals with ample counter space and with working appliances. I will never look at my stove/oven the same way. I am thankful every single time I cook or bake anything!

5) I appreciate the permanency of having a dresser and closet.
Living out of several suitcases for 3 months is not fun. You lose things so easily. It's hard to not have places to hang up clothes so they aren't wrinkled. My closet and dresser are a source of thankfulness. I love that I can find my clothes without rummaging through a suitcase. I love that I have the permanency of not using suitcases on a daily basis!

6) I am a better worship leader when I actually have a keyboard in my home.
Boy, that was challenging to get music ready and plan worship when the nearest keyboard I had access to was 20 minutes away. I wasn't able to play music just to unwind at the end of the day. I wasn't able to just sit down and plunk out a new song when I heard it. I am so thankful for the ease of having a keyboard just a few rooms away from me!

7) I sleep much better at night when I don't have neighbors partying all night.
When you live in a cabin that's part of a vacation area, you are constantly confronted with people who are on vacation. And they don't care about sleep. Or noise. Or the fact the people next to them might not be on vacation and may have to get up at 6 in the morning for work. I am so thankful to be out of that environment and in a place where people are respectful of their neighbors.

8) I am very thankful for bathroom counter space.
I understand that pedestal sinks look kinda neat. But when that's your only bathroom sink for getting ready in the morning.....GRRRR!!! I can't count how many times things fell off the sink and crashed to the floor. I am so thankful for a normal bathroom that has more counter space!

9) I can survive without cable and internet.
3 months without cable tv. 3 months without internet in the house. And we survived! We didn't even miss our regular shows that much. Life became more about spending time together and going out and doing things. TV sure consumes you more than you ever realize!

10) Guaranteed parking gives me so much peace.
Let's just say that I spent many days coming home to find that our reserved parking spots were taken by vacationers. Now let's clarify this to say that the spots were directly in front of our cabin. Their spots were even labeled!!! I don't enjoy knocking on doors to ask people to move their vehicles. I am thankful to have a driveway that we know will be available to park in!

11) I am much happier living in Tomah.
Don't get me wrong, the surrounding towns are really nice too! But when you pastor a church in Tomah, it's SOOOO much easier to live in that same community! I missed being so close to our church. I missed not being able to see my husband on his lunch breaks. I am thankful to be back in Tomah, minutes away from our church.

12) I am not a "gas stove" type of girl.
This one doesn't need much explanation. I am more of a "set fire to a towel on accident" type of girl when I use a gas stove. Electric stoves are MUCH safer for me.

13) I sleep and get through life better without the sound of 3 dogs above me.
Noises in the cabin seemed to be magnified. The 3 dogs living above us often sounded like a herd of elephants. It's enough to pull you out of the deepest of sleep. I am so very thankful to not have neighbors above us.

14) Scooby has an aversion to wood floors.
Let's just say he had several "incidents" this summer involving sliding and falling since he couldn't get the same footing he was use to from carpet. Maybe this summer was practice for him since our new house has some wood floors. He is much more dainty on the wood floors now that he has learned the hard way!

15) I really like peanut butter ice cream.
We're not talking chocolate ice cream with peanut butter cups. I'm talking actual peanut butter ice cream. The gas station by our cabin had an AWESOME peanut butter ice cream that I became addicted to! I do miss having that so close to me...well....that's actually a good thing we don't live so close anymore, if you know what I mean!

16) Home is really where you make it....and where your family is.
Even though the cabin didn't "feel" like home, we made it our home for the summer. We settled in and accepted the path God had us on. We trusted Him through the hard times. We followed Him through the uncertainty. And while we were in the cabin, we made it our "home". We tried to laugh at the unexpected hard things. We tried to keep our faith in God. I wasn't the best at all this as I did struggle often. But that's where my family helped me through. We helped each other through this test of our faith.

17) SOOOOOOO much peace comes from having permanency.
I can't even begin to describe to you the weight that was lifted from us when our offer on our new home was accepted. Then another weight was lifted each time we signed papers or got further in our loan/closing process. And the moment we were at the bank and had the keys in our hand. Wow. I can't even begin to describe to you the weight we felt lifted. I couldn't even make it to our front door without tears streaming down my cheeks. We entered our house and both dissolved into tears of joy. There's something about going through a trial/test of our faith...and then seeing God's plan come to fruition! Our summer of trials was ALL worth it!

I learned to appreciate my home. I am so thankful for the things I would have taken for granted before. Without this summer, I wouldn't look at my home the same. Or my stove. Or my counter space. Or my driveway. The list goes on and on.

I cannot stop thanking God for our house. Each day that I wake up here, the first thoughts I have are how thankful I am to be waking up in our home. Several times during the day, I simply look around our house and thank God for His blessings. Every night as I shut off the lights around the house, I thank God for giving us a permanent home and for being so faithful to us.

God has given me such a peace and such a love for the home He gave us. I am beyond grateful for it. And I am beyond grateful for the path He took us on to get here. I see everything now in a whole new light. I am beyond thankful!!!

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait on God

When God prompted us to sell our house and move to a smaller house, I fully anticipated that we would know where we were moving to BEFORE we sold our house. I expected it. I mean, how could we sell our beloved home of almost 7 years without having a place to move to? In my mind, it just wouldn’t happen unless we had a for sure home to move into.

But that’s not how God works. He doesn’t always go by our plan…or our expectations. Sometimes He prompts us to stick our foot outside the boat and take a leap of faith. Sometimes His plan is entirely different than our plan.

And that’s exactly what happened! Our beloved home sold in April…..might I add, BEFORE we had a permanent house lined up. Can I tell you how scary that was? The unknown was terrifying. Where would we live? Would we find a house we liked as much? Were we doing the right thing stepping into the unknown? My fears had come true.

As we embarked on the journey of selling our house and packing up our stuff, I tried to keep a positive attitude as I knew deep down inside that God was behind all this. But can I tell you how difficult it was to pack up everything we owned and pack it into a storage unit? When would we get our stuff back? When would we have a permanent house?

We were walking down a road without being able to see the end. We were blindly following God’s voice and taking huge leaps of faith.

Now, before all this happened, I considered myself to have a lot of faith in God. I knew I trusted Him with everything. But this situation forced me to put all of that to the test. I had to trust God more than I had in a long time. I had to get out of the safety net and take many, many steps of faith.

After our storage unit was filled, we packed our few leftover belongings and shuttled them over to the cabin where we would spend the next phase of our journey. (Now that….that experience is meant for a blog of it’s own…..oh my!) Can I tell you how scared I was as I spent our last night in our house….our warm, inviting house…the house that held so many memories???? I was terrified! What would our future hold? And even though I knew God orchestrated everything, I still held onto that sliver of fear as I wondered if we did the right thing.

The next day we cleaned out every nook and cranny of our home and packed up a very worried dog and headed out to the cabin. That fear was still there….threatening to take over the faith that I had mustered up to get through this experience.

Did you know that having faith in God isn’t always easy? Sometimes we have to force ourselves to hang on to our Jesus and we fight the thoughts of fear that threaten to overwhelm us. I can’t tell you I did a wonderful job having faith through this journey. I had days where I broke down in sobs wanting more than anything to have a place of our own again. I had days where I didn’t think I would make it through. The unknown was so very hard. The waiting was difficult. I prayed and prayed that God would come through.

Even through my days of struggling, God was there. He gave me the strength to overcome the challenges we were faced with in our cabin experience. Even though I felt like I hit rock bottom at times, I know I came out of that experience a stronger person in God. I was forced to spend a summer practicing faith. I didn’t just say I had faith in God…..I had to walk it every single day.

While we expected our “temporary” house to be just a few weeks stay, it turned out to be over 3 months. Three months of finding a whole new level of trust in my God. Three months of leaning on God every single day.

I know “home” is where you make it. Home can be where your family is and it can even be a smelly old cabin. And I know some of you think it’s crazy I struggled so much just being in a temporary house. But you know, I struggled feeling like I was at “home” those three months. I didn’t feel like myself. I felt like part of me was missing. My place of comfort was gone. My place of rest was gone. I was in limbo. And that made it really hard to wait.

But God. But God was there. But my God is faithful. But my God rescued me!

My God opened some doors that were previously shut. My God made a way down a path that wasn’t suppose to happen. My God did what I consider a miracle to give me a home that I love even more than our beloved house of 7 years. My God knew if I just waited, He would come through on His promise. He knew that each and every day spent in the cabin would make me just that much MORE thankful for our new home.

I look back now and know that every step of the way was orchestrated by my God. Why did I ever fear? Why did my faith waver? Why did I ever doubt in His faithfulness?
No, it certainly didn’t happen in my timing. But what would I have learned if I was simply handed the thing I desired? I would have never gotten out of the boat. I wouldn’t have had a summer of an extreme faith journey. I wouldn’t have seen the hand of God work out every detail in perfect timing.

Sometimes God works in ways we don’t understand. Sometimes hard things happen. Sometimes things look like they just might fall apart on us. But those moments are the times when we learn the most about God….and about just how strong our faith is in Him. I realized this summer that my faith wasn’t at the level it needed to be. Maybe that’s why we waited so long for our house….maybe God was teaching me to lean on Him even more!

When God is leading you through the unknown...a waiting time, remember that God is near and He hasn’t forsaken you. It’s time to put on those running shoes and take a step out of the boat. Run to God…run fast towards His promises!!!

Trusting God in the Silence

Trust is a hard thing.

Trusting in people can be very difficult as people often fail us. People have shortcomings and don't always live up to our expectations. I remember when my husband and I started dating in college. I had a really hard time trusting him as I had been let down by so many people in my life. Was it his fault? Not all all! But he felt the result of my lack of trust and had to spend time building up my trust in Him. People are human. They make mistakes. So it makes complete sense that we might have a hard time putting our trust in people.

But trusting God.....well, that shouldn't be difficult at all....right?

I mean, God is always there for us. God never leaves us. So that should mean that we have absolute faith in Him and trust Him with anything. ...right...???

Why is it so hard to trust God? Why is it so hard to believe that our Creator God has everything under control?

I think the answer lies in exactly what I mentioned before. We are human! And because we are human, we want to be the ones in control.

I mean, think about a little kid playing with other kids their age. Don't they always try to take the toy for themselves?

MINE!!!!

"Mine" is such a common word for kids as they want to have everything they see and have control of the world around them. They are selfish because they haven't learned how to share and how to think about others.

Isn't that like us? We want to take control over our lives. We want to be in the driver's seat instead of handing the controls over to God...because handing the controls over to Him means that we are letting Him determine what happens!

Trusting God is just like that! It is all about handing the controls over to Him and letting Him navigate you through life. It means giving control to Him when things are going good. But it also means giving Him control when things aren't going good.

How often do we try to rip the steering wheel out of His hand when things don't go like we thought they would? We instantly take over as we think we know the best plan. But do we really?

Think of yourself as a small ant crawling in the tall grass of your yard. The ant doesn't see where the best route is...the ant only sees in front of himself. He won't know if there's a big log a few feet away. He won't be able to forsee the pit of sand coming up around the corner. And he definitely doesn't know where the attack dog is sitting in the yard.

Now picture God standing at the edge of the lawn looking over the yard...much like you would do when you stand in your yard. God sees the best route. God sees that log a few feet away. He knows where the sand pit is and He certainly knows where the attack dog is. If that ant...(aka...YOU!) listens to God's voice, He will help you navigate through all the rough areas of life. He sees the big picture. He knows the best route.

But what about the times God is silent?

You know what I'm talking about. Those times when you pray and you don't hear His voice. Those times when you aren't 100% sure of His plan. Those times when, as the Footprints in the Sand poem states, there was only one set of footprints. Those times when we feel alone.

Where is God then? How can we trust Him when He is silent? How can we trust Him when we don't see any results? How can we keep having faith when it seems like we are spinning our wheels and nothing is happening?

The bottom line is God is there in ALL those times.

He has never left.

He may be silent for a season. He may not speak to your heart in the time frame you wish. But that doesn't mean He is gone. That just means He is working behind the scenes!

Our God stands at the edge of the yard and continues to navigate us through life, even when it seems like He is silent.

In those times where you are waiting on God, have faith. He is still there.

In those times where it seems like you don't have an answer, keep trusting. He is working even when it seems like nothing is happening.

In those times where you feel like you are losing hope, keep pressing on. God hasn't left for a moment.

You can put your complete faith and trust in our God because He WILL come through!

It may not be in your timing. It may not be in the way you expected. But trust me, I know from experience, He is always there.

Whatever you are dealing with in your life right now, know that you can place that burden in the arms of your Jesus. He will never....ever....let you down!

Keeping in Step

My husband and I have recently embarked on a new adventure...of which I have been getting LOTS of questions about! And let me just say, I have had plenty of my own questions for God about this also! So let me address it here and answer all of your questions.

First off, yes, you are correct if you have wondered if our house is for sale...or if you have driven by and seen the sign and wondered if that was a figment of your imagination.

But to answer the most common question....No...we are not leaving Tomah!!! We are still pastors here and don't plan to change that anytime soon! We have had random people in town (people who we don't even know) come up to us and say they saw our house for sale and wondered if we were getting a different pastor position. Kinda funny how people know who we are and where we live and we don't even know those people!

We love being pastors here in Tomah. We love our church and all the people here. This is our home...and our family. So please rest assured that we aren't going anywhere anytime soon!

So then. Why in the world would we sell our house?

That's a question I've asked God myself many times in the past month. I absolutely love our home! We have 5 bedrooms which means we have enough room when all our kids are home...plus we have additional space for friends they might have over or for our parents if they are visiting. We have 2 living rooms, one of which has my office space where I work everyday. We have a gorgeous (and I mean GORGEOUS) screened in deck with a serene view. In fact, as I write this now, I am sitting on our deck which Scooby lounges here and watches for wildlife. Our deck is my perfect place for prayer time!

When I think about leaving this house, it makes me sad! We've put time and money into fixing up this house to be the perfect place for our family. It's home. It's my safe place. It's the place that makes me happy. It's the place my kids call home.

So when my husband posed the question a few months back about downsizing and moving to a different house, I was obviously completely against the idea. What....was he crazy? I would never leave my home. Besides the fact that I totally HATE the moving process. Why pack up everything and move across town? That seemed silly. His reasoning was that we certainly didn't need a 5 bedroom house that was this large when all our kids would be grown and out of the house in a very short time. I saw his point. But still...this is HOME!

As the months passed, my husband didn't say much more about his thought about moving. He made a few comments, all of which I quickly dismissed. In fact, one day we were going to a rummage sale in a neighborhood in Tomah and he said, "Would you ever want to live in a house in this area?" Again, I quickly shut down his thoughts.

Um...what do you think? I don't want to move!

Or so I thought.

God began to work on my heart. Slowly...yes...I take more time than some....

As we took our new youth pastors around to look at houses for them, something stirred within me. Something so foreign. I began to see myself living in a different place. It began to look exciting. It began to be an idea that I entertained.

Could I really do this? Is this really what God was speaking to us?

After much prayer since that point, my husband and I have discerned the voice of God is in fact leading us to put our house on the market. I know this is a God thing. He has stirred both of our hearts in the same direction. Me...just a bit slower than my husband...

Our heart's desire is to keep in step with the Spirit. We want to walk the path God has for us, even if it means taking steps of faith. And let me tell you, putting your beloved house on the market is definitely a step of faith!

What is God's plan for us? I don't know exactly. That remains to be seen. God doesn't show us the whole picture at once. I mean, if He did, we would have no reason to trust in Him, right? I know His plan is for us to stay in Tomah. I know that He has prompted us to put our house on the market. I know that He has led us to a house that we put an offer on (and has been accepted contingent on us selling ours). And this very house just happens to be in the same neighborhood where we were at the rummage sale when my husband suggested we move!

But beyond that???? It's all steps of faith. It's in God's hands now. It's up to Him to determine where this goes from here. We've done our part, now He does His part! He will either bring a buyer for our house...or He will have us stay in our house that we are in now.

I don't know know exactly why He's prompting us to do this. I just know we have to obey. The rest is up to Him.

If He doesn't sell our house, I will be happy staying here! And then you wonder why He would have us put it on the market if it doesn't sell. Well, maybe He just wants to see if we are faithful. Would we give up our house that we love if He asked us to? Would we follow him blindly?

And if He does sell our house, well I have to believe that our new house would be even better than the one we have now. I believe if we end up moving, I'll find even more "home" in that house. I also believe that He'll make that a home for our kids!

No matter what happens, we are just gonna stay in step with our God!

You Want Me to Do What, God?

Have you ever prayed about a really big decision you had to make....and waited patiently for God to answer you with the direction you needed to go?  You know what you would want as the answer, but you decide to take it to God and make sure that you are on the right track.....although you are already feeling certain that your "recommended" answer is surely the answer He will give you.

But then once you start to feel God direct you to His answer for you, suddenly you panic as you realize that it is NOT the answer you expected!!!  In fact, it's pretty much the direct opposite of what you wanted to do!

So do you accept His answer in complete obedience even though it's not what you wanted?  Or are you more apt to keep praying some more, wondering if you heard God wrong?  Or maybe you are hoping that His answer might change if you pray hard enough about it!

And then after days and maybe even weeks of praying...and praying....and more praying...you find that God's answer still hasn't changed.  That first nudge on your heart WAS in fact the answer He was giving you.

This whole process may seem silly...even childish.  But really, how many of us have done this before?  I know I certainly have.  In fact, I very recently have been praying about a big decision I needed to make and I found myself in a place where I was unwilling to accept the answer that I didn't want to hear.  And it was in this place that I started the cycle of praying over and over, hoping that God would change His answer so that I wouldn't have to be uncomfortable...or in a situation that I preferred not to be in.

Why do we doubt God so much?  Why do we question the answers He gives to us?  Why would we think that our wisdom is even an ounce better than God's wisdom? 

Maybe it's just our desire to control our situations.  Or maybe it's our fear of facing something that is hard.  Whatever it is, it's important to remember that if we are walking down the path God has for us, there is NEVER any reason to fear because He is by our side.  It's only in those times that we go off on our own and do our own thing that we take ourselves out of the will and plan that God has for us.

So even if it's hard...remember to accept the answers God gives to you and know that you can walk in confidence into any situation when you have God on your side!

Get Back in the Game

Today I accomplished something...

I ran 3.1 miles for the FIRST time since July 5th!  It felt so good to finally be back and able to run the distance I normally did before my broken ankle incident.  Now, I am slower than a turtle swimming in molasses...but at least I'm moving forward and getting better!

I do have to say that having a broken ankle ranked in the top 5 hardest situations I've ever been through.  I will truly never look at someone with a broken limb...or someone on crutches...the same way again.  My heart breaks every time I see someone hobbling along on crutches.  I know the pain.  I know how hard it is.  I know how it takes away so much of your independence and changes your life so drastically.

But I am a victor!  I have conquered this and am moving forward each and every day to be back to my "normal" running abilities!

But.........I am still dealing with one thing that is a result of my broken ankle.  After I was able to take my cast off, I had to wear an ankle brace to give support to my ankle.  The brace didn't fit that well in my running shoes, which were already 1/2 size bigger than my normal shoes.  Every step I took, I could feel my toes hitting the top of my shoe.

After a short while, I decided to invest in some shoes that were a FULL size too big, just to give my foot, along with the fashionable-looking brace, enough room.  That worked and my foot felt great.....well, for awhile...

Weeks later I have discovered that I have a lovely ingrown toenail...and that is a direct result of all the walking I did with my shoes too tight.

So why do I mention this?  Well the other day as I was chatting with someone about this, I said something that really made me think.  I said, "This silly toenail hasn't grown for months now.  It just sits here.  It's not moving or doing anything.  I wonder how long this is going to take for it to grow or finally do something!!!"

Wow....read that again....

"This silly toenail hasn't grown for months now.  It just sits here.  It's not moving or doing anything.  I wonder how long this is going to take for it to grow or finally do something!!!"

Immediately I was reminded about how powerful of a spiritual application those statements had.

Have we ever had periods of our lives where we didn't grow in God?  Have we ever just sat there...not doing what God intended for us to do?  Have we ever remained motionless spiritually....or just gone through the motions, not really diving into the path God has for us?  Have people ever looked at us and wondered how long it would take for us to grow?

The situations in life...the attacks of the enemy....the times where we are hit by so many battles....  All those things make it so easy to get "out of the game", spiritually speaking....  We feel wounded...wore out...defeated....  It's almost like the battle gets so fierce that we just bench ourselves and figure things will be easier if we just stopped trying.

But where's the victory in that?

Can I be bold enough to point out that in doing so, we are handing the battle over to the enemy and letting him win?

Believe me, I know what spiritual battles feel like.  They can be tiring and so very difficult....but just remember that we cannot lose with God on our side!

God is calling His people to move forward in Him....He is calling us to reach a new spiritual level...to not just sit and be content where we are at....to not just watch everyone else grow but stay stagnant ourselves.

He is calling us to get back in the game.  To pick up ourselves and march forward in victory. 

And even if you are as slow as my recent running, don't let it discourage you.  As long as you are moving forward, you are at least moving in the right direction!

Lessons From a Broken Ankle-Part 3

I use to look at people on crutches and think it was no big deal.  Though I have never had a broken bone, in my own mind, I didn't think it would be that bad.  You just get a cast right?

WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having a broken ankle means you can't just get up and walk across a room easily.  It means you need help doing even the simplest of tasks.  I found that I needed help carrying things...I couldn't just make my lunch and carry it to the table.  How can I do that on crutches?  I found that I needed help getting places...up and down stairs...etc.  I needed people to bring me things.  I needed help grocery shopping.  I needed help doing laundry.  I needed help going through doors into restaurants/stores.

Having a broken ankle means much time spent just sitting still, foot propped up with ice on it.  It means getting muscle spasms because certain muscles are not being used.  It means not being able to just get up easily in the middle of the night for the restroom.

Having a broken ankle means learning to use crutches.  It means getting everywhere slower than normal.  It means callouses on your hands from the crutches.  It means hopping up and down stairs very strategically so as to NOT fall......which I failed at two different times......

Having a broken ankle has changed my outlook on so many things!

First off, I have learned a new appreciation for my feet.  If you are able to walk on your own right now, count your blessings!!!!  I realized that I took being able to walk and run for granted.  I didn't realize how precious of a gift that is until I lost the use of one foot.

Secondly, I have learned what it's like to depend on everyone around you.  I am so accustomed to being independent and doing so many things for myself.  Breaking my ankle put me into an emotional mess of realizing that I had to depend on every person around me for just about everything I needed.  I felt like I was stressing my family out (which I'm sure I was.....).  I felt needy....I felt so horrible for suddenly having my independence taken away.

But you know what?  God reminded me that this dependence on others was EXACTLY what He wants us to do with HIM!!!!  How often do we try to do things for ourselves instead of depending on our Heavenly Father?  Instead of being out on our own, God wants us to look to Him and depend on Him for all the things we need.  Though it may be hard to give up our independence, things will always go better when we place all our dependence on Him. 

So, that being said, I guess this broken ankle has brought out some good lessons to learn.....  I know I will never again take my ability to walk for granted!!!!!!!!!!