The rollercoaster ride.

Whew. Life has been such a rollercoaster this week.

First the launch of my video blog and the announcement of the workshop. Some highs and lows with that, but God is still good all the time, and all the time God is good. I'm excited to share that the Vegas workshop is almost booked up with only a few more spots left! We have people coming from all over like Australia, Japan and Germany! Soooo exciting! Just a reminder that the contest deadline is MONDAY for those wanting to enter! And in case you missed it, I did make an edit after some people asked if they could participate in the contest even if they weren't going to be in Vegas. The answer is YES, and if you win, while you will get the prizes from Pocket Wizard, Trendy Camera Straps and Camera Dojo, you would need to pay forward your spot to someone else in the workshop, since that was the original purpose of the contest.

Then last night, my heart broke a little as I realized I had to give back my sweet new little Maggie. Her original owner's situation worked out with their home and God provided a way for them to keep Maggie. So as much I hate to lose her and the cute bundle of joy she brought to Rhett and I's life this past week, it's more important to me to provide her back into the loving home she came from. I know how much my friend missed her, I can't even imagine if I had had to give up Rhett suddenly, but I am looking forward to being like an aunt to Maggie and still scheduling play dates for her and Rhett often.

Then even more personally, an update on my dad. There has been a lot going on behind the scenes that I haven't written about on here because unfortunately his time is coming closer to an end. Yesterday began the process of bringing Hospice into my parent's home for his final transition. Basically his tests are showing there isn't any improvement going on, and he is continuing to lose dramatic amounts of weight, so my parents and the doctors have decided to shop chemo and just let things ride out as God wills it to. Naturally, it's a hard thing to gulp transitioning into that phase where hope is dimming and knowing deep down the inevitable that is about to happen in a few months. But as my mom said on her blog recently, while the title of her blog is called "Johnny's Journey To Victory", and yes, we hoped that would mean victory in overcoming the cancer here on earth, instead we are at peace knowing that the true victory is found in Jesus and that He will be welcoming home my dad very soon in Heaven! As always, thank you to those who have been on this journey with us covering our family in prayer. We have truly felt God's presence and peace because of your prayers and how graciously my mom and I's blog communities have come together surrounding us in love. I talk more about this more in my upcoming video blog as a personal thank you from my heart to yours. :-)

So despite the rollercoaster ride this week has been and the trials I've had to endure, I have been meditating on this beautiful word of God:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."
~James 1:2-3

May that bring hope to your day as well!