Our Luck...

...is "weird luck," as Cody cleverly termed it. I termed it "bad luck" but I like the term "weird luck" better. You see, we made the 6 hour drive down to Harrogate, England to check our American post office box that had 7 packages, including Christmas gifts, that we had to pick up. We time these orders so that we could go down last weekend and have the packages for Christmas. I also packed up our Christmas gifts and cards to send off. AFter MUCH unexpected traffic, we arrived just in the nick of time to mail off the packages...only to discover that the post office had closed with no advanced notice...the ENTIRE post office. As a friend of our's here put it, "so, you went postal at the post office..." well, not Cody but me! I ABSOLUTELY LOST IT!!! After I had cried, hyperventilated briefly and banged my head against the glove compartment, all the while saying, "I want to go home," Jackson commented, "Mommy hit her head!" Ok, he was very accurate, and now, I giggle recalling it all, but at the time, I simply responded, "Yes, Mommy is very sad right now," and he was ok with that response. Long story short, Cody got in touch with someone, and although we do not have the packages, we were able to get our Christmas things mailed to others. That was the most important part.

So, back to the "weird luck..." Here's the reason I like that term...it doesn't imply that it is "bad" but just different luck. And, not believing in luck, really, Cody and I decided that God has finally gotten through to us. We were brought to Scotland for the trials and to learn to rely on Him through them. If you haven't been following our blog for long, it seems like every bit of getting here and living here has been a trial for us...right down to the everyday living of life. And, although I've tried to believe that God brought us here for other reasons, I do believe the number one reason is for the trials. It was cool to realize that and to look back on the last year since we began our move to Scotland and know that God has been there to guide us through every trial, to give us a good outcome...and to move on. As a friend so eloquently put it on her blog, God doesn't call us to win the race but to finish it. I do believe that our "race" as a Blake family includes a few years of trials...to remember to learn to rely solely on 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." James 1:2

"Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:13-14