Finally Back...

I guess it seems like I just completely dropped out of the blog world, and I guess I did, but WOW, it's been a crazy couple of months...

There's so much I want to update you on (if I still have any readers), but I'll do that over the next week or so, today I just wanted to tell you about Abby...

Before I do that though, one sweet bloggy friend sent me a note during my absence and I just wanted to say thank you K... You were a real encouragement!

So, about Abby... We have a new neighbor! They're a sweet family and their 5 year old daughter (I'll call her 'M') has really latched on to Abby. They play great together and she's over at our house most days.

It's been interesting though to watch Abby in this new situation. Abby can really hold her own with her older siblings, but for some reason, she has a harder time with miss 'M'...

'M' is not shy at all and when she's over, she goes and gets whatever she wants to play with (I'm totally fine with that, I like for the kids on our street to feel at home here, within reason) but sometimes she gets something that is really special to Abby, specifically her little Asian baby doll that we gave her when she first came home.

Abby has such a tender, generous heart that even though she doesn't want to share this one special doll, she finds it hard to tell her no.

The first time it happened, little 'M' wanted to take her doll outside. I could watch the conflict play across Abby's face and I quickly intervened and told 'M' that her special doll needed to stay in the house.

Abby was visibly relieved and I was rewarded with a grateful smile (the kind that will warm any mom's heart!)!!

A few days later, they were playing inside and 'M' wanted to play with Abby's special doll, which Abby had been playing with... Now, I am a HUGE advocate of teaching our children to share, but I also believe that they're entitled to have some things that are special to them. Especially since Abby probably had her first 6 years of not being able to claim anything as her own, I feel very strongly that she should have a few things that are just hers...

Well, as this conflict started to play out, Abby immediately looked up at me, with a 'what do I do now?' look... I quickly jumped in and explained to 'M' that this was Abby's special doll and one that she only had to share if she wanted to... 'M' was very sweet and said 'Oh, I didn't know that.' and was quite content to play with the other dolls.

Once again, my heart just overflowed... I loved that Abby's trust has grown so much that she knows she can look to me to help her and it's her first instinct to do so...

And as usual, that got me thinking! That's EXACTLY what our Abba Father wants from us! Today, I had to go and get my new prescription for my glasses. As the lady was writing up my order, she started to tell me how her relationship had just ended and how hard it had been. Turns out she has been divorced twice and had been in this relationship for 5 1/2 years.

I didn't have a clue what to say and immediately I said a little prayer, "Lord, what do I say?" But it seemed that I was just supposed to listen and tell her how sorry I was...

But after I realized that I had just done the same thing that Abby did with me...

I looked to my Abba Father for help. I've uttered those little prayers of help a thousand times, and every time my Abba Father comes through for me... Sometimes He gives me words, sometimes a heart to listen, but when I look to Him, I ALWAYS have peace that I handled it in the way I was supposed to... Over the years, my trust has grown and now it's a natural response for me to look to Him with a "what do I do now?" look in the eyes of my heart.

And I have to think that it pleases Him as much, if not even more, as it did when Abby trusted me to help her.

What an awesome God we love!!

(P.S. It's good to be back...)