More to come....

To all of you...my dear friends and family,

Wow are we on a journey!! Never in my life did I see myself sitting where I am at this very moment and I don't mean on the couch in my living room! ;) As most of you know I was recently diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma. I know right??!! Surprise!! We all (or most) of us know this kind of stuff NEVER happens to us!!! If it does happen to people close to us or anyone in our circle or community of people I can now say that we have no clue what it feels like. No one can know what it feels like to sit in these shoes. Not unless it was you yourself who has walked in them. During this next year I want to share with you all of my story and my experiences not because I decided to but because while I sat in my hospital bed waiting to leave the hospital....before I even knew I had cancer God told me to "shout your story from the rooftops and to be bold about Me and My Love for My people". I had a wake up call about life and how much of a beautiful gift that it is and THEN I found out I had cancer. WHAT?!?!? That seems backwards right? Its true though God was preparing me for the words that I would soon hear and those words changed my life even more!!!!! God has clearly shown me that I am going through this and through HIM it will serve a great purpose. He desires me to allow Him to be seen in a great and mighty way through all of this and that His love be poured down on His people. He wants to use this situation to draw people to their kness and cry out to HIM!!! He wants to show HIS faithfulness to us. He wants us to know what it means to truly trust in Him. I want you all to know that I will be sharing my story from the beginning and it will begin with the birth of my beautiful sweet Paisley Mae. Please be patient as I share the pieces of a beautiful story that you won't understand until the picture is being painted for you. I will tell you now that GOD IS SO GOOD and He has orchestrated my circumstances in the most perfect way!!! Be ready to be blown away at how much God loves us and cares so much about the details of our life. I love you all so much and have been so encouraged by your sweet words and your promises to pray for me. I ask that you continue to do so as we travel this road together. Blessings on all of you and you will be hearing from me again very soon.<3

A love letter

These last few months have been CRAZY but I don't mean crazy in the sense of chaos or being super busy and hectic. I mean crazy as in totally uncomfortable and different than what I have ever experienced. You have to understand where I am coming from....

For the past 10 years I have been completely covered in love by people around me and drenched in encouragement and fellowship. In High school it was West Hill Baptist church and all of the amazing people and mentors God put in my life as I grew into the young lady God desired for me to be. People like the Hamiltons, The Price Family, the Craycraft Family, the Carpenter Family, the Davenport family, the Miller family, the Chambers, the Livingstons, the Heinys.......seriously I wish I could name you all. I didn't even mention the friends that walked with me daily through my struggles and the newness of what being a Christ Follower meant. Friends like Rachel Chambers, Ashley Cherilla, Cody Davenport, Josh Saefkow, Stephanie King....and the list continues ;) God only knows how your love helped carry me through some very hard times in my life. No matter what was going on I always felt loved and I had encouragement coming out of my ears. So thank you for all of you who loved me beyond measure.

Then I went from Wooster Ohio to a place called Lynchburg VA to attend Liberty University to become a "champion for Christ" and one of "Jerrys kids" (That term now puts a smile on my face.) WOW I had no idea what I was getting myself into. College was such an amazing experience. God taught me so much about life and love and what it meant to walk with Christ. I learned so much about His word and how to replicate it in my life. Not only was God teaching me about living through his word but he blessed me with so many amazing brothers and sisters in Christ that I was able to watch implement Christ daily in their lives. What an honor and privilege that was. I would love to list you all and give you the credit you deserve...not to give you glory of course but to honor you for being open to being used by the Lord. Liberty was such a great time in my life. God showed me things that I would never dream of. He showed me a life I would never think possible for myself. He gave me visions and dreams that I never thought possible.
College was simply amazing and I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING...debt and all! (well, I would give up the debt but would also pay it again if I had to)

After College......same goes. The Lord kept people in my life and gave me great new friends and community as well. I lived with some awesome girls in a house outside of Lynchburg. I love you Athena, Heather, Josie, Amber and last but not least Patches. This was interesting:) Oh how I miss you guys!! We had some amazing times. This was a new stage in my life spiritually. God began to shed light on some very dark areas of my life. Past hurts that I never realized were even effecting my daily life. He gave me an awesome friend to share all of this in.....Patches. Wow, how the enemy tried to break us apart for God would be glorified had we remained friends. But with all Glory to God we stood strong and God rocked our world BIG TIME!!!!!
We both found healing through faith in Jesus. Healing that would forever change us. I was freed from bondage that was holding me down. It all started by obeying the Spirit of the Lord telling me to walk into an office of a man I didn't know named Alistair McPherson. This is the phase in my life when I learned what it truly meant to fight against the "rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms"


I had learned so much in the previous years as I grew in the Lord but somewhere the realness of the daily spiritual battle we fight got lost. I thank God for this very difficult time in my life where he let me look a demon in the eye and say FLEE FROM HERE!!! I was FOREVER CHANGED. The world was different to me after that. I could see a different type of beauty in life. <3 A big thank you to all of those who allowed God to be glorified in this. In all these years mentioned God also allowed me to travel to different countries and taught me so much through that as well. He showed me what my future could look like. He gave me a glimpse of what He desired for my life. Nothing mundane or complacent.....no way. He desired something RADICAL, something that would change the World and I would like to say that I said "Here I am send me" especially after seeing God in all his Glory. Eventually I did GO.....I went to the Middle East and God continued once again to prune me.....and it hurt. I like to call this phase of my life "DETOX OF SELF" You know.....I just mentioned it.....God showing you himself in all of His fullness.....and then you realizing " "

"Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."

It was that kind of season for me....I felt like that nearly every day. But lets not forget that the Lord doesn't leave us like that.......

Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isaiah 6:6-7


THANK YOU LORD FOR THAT!!!! What an awesome time for me.I met amazing people from all over the world and made lifetime friends. So much love and so much encouragement was given during this time. What more can one ask for?!?! During this time words were also spoken over me time and again. One being that I would meet my husband <3 WOW, who would have thought?!?!?!? I am now Mrs. Tompkins so Glory to God for that!!!!

Then a brief time in Ohio Thank you Nussbaum family as well as all my family in Ohio.
Then a year in Virginia with the Baileys, the Frasers, Patches Fuller, Melissa Arcand, the Arthurs, the Gregorys, the Crosiers, the Q family, the Mcphersons, All Souls and One Community. Such a short time with great friends.I love you and miss you all SO MUCH!!!

Then our 1 month road trip on the way to AZ=AWESOMENESS

Now to my point. ARIZONA: My new home. Living with the in-laws, buying a house, Greg is going to culinary school and LOVING IT!!! I know we are where we are suppose to be for now but it is so STINKING HARD!!!!!! As you have seen in the history of the past 11 years of my life I have been flooded with amazing people at all times........Now, not so much...and that is what I mean when I say it has been uncomfortable and "crazy" It has been so different than what I have known for soooo long.

The Walmart run that should have only taken 15 minutes but ended up being 2 hours is now very much missed. Welcomed interruptions while reading at a local coffee shop.....those don't happen anymore. Familiar faces as you walk through town or honks from friends while running down Rivermont AVE. These are now just sweet memories. All of this is so incredibly sad for me. I miss community, long talks, coffee with friends,bible studies, dinner with friends and game nights.
All of this change has been difficult for me. It is now time to make new friends and find new community.

This has all made me think about the things we take for granted. And I assure you that your friendships mean the world to me and I am ever so grateful.

Arizona is wonderful and I have one friend who enjoys my company (I think) Thank you Kelly Ray.

And thank you to my wonderful husband who would do anything to make me happy. I feel that I don't deserve him at times. I am so happy that he is fulfilling a desire and dream to become an amazing Chef for the soul purpose of loving God and sharing Gods love to others in a very real and practical way. Of course my in-laws have also been amazing and opened there home to us for a time in order to continue to save for our house. We are indeed blessed.

I am totally outside my comfort zone. I at one time thought that I could be anywhere and be comfortable. I am now proven wrong. Now another lesson to learn: Being completely content with Christ...and no one else. I am pretty sure I have learned this before! But here I am again. You would think that I would have kept that hidden in my heart the first time right?!?!? Prayers would be appreciated.

Blessings and Love to you all
and a Big Thanks for you have ALL made my life so wonderful and have taken part in shaping the person I am today.

THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving,

What an awesome time of year you are in. We have the awesome crisp air to breath in boots to wear and scarves to adorn our necks. I am a big fan. I would also like to mention the amazing additive of pumpkin to any and every dish. I should also give a big shout out to all the spices that actually give pumpkin the spice it needs to be so amazingly flavorful! We cannot forget about sweet potato pie and sweet potato casserole. Yum! The food is an also an amazing part of Thanksgiving. I think we would all agree on that as well.

My favorite part of Thanksgiving is always family and friends. This is by far the best part for me. With out family and friends none of the other attributes that come with Thanksgiving would bring me so much joy.

That is why I write today. This Thanksgiving I was so thankful for my family and friends......though most of them were not in my presence they were in my thoughts more than ever. I love thanksgiving with my family. As crazy as we can be it just feels good to be all together. Yes, there may be loud voices and the smell of cigarettes which by the way I HATE. It may be hectic and crazy with over drinking family members and kids running around and sometimes arguing. None of us are perfect and we are all very different but together we are family and it is beautiful. So, I'm not going to say I missed the smokey smell that lingers on my clothes and hair for days and all the drama that can come with the reuniting of family but I will say that I would have rather had it than not. ;) Thank you Lord for family and not just any family but the beautiful and colorful family you gave me!!!

Dear Family,
I love you and I miss you. I love that we are so close and make a big deal out of a special day. I have a lot to be thankful for but your are by far first on my list!

Thankful we will be all together next year!

Distance makes the heart grow fonder

We all know the saying "distance makes the heart grow fonder".

I can say that right now being thousands of miles away from some of the most important people in my life this rings very true in my life.

My heart was so blessed a few days ago by a note I was tagged in on facebook. It was a conversation that my nephew Korben was involved in. He is only six and he has no idea what his precious thoughts and words meant to me but they were such a blessing. (Thank you so much Janet for sharing them with me )

Korbens conversation with Mom Janet:

After dinner tonight we were sitting at the table talking and Korben (who just turned 6) says......."Mom, why don't you give me money?" If you want me to give you money you have to do chores for it? "What's chores?" Feed the dog, give her water, keep your room clean, stuff like that. " Oh, OK" ( as he's filling the dog's food bowl). I'll water her so you don't spill it. "No I can" (as he drips water across the kitchen). Fills it half full and takes it back (dripping all the way.) Gets the towel and cleans it up too!). "What else?" You done with your plate? "Yep." (Takes the plate, rinses it, AND puts it in the dishwasher.) By the time we were done talking about chores the kitchen was done! Korben, what are you going to do with your money? "Put it in my bank and save it." Good deal, what are you going to buy with it? "I want to save it so we can go to Arizona so I can see Aunt Amber." GAVE HIM A DOLLAR!

I KNOW!!!! How precious is that?!?! I love my nephew and how beautiful it is that he would want to spend his hard earned money to come and see me. I hope that when he is a teenager he still feels the same way ;)

So first off, I need to thank God for the blessing and how He loves us through people. I know that was God himself loving me through Korben. It was a love letter straight from God himself.

All day I have been thinking about the whole idea of how distance makes the heart grow fonder and how I miss my friends and family so much. Then it dawned on me how much I miss the Lord. I know, I know, your thinking He is always with me but what you don't know as that I am not always "being" in His presence.
I don't know about you but I don't want distance from the Lord to make my heart grow fonder. I want sitting in his lap everyday to make my heart grow fonder. There is something about tasting the Lords goodness. Once you have, it is never satisfying to be distant. Something is always eating away at you. Something always feels as if it is missing. Life is just a little off beat.

I asked myself today. DO you think the Lord needs a love letter from you? A reminder of how much I miss him too? Just as I was blessed by knowing how much my nephew misses me I think the Lord wants that from me as well.

He wants me to save up all my "dollars" to spend time with him. ;)
This is so juvenile and simple, I know.

But sometimes that's what we need. A "simple" reminder.

May we sit with the Lord daily and listen to Him as He speaks. May we give him all our "dollars" or time or whatever it is he wants from us.

Thank you Father

and thank you Korben!

Blessings, from another child <3

Away We Went....

On August 16th my husband and I set out on a venture to our new home in AZ. Rather then go straight to AZ we thought it to be a much better idea to use this as an opportunity to travel some of the states on our way (or out of our way) there. The idea of this traveling adventure was yes, to see some of our own country but more so just to see some people that we both love.

The hardest thing about this trip was knowing that YES we were about to see a lot of people we care about but in doing so we were about to leave some people that we love very much and have been sharing our life with. It would be an understatement to say that it was very difficult to say goodbye. But we did it....we shared a few more days together and we did it. We said good bye or what I like to say "see ya later" and away we went.

You see, we moved to Lynchburg VA. after we got married because some of my very best friends live in that town and I wanted to share my life with them for a few more years before leaving the states again. Greg was going to go to a culinary school that was starting in the fall and it was the "perfect" plan. Well, if you too are living this great life in hopes to honor and glorify God with your life and to be obedient no matter the cost....(which I fail at time and again) you also know that many if not most of the time your plans seem to change. Well, that's exactly what happened. God told Greg to go to AZ and with a hesitant wife he was patient in the planning. But finally this stubborn girl let go of her fears and said yes.(that's a whole different blog)

So here we are. We are now in AZ. We have been here for about 3 weeks and I am more out of my comfort zone than possibly when I spent time in the Middle East. With that said I have a lot of free time on my hands. Time that I honestly don't know what to do with half of the time. So in the spirit of deciding its time to do all(or some) of the things that God had been telling me to do for A VERY LONG TIME. I decided it was time to start "that" Blog. A little late yes, but started none the less.

So for the next few blogs I will catch you up on some travels that we took as well as some lessons along the way. Be patient dear reader for I have a lot to say and well a lot of time to say it all. ;)

Love and Blessings