Choosing to Live by Faith.

I sat in the living room on the couch, staring at my bible and devotion, with a knot in my throat.
I knew what I needed to do, but I was afraid to do it. I didn't want to do it.
The Holy Spirit was impressing on my heart that I needed to call and forgive my father. I had cut off all contact 7 months ago.
It was he who continued to break promises to me time and time again!
It was he who decided to live his life and excluded me!
It was he who tried to harm me!
As I sat on my couch, I said something like this out loud to God, "He hurt me! I will not find him."
Like the loving Father that God is, I sensed Him whisper in my soul, "You hurt Me with your sin, Meghan, but I found you. I'm rich in mercy and I have made you alive with My Son Jesus, so you can forgive your father."
At that moment I had a choice: Would I live by faith or not?
To live by faith meant that I would extend the same forgiveness to my father that Jesus extended to me.
I sent a text to the number I had. Wrong number. Told them thank you and God Bless.
Then I told God... See I tried I have no other number and there is no point. God told me "Meghan, keep trying and don't give up." I sent a message to my Aunt. She gave me his correct number. Eventually I found him.
I hesitated. I got knots in my throat and stomach.. I prayed time and time again "Lord.. WHY... WHY now. What are you trying to teach me, what are you wanting me to say? "
A few days went by. The Lord pressed upon my heart what he was trying to do. "Meghan, you are to call him and let him know that no matter how he may never know how much he has hurt you or the pain he has caused you that you FORGIVE him, that you LOVE him but most of all that I LOVE him."
I called him.
2 Corinthians 2:10 came to my heart. "When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ's authority for your benefit." I finished telling him what I needed to say.... He told me "Thank you. You picked a heck of a time to call. I am supposed to be moving back soon.. (turns out he isn't, he got a job somewhere else), I am sorry if I ever hurt you and I love you."
I have only talked to him 1 time since.
I will see how this turns out. I am still not sure what the next step is, but I know that with timing God will tell.
I love him and he loves me, all because I chose to live by faith.

Where did I leave off?

It has been CRAZY around the Rigdon household.

I had been having an health issue since November. At first we thought it was nothing and it would go away in due time. Well 7 months later and finally getting insurance to be able to go to the doctor. I go. She was not completely worried but definitely made me see the bigger picture if I had waited much longer.. She gave me the medicine and the medicine ran its course. While it was very painful during the process. I am back to normal..

DH started football about 2 weeks ago. I am so very excited for him. He is going to do a fantastic job. He is already looking ahead and thinking about what is going to help us in the future. Eventually I want to be a stay at home mom and be able to love on my babies.

We have talked about the kid factor, it seems like a lot lately. Which I absolutely in LOVE that we are thinking about starting to try, even though that it might not be in the immediate furture, but soon enough we have to start thinking about saving, weight loss, and things of that nature.

Other than the normal stuff. There isn't much to update on. Work is good, Married life is good.

It's Friday which means the weekend is almost here. So I hope everyone has a blessed weekend.

{i heart the skinny mirror}

You all know what I'm talking about whether or not you have ever named them: the skinny mirror, and the not so skinny mirror. Some clothing retailers get this small dressing room nuance completely right. Some just do not. With a certain tilt of the mirrored glass and the precise angle of the lighting fixture, a shopping experience can be glorious or disastrous.

On a regular trip to my favorite store with a friend, I encountered the not so skinny mirror. Those darling jeans clung to the wrong curves. That chic tank top did nothing for my figure. The bathing suit was beyond description. Within a matter of minutes the thrill of the bargain buy accelerated into a tailspin of self-critique. My mind was consumed with how I looked as I allowed the not so skinny mirror to determine my mood for the rest of the afternoon.

But before I infected my shopping partner with my self-pity, I felt the Lord say in my heart something I have not forgotten since this whole run in with that ill-fated mirror.

Meghan, your beauty and worth are not determined by what you see in a mirror. Take your focus off of yourself and find focus on Me.

Find focus on Him. A sense of relief came over me as I inhaled and exhaled those words.

These four words have become my battle cry when I face both the not so skinny mirror and the skinny mirror. Anytime I am more consumed with myself than I am with God, I focus on everything that is wrong in my life. {Hence the episode mentioned above!} On the flip side, anytime that I am more consumed with God than myself, I am better equipped to walk out of that dressing room with the understanding that I am ok. I recount the ways that He thinks I am beautiful; reminded that I am His creation and He finds me special.

So, I find focus on Him and I get over myself. It's a simple yet complicated truth, but one worth playing over and over in my mind. Maybe one day, God won't have to give me the pep talk as I step before the not so skinny mirror. But for now, I will go on facing it with His truth in my heart.

Honeymoon, Moving, Etc...

So I know we have been married for 16 days now and I am just now posting about our wedding and honeymoon.. It's been a little bit CRAZY lately...

Our wedding was PERFECT.. Everything I had imagined... Wedding started on time, no last minute emergencies, etc.. PERFECT..

For our honeymoon we went to Lake Conroe in Willis, Texas.. It again was PERFECT. Our condo was right on the lake, we ate breakfast on the balcony that was looking over the lake, J got to fish off the balcony everyday (and YES, I let him), one day we went down to Brazoria to eat with his aunt and then drove along the costal highway to Galveston where we rode the ferry, walked along the beach and picked up seashells so we can make a cross for our crosswall. Then we drove to Kemah where we ate at The Aquarium (pretty neat, but I wouldn't eat there again). We pretty much spent most of our time in our condo spending time with each other and relaxing...

We got back on the 12th and the following week was J's SB and he packed our stuff and got us all ready to move...Which we did this past weekend. We moved all the furniture and stuff on Friday and started unpacking on Saturday and decorated.. We almost have the whole house done. Besides a few boxes.

I will have to take pictures of everything and post them... So I guess all in all my first 16 days of being a MARRIED woman has been GREAT.

I LOVE my HUSBAND, my HOUSE, and our FURRY little CHILD aka dog :  )

Love & Belief,

Meghan

We signed the LEASE on our first place : )

Since we are getting married in March I figured it would be a good time to get out from under my parents wings and begin soaring through adult life.. This past week has shown me A LOT of what I was missing out on and showed me who I am becoming and a little bit of what GOD has in store for us.

We had been looking at places and we needed something close to SAGU so when J goes back there next semester he will be able to get there without having a car (since I will have the car driving to 1 of my 2 jobs, more on that below).. We had visited 4 apartment/townhomes complexs. All too high for our budget at the moment and too far away from SAGU... We drove over by the GU and turned the corner and saw this house that had been made into a duplex. I called the number and asked about the space for rent.. 2 bds 2 bths large kitchen... PERFECT.... We immediately drove to the lady's house and picked up an application. Jeromy and I filled it out and we began praying "Lord, if this is where we are supposed to be then we know that you will make it happen." Well we went and looked at the space on Wed. of last week. We gave her the application and she said that she would start calling our references. : ) By Saturday we were told that all we needed to do was to give her the deposit. Monday of this week we gave her the deposit, signed the lease, and got the keys : ) Needless to say we are both SUPER excited and thrilled to have a place we can call our own.

I recently began working another job. So now I have 2. I still work at the Roomstore and now I work for a Law firm with offices in Dallas and Fort Worth. I will be traveling to both every other week. I am super excited about the job and opportunity that it will give me.

We have trusted the Lord with all our this far and we will continue to do so. As well as adopt that saying.. As for me and my house we will serve the LORD : )

I will have to post pictures once we get everything set up and decorated :  )

I'm Thankful for.... Day 10

I'm Thankful for my friend Jasmine.. She has been my best friend since Senior year of High School and is now my MOH (Maid of Honor) at my wedding. She is here for me whenever I need her. I know she is just a phone call away : ) I love you girl...

I'm Thankful for.. Day 9

I'm Thankful for my friend Melissa. There are times that I don't know what to do and I'm just a mess. But she has a way of getting to me and getting me to realize that sometimes its not as bad as it seems : ) She is more like a SISTER than a friend.. I love you girl : )

I'm Thankful for. Day 8

I am Thankful for my Church. I attend The Oaks in Red Oak. I absolutely LOVE the vision that they have for our community and I feel like FAMILY when I walk in there. I love the worship and I love the pastoral staff and the heartfelt sermons that are preached on Sundays.

I'm Thankful for.. Day 7

I am Thankful for MY GOD. He has given me life and sometimes this life may be difficult and I may not understand it.. But I still thank GOD for my LIFE.

I'm Thankful for.. Day 6

I am thankful for my Brother. He welcomed me into the family like I was always supposed to be a part of the picture. He helped me cope during tough times.

I'm Thanful For... Day 5

I am thankful for MY GRANDPARENTS.. They have taught me what LOVE is. They have been married for 50 years this Thanksgiving : ) Not very many people can say that. I remember going and visiting them for half of my summers. I hope that one day I will be able to show and teach my grandkids the LOVE my grandparents have showed and taught me.