Smile

The challenge over at "I Heart Faces" this week is 'smile.'  I love this picture of Jesse's cousin and our new cousin-in-law, right after they are pronounced man and wife.  Such sweet and excited smiles.  I think the black and white helps keep this simple.

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January 9, 2011

I couldn't decide on which one, so today gets three.

I feel that Zeke is encouraging Lily to crawl so they can play.

I just wanted to show off her first pair of jeans.  I was really excited. 

365 Day Challenge

Well.  I've re-vamped my blog, and am going to give this challenge a try: I'm going to try and take at least one picture of Lily per day for a year.  I realize it sounds easy, but I see this being more difficult than I anticipate.  I highly doubt I will blog each day, so more likely, we'll see one blog post with several pictures to catch up :) a fellow blogger inspired me (thanks, Kelsey!), so we'll see how this goes.  

I've thought about doing this in the past, but always told myself I wouldn't follow through.  Not sure I will this time, but it's worth a shot, right?  If I don't try, it'll never happen. 

And as my oh-so-sweet husband pointed out, I'm several days behind.  Big deal, I'm starting today!  Well, yesterday, since I took the first picture then. 

I will also post other things, like the I Heart Faces challenges on here.  Let me know if you would like to be sent email updates on these so you don't miss the pictures.

January 7, 2011

January 8, 2011

 And away we go!

waiting..

So Sunday, the pastor of our church had a sermon on waiting.  While I normally can take something out of every sermon (ok, most..), it's kind of rare that I feel I can really relate to the topic.

He began with Genesis 41, where Joseph is called upon in the pharaoh's court to interpret dreams.  V. 1a says "When two full years had passed.."  Two.  Full.  Years.  Ouch.  The background on this is about how Joseph had interpreted dreams for two of his fellow prisoners, and upon release, the kings cupbearer had promised to mention Joseph to Pharaoh so that Joseph might be released.  That was two years ago.  And Joseph still hadn't heard anything, and likely, had given up hope.

The pastor posed the question to us, the congregation: what are you waiting for?  How long have you been waiting?

I really don't have the greatest amount of patience in the world.  I mean, I have some..but when it comes to something I really want, the patience is pretty much gone and unheard of.  You can ask Jesse and my family about this..it's true.  But really, the things I want pale in comparison to being released from prison: and prisons back then were beyond worse than they are today.

Pastor continued by discussing the period of waiting, and how we should examine that time to look for lessons God might be trying to teach us along the way.  Additionally, it doesn't matter when we want things to happen..it's all about God's timing, which will always be when it will bring the most glory and honor to God.

I mean, I guess- and know from some experience- that the waiting can be hard.  But in the end, it will be worth it.  It will bring glory to God, and work out in the best possible way..even better than you had ever imagined.  Even when (maybe) two years have gone by, God still has your best interest at heart and knows what will be best.

I finally decided that since I haven't written on this blog in several months it was high time to do so. Not that I have anything super important to say, but since it's my blog, I will say it anyway.

It's really been bothering me this summer how much people complain when they have been blessed with so much. I am 100% as guilty as the next guy, don't get me wrong, but I have really been working on this because it has been driving me up the wall. Jesse and I complain and make fun of the house we live in (because really..if you heard about our winter, you will understand why we do..) but then as soon as we are done I always try and be positive and say "but I really feel fortunate that we HAVE a place to live." Which is definitely true. As annoying as it is to have paid over $300 some months for gas to heat our small house, and to still feel/see snow coming through the windows after I've put plastic over them..and to lose feeling in my feet when walking around in the kitchen too long with no slippers on, we have a place to live. Which is more than a lot of people can say right now. We have the money to pay our bills and pay them on time..so why do we complain?

Why do people complain in general? Is it so other people will feel sorry for them and say "oh yes, your life is so much worse then mine is" and so the complainer will be the center of attention? I love where I work and the people I work with..but one day as I was working, I got to listen to one of my supervisors complain for the majority of my shift about how rough things were for her right then. She was on the phone most of the time and every person she talked to got the same speech: my husband is in this hospital, so and so is in this other hospital and this other relative is in this third hospital; I have a migraine; I have so much work to get done and all I want to do is go home; I have it the worst for real (an actual phrase she said). Okay..if you're THAT busy, HANG UP THE PHONE AND GET STUFF DONE!? And I'm sorry your husband and family are in the hospital..but they're alive right?

I know it's hard sometimes to see the silver lining. Sometimes it seems the lining is seriously black and there is nothing positive to be seen for miles and years. Truth is..even when it is dark and bleak, there is still that lining. You are alive, you have your health..you're not living on the street. And honestly, if you're reading this, you have enough money for a computer, right? You're not having to pawn off your possessions to make ends meet. I've been working on this line of thinking this summer, and I think/hope I'm doing better. Yes, I may go through some rough times, but God is still by my side blessing me abundantly. And I'm sure He is right next to you too, regardless of what you're going through. That should be enough to make you smile and realize, hey, I don't have it that bad I guess..

God provides

God provides: a concept that we, as Christians, all know and try so hard to grasp and accept in our lives. During the high points in our life, it's so easy to point to God as the source of the goodness..but what about in the lower points? When your faith is really being tested, is it as easy to say that you trust God and know He is going to take care of you in His timing? Even if everything seems to be going well and you feel you're at a "high point" in your life, there are still the bumps along the way that test your faith in Him.

Right now, I would consider myself at a higher point in my life. It seems so many exciting things are happening and everything (for the most part) is going well. But of course, there is the Debbie Downer of money. And I hate money I have decided. With all Jesse and my trips we've been taking, our budget has been thrown completely out of whack and we've over spent in some areas and other areas (like groceries? oops) have gone neglected to try and compensate for the over spending. But, now that we're sticking around home for awhile, we're really focusing on getting back on track and having extra money at the end of the month to go towards a down payment for a house. All this to say, we're trying to be really strict with our money and only spend what we have allotted ourselves in the budget. This morning, I realized we had to pay the water bill. No big deal, I knew there was money in the bank account, so I went ahead and paid it, but when I looked at our budget, what I saw was that we put in $8 less each month then was needed to cover the total amount. I was kind of crushed because I had no idea where the extra $8 was going to come from (Don't worry, we really have enough money to cover our bills, it's just a matter of staying within some strict boundaries of a budget). So I looked in the water bill portion of the budget and there was the EXACT amount in there that we needed. The entire amount. Obviously, last month had been a little cheaper and we hadn't used the whole amount so we had some rollover, but still. The whole amount was there.

What do you do in those situations? I realized quickly that we had been billed less last month then was normal so we had a little extra, but does that mean I can just write it off as a coincidence? Probably.. and I'm sure a lot of people do. But this morning, I realized it was God taking care of us and thanked Him for His faithfulness.

I was blown away. And I'm sure this post is rambling and out of order and may not make sense, so I'm not going to proof read it. Just bear with me. The moral of the story is, God provides, even in the smallest ways we can see it and feel that He is watching out for us. The end.

timing

Timing is sure a funny thing. Some people just always seem to get it right and those are the people I envy. Occasionally I feel that my timing is just spot on and things fall exactly into place as God opens and closes doors to show me to where to go. Other times, I feel that it doesn't matter what in the world I do, my timing is just off.

Today, my timing was off. Literally. But it's all okay.
I had a job interview and for whatever reason, I thought it was at 1130, not 11. So obviously at 1106 when I decided to double check in my planner with who I was meeting, I had an extreme panic attack since I was obviously already late. I called the lady, explained the situation and got on the road.

What is it about timing? How come some days all the pieces just seem to fall perfectly into place and you feel like you barely have to do anything but float through life? I kind of felt like that with the two jobs I had in AZ..the first one, we were driving by a strip mall on the way to do some hiking and I saw a sign that said "now hiring" for a restaurant that was opening soon. On the way back from the hike, we stopped in so I could apply. Had an impromptu interview (yes, in sweaty hiking clothes..I leave good first impressions) and off we went. A day or so later I got a call back for a second interview and I was hired. That was sure easy..the other job, just as easy. I was working at the first job and some of the regulars came through the line so I asked what they did. Turns out, they worked at the gym right down the street from my house and the one who worked in the child center was looking for some one to hire. Done and done.

But you know what? Timing isn't really in our hands. Sure, we can control when we wake up in the morning and when you actually leave for an interview so you aren't late. However, the end result isn't in our hands. I was texting my sister and we discussed that it doesn't matter if I showed up on time today or not, I either was going to get the job or not: it was in God's hands. If I wasn't meant to get it, I wouldn't have gotten it even if I did show up on time.

The moral of the story is this: it's not in your hands. You could have the best timing in the world and still not get the job, or win the game or do something else really big. You could also have horrible timing and still win. The point is, it's not all up to you, so don't stress. Leave the timing to someone who has always had it right.

And by the way, I still think the interview went super well and I'm pretty sure she loved me. We'll see I guess..