catching up

While I'm not sure who reads Xanga anymore , Clintdawg recently challenged me to post something on mine. It was strange reading things I wrote a year and a half ago and realizing how much has changed since then. I often posted when I felt particularly anxious for a while. I am grateful that is not the case this evening. Today feels like an ordinary day in the life, and I am glad. But here are things that have changed since I last posted:

LOST ended, and I miss it.
Peter has a full-time job!
We live on campus at Grace College because of Peter's job.
In addition to my clinical supervising job, I counsel at the student counseling center on campus and am loving it.
Peter is over 2/3 finished with his master's degree and will graduate in May.
I am an aunt! (I think that had technically happened by the last time I posted, but I don't know that I mentioned it before.)
I started doing Zumba, which is super fun.
I have been to the West Coast for the first time, and we currently have a reservation for a trip to Yellowstone next summer.

There is much to look forward to. During the season of uncertainty, God taught me much about where my security really lies. I still need reminders of that. I am grateful, however, for a season that was life-changing.

Currently Vice Verses By Switchfoot see related

Currently The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel (P.S.) By Barbara Kingsolver see related

I got a reminder of my missing gratitude this week. I had been whiny in my head, for example, about Peter and me needing to work more this summer than we had planned at the beginning of the school year. And man, once you start grumbling about one thing, it's so easy to complain about a bunch of things! But I feel I've had an awakening, or a spiritual slap upside the head; take your pick. I feel grateful for opportunities this summer and grateful for God's provision and good gifts, even when I have grumbled.

I also feel like I have so many books I want to read this summer! I might need to make a list. Getting ready to read The Blind Side for the next book club.

Currently Add to the Beauty By Sara Groves see related

Hope...hoping for a job for Peter (thankful for the one he has now, but hoping for a different one soon), hoping to be able to go on family vacation this summer in PA, hoping to have a personal retreat sometime this summer, hoping for more clients since many finished up at once, hoping to continue to develop relationships that have really just begun, hoping to keep trusting...

Gratitude...grateful for decreased anxiety, grateful for God's amazing provision during Peter's 6-wk unemployed time through the gifts of friends and family, grateful for Peter's current job, grateful for my coworkers who are prayerfully supportive, grateful for new friendships, grateful for our church which continues to be refreshing, grateful for a used keyboard that provides time for worship through music at home...

So many hopes, but so much for which to be thankful. God is a good Father.

Currently Nice Girls Don't Change the World By Lynne Hybels see related

Change never stops. I was at a baby shower this weekend for my dearest friend. It's amazing to think that the next time I see her, she will have a baby. The next time my own family is all together, my sister will have a baby. Dynamics change, and life changes. Sometimes I just want it to freeze in time. Yet other times, I'm excited for changes and newness. I'm one of those weird ones that has to ponder and process so many of the minute details of life's transitions and seasons. Seeds have to die before they can grow...we're always going through death and loss, but there will always be new birth and life, redeption and restoration, if you will.

Enough philosophizing...my weekend with Jen and Chase was great. Peter is gone for a week to a class for his master's program, and already this weekend he has learned and experienced some fantastic things! I'm so excited for him. However, I don't go back to work at Grace until Monday. I'm not feeling off, just a little odd. What a strange couple of weeks, last week and this one, where the holidays are over, but "real life" hasn't quite started back up for me again yet. I'm trying to have a balance between being rested and refreshed and being productive. It might be happening. :)

Peter and I really hope that by the end of this year, one of us has a full-time job. We know what we hope for, but it's hard to hope sometimes. However, with all of our financial angst, God has really been meeting me there. I am reminded how much I need to daily lay things like this at His feet, rather than worry about them on my own. And it is so much better when I acknowledge that I am not in control. And even though my worry is often about wishing to be in control, would I really want that overall? It's hard for me to need someone, but yet there is something freeing about it at the same time.

Currently Hello Hurricane By Switchfoot see related

I suppose my only excuse for the length of time between posts is studying and taking (and passing!) my Indiana counselor's exam in December. I wanted to have it out of the way before Christmas...my mind was much more at ease.
Although another reason could be due to the increase in facebook usage for Peter and me; xanga has taken a backseat, I must admit.
Nevertheless, here I am in a new year. I just finished re-reading one of my favorite poems: "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. These past couple of weeks we have been constantly surrounded by snow...and even if not amounting to much, it has snowed every day for the past 5 days or so. It feels a bit like Narnia! I quite enjoy snow actually...I realize that it creates some inconveniences and all that, but it's so beautiful. It reminds me of how some things that seem inconvenient in life are really beautiful, or something that God intends to be beautiful.
I'm very curious to see what this next year brings. Peter and I realize that our plans regarding the specific jobs we hoped for (or full-time positions) for last year did not happen, yet we want to be hopeful in what God will do for our future, even this year. I don't want to be afraid to hope...I believe God wants me to hope.
Also, Peter and I celebrated two years of marriage this week, and it is hard to believe! I am so grateful for the gift he is to me. We have had some treasured time over this Christmas break. I am so glad that we appreciate simple things together...it helps since we are on quite the tight budget right now. But regardless, I hope we always enjoy life's simple pleasures.