Lucy hasn't been well the past couple months. It's most noticable in the mornings; it seems as if she just doesn't want to get going anymore. This morning, I couldn't wake her up at all. In case you're all really scared I should mention that Lucy is my car. And she didn't even make a sound this morning. Hopefully it's just the battery...hopefully just a quick and easy fix, or we might have to resign ourselves to one vehicle until our income status changes. Oh goody........
Please pray Lucy will get well soon!!! Smile!
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Commenced
This morning we sent off our cousins to commence their new beginning and new life in South Texas. After many years of living far from them, this past year and a half has been a big blessing as we've gotten to spend time with T & A and support each other in similiar struggles and experiences. It was hard to see them go, knowing it will be harder to get together now, and yet there was the excitement that after many years of schooling and preparation they can now see some of the fruit of their hard work.
And it gives me hope that in time we will commence in our new beginning and new life, wherever that takes us. God is faithful...always and while it doesn't always seem like it on the outset, still His timing is perfect.
Rich blessings to you cousins in your new adventure together!!! May the Lord surround with His grace and bring into your path a community that you can share in, giving and receiving. Much love to you both!!!!!
And it gives me hope that in time we will commence in our new beginning and new life, wherever that takes us. God is faithful...always and while it doesn't always seem like it on the outset, still His timing is perfect.
Rich blessings to you cousins in your new adventure together!!! May the Lord surround with His grace and bring into your path a community that you can share in, giving and receiving. Much love to you both!!!!!
Monday, August 28, 2006
True to the Challenge
It didn't take long for the opportunity to test out my challenge for honesty and authenticity. I'm heavy-hearted this morning. And, honestly, feeling a bit anxious about my sweet husband. He just hasn't been himself since the bar exam, a month ago. He's discouraged and seems to have lost hope.
Please pray that the Lord will draw him close to His heart and that R. will sense God's presence. Please pray for a job opportunity to open up that will be fulfilling, in an environment that's healthy. And please pray that we will love each other deeply in the midst of the struggles we're going through right now in this transitory time.
Please pray that the Lord will draw him close to His heart and that R. will sense God's presence. Please pray for a job opportunity to open up that will be fulfilling, in an environment that's healthy. And please pray that we will love each other deeply in the midst of the struggles we're going through right now in this transitory time.
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
To All My Blogging Buddies and All Who Read Mine
I've been thinking...and that's often potentially dangerous, smile. But, I think it could be helpful, so I thought I'd share.
About blogging.....I love to blog and I love to read your blogs and catch up on what's happening in your lives. I've realized something, though, about blogging that is a problem. On a blog it's easy to pretend like life is great and everything is beautiful and to lie or deny that anything's wrong. Often this takes the form of only blogging when there's something positive going on. Not all of you have this problem and there has been many a time when I've read your blogs and been encouraged to know that I'm not the only one struggling; whether it's with discouragement, or job issues, or the future. But, for those of us who do have this problem, and I'm lumping myself in with that group, I'd like to make a challenge to us.
My challenge is that we be authentic. Not that we 'hang our dirty laundry out to dry' or anything like that, but that we be honest about life, whether good or bad. I think especially as Christians it's important that we are real and not pretenders.
As I write this I think about where we are right now. We're in transition. And transition can sometimes be frustrating. R. has particularly been struggling with discouragement as he waits for a job opportunity to open up, with no opportunity yet within our line of vision. (And when he's discouraged it often rubs off on me.) In the meantime we wait and keep waiting. Sometimes it feels like life has been put on hold and we're stuck in a place short of our goals and dreams.
Life is hard sometimes, and while the Lord is always faithful to uphold us and carry us through, that doesn't mean life is without problems and struggles. We need each other for support, but how can we give and receive that support if we're unaware of each other's struggles? Too often I forget this. Let's be committed to authenticity!! Let's give each other the opportunity to know the joy of ministering to each other! Let's not hide behind a facade anymore. I'm committing to being real, even if all I can say is 'please pray'.
Thankful for all of you! You are greatly appreciated and much loved!
Blessings!
About blogging.....I love to blog and I love to read your blogs and catch up on what's happening in your lives. I've realized something, though, about blogging that is a problem. On a blog it's easy to pretend like life is great and everything is beautiful and to lie or deny that anything's wrong. Often this takes the form of only blogging when there's something positive going on. Not all of you have this problem and there has been many a time when I've read your blogs and been encouraged to know that I'm not the only one struggling; whether it's with discouragement, or job issues, or the future. But, for those of us who do have this problem, and I'm lumping myself in with that group, I'd like to make a challenge to us.
My challenge is that we be authentic. Not that we 'hang our dirty laundry out to dry' or anything like that, but that we be honest about life, whether good or bad. I think especially as Christians it's important that we are real and not pretenders.
As I write this I think about where we are right now. We're in transition. And transition can sometimes be frustrating. R. has particularly been struggling with discouragement as he waits for a job opportunity to open up, with no opportunity yet within our line of vision. (And when he's discouraged it often rubs off on me.) In the meantime we wait and keep waiting. Sometimes it feels like life has been put on hold and we're stuck in a place short of our goals and dreams.
Life is hard sometimes, and while the Lord is always faithful to uphold us and carry us through, that doesn't mean life is without problems and struggles. We need each other for support, but how can we give and receive that support if we're unaware of each other's struggles? Too often I forget this. Let's be committed to authenticity!! Let's give each other the opportunity to know the joy of ministering to each other! Let's not hide behind a facade anymore. I'm committing to being real, even if all I can say is 'please pray'.
Thankful for all of you! You are greatly appreciated and much loved!
Blessings!
5:30 isn't so bad.
Yay! I worked out this morning with one of my co-workers and it was great! The alarm went off at 5:30am and I was able to get right up and head to the gym before 6am. (thankfully I already packed everything I'd need last night) We met up and worked out for about an hour and then got ready and came to work! And it feels so good!!!
It's the little things sometimes that make a big difference. I've been wanting someone to work out with and have been wanting to work out in the morning, but knew that wouldn't happen without accountability. Finding someone to work out with hasn't been working out, let alone someone to work out with who also wanted to get up early to do it! And, the Lord provided in His faithfulness. Yay!
It's the little things sometimes that make a big difference. I've been wanting someone to work out with and have been wanting to work out in the morning, but knew that wouldn't happen without accountability. Finding someone to work out with hasn't been working out, let alone someone to work out with who also wanted to get up early to do it! And, the Lord provided in His faithfulness. Yay!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Return to Reality
Ah, vacation. It was great! My sweet sis came to visit and we had a wonderful time! After the first couple of days, I was even able to relax and not feel like I should be doing something! So, we slept in wondrously late, watched girlie movies, painted out toes, did a little shopping, and just generally enjoyed time together. By the way, we watched 'An Unfinished Life' with Robert Redford and JLo; great movie, really liked it! Overall, it was wonderful and I'm so thankful to have had that time with Surie. Thanks for coming, Sis!!
Here's a few fun pictures from the airport as Surie left to return home:
Here's a few fun pictures from the airport as Surie left to return home:
Friday, August 11, 2006
Vacation Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ah...the sigh of relief stemming from the wondrous fact that once this day is done, I have an entire week to relax and recover from the general frenzy of life!! It's vacation time! Oh, yes!
My sweet sis is flying down (minus a water bottle and her chapstick) to spend the week. I'm looking forward to the girlie time. Home spa treatment here we are!! And of course there's those movies that R. insists he cannot watch which we will be watching. And the lazing around in pajamas with hair unkempt. Yep, a true vacation.
But first, R. and I head to Houston for a job fair and excitedly a job interview for a firm in Fort Worth. Please pray the interview goes well and that the Lord gives clear guidance both for us and for those who are making the hiring selection. All very exciting and scary and wonderful!!!
I wish for all of you a fabulous week! 'Talk' to you soon!
May His grace overflow to you! Blessings!
My sweet sis is flying down (minus a water bottle and her chapstick) to spend the week. I'm looking forward to the girlie time. Home spa treatment here we are!! And of course there's those movies that R. insists he cannot watch which we will be watching. And the lazing around in pajamas with hair unkempt. Yep, a true vacation.
But first, R. and I head to Houston for a job fair and excitedly a job interview for a firm in Fort Worth. Please pray the interview goes well and that the Lord gives clear guidance both for us and for those who are making the hiring selection. All very exciting and scary and wonderful!!!
I wish for all of you a fabulous week! 'Talk' to you soon!
May His grace overflow to you! Blessings!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Subtle Stray to Legalism
I've written before about the ladies Bible study I've been attending and what we've been studying about submission, etc. Well, this morning I had one of those light-bulb moments where I realized that I have strayed away from the freedom of walking in obedience to the legalism of rule keeping. I haven't wanted to work on my homework for the past couple of weeks and I've found myself resenting household tasks and have felt, overall, this burden of bearing too much responsibility.
This morning I awoke recalling the argument R. and I had last night and feeling like I was failing and would never be a good wife and be able to be all that I'm supposed to be. On my way to work I was praying and complaining to the Lord about not being able to do it all. It was then the lightbulb came on. I realized that I have taken the things I've read in a book as God's mandate for what I am to do and how I am to be as a wife, when they are simply the words of a woman of her own opinion. Nowhere does the Bible say that I am a bad wife if I don't have a full meal prepared every night for my husband! Loving, serving, respecting, and even submitting to R? Yes, God does call me to this and in this there is freedom. But a list of household chores that I am responsible for are not included. In that we have choices as a couple.
God seems more concerned about the principle and heart of submission and His order for the family. He doesn't give us a cookie-cutter mold about what marriage should look like with every couple, husband and wife, functioning in exactly the same way. This is when it becomes legalism, when rules are imposed and it becomes a religious duty and not a heart of love. Legalism produces quick results in the short-term, but over the long term it's only a changed heart, the work that God does, that will result in true obedience and freedom. Only in this can I be a "good" wife to R. and love him well.
This morning I awoke recalling the argument R. and I had last night and feeling like I was failing and would never be a good wife and be able to be all that I'm supposed to be. On my way to work I was praying and complaining to the Lord about not being able to do it all. It was then the lightbulb came on. I realized that I have taken the things I've read in a book as God's mandate for what I am to do and how I am to be as a wife, when they are simply the words of a woman of her own opinion. Nowhere does the Bible say that I am a bad wife if I don't have a full meal prepared every night for my husband! Loving, serving, respecting, and even submitting to R? Yes, God does call me to this and in this there is freedom. But a list of household chores that I am responsible for are not included. In that we have choices as a couple.
God seems more concerned about the principle and heart of submission and His order for the family. He doesn't give us a cookie-cutter mold about what marriage should look like with every couple, husband and wife, functioning in exactly the same way. This is when it becomes legalism, when rules are imposed and it becomes a religious duty and not a heart of love. Legalism produces quick results in the short-term, but over the long term it's only a changed heart, the work that God does, that will result in true obedience and freedom. Only in this can I be a "good" wife to R. and love him well.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Procrastinating the Simple
I'm greatly looking forward to next week and vacation along with a visit from my sis. Usually in preparation for guests I run around at a frantic pace dusting, picking up, and generally making a clean sweep of every nook and cranny. I've decided not to do that this time, but to take care of only the basics instead. After all, we keep a pretty clean house for the most part.
Last night, though, I did some laundry; a task I don't want to have to do during my week off. In the process I put away the clothes that have been hanging on the drying rack in our room for almost 3 weeks. It took all of maybe ten minutes to accomplish this task and I felt so great knowing they were put away. Why is it that I procrastinate those things they take such little time to do, but feel so good to have done? It's weird how life works that way sometimes! Alas, maybe next time I'll remember how little time it took and take care of it right away!!
Last night, though, I did some laundry; a task I don't want to have to do during my week off. In the process I put away the clothes that have been hanging on the drying rack in our room for almost 3 weeks. It took all of maybe ten minutes to accomplish this task and I felt so great knowing they were put away. Why is it that I procrastinate those things they take such little time to do, but feel so good to have done? It's weird how life works that way sometimes! Alas, maybe next time I'll remember how little time it took and take care of it right away!!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Even the day to day
Each day to me should be more
than an obstacle to be gotten over,
a span of time to be endured,
a sequence of hours to be survived.
For me,
each day came forth from the hand of God
newly created and alive with opportunities to do His will….
We for our part
can accept and offer back to God
every prayer, work, and suffering of the day,
no matter how insignificant or unspectacular
they may seem to us….
Between God and the individual soul, however,
there are no insignificant moments;
this is the mystery of divine providence.
- Walter Ciszek
than an obstacle to be gotten over,
a span of time to be endured,
a sequence of hours to be survived.
For me,
each day came forth from the hand of God
newly created and alive with opportunities to do His will….
We for our part
can accept and offer back to God
every prayer, work, and suffering of the day,
no matter how insignificant or unspectacular
they may seem to us….
Between God and the individual soul, however,
there are no insignificant moments;
this is the mystery of divine providence.
- Walter Ciszek
Friday, August 04, 2006
Fashionably Wrong
Last night I went out with a group of girlfriends and watched 'Devil Wears Prada'. I liked it. It was a fun movie and I really enjoy Anne Hathaway. Overall it was a good time. Still, leaving the theatre I found myself even more conscious than usual of my perceived lack of fashion. I envied the style and class displayed in the movie and wished I could afford to be so attired.
Then I remembered that the whole moral of the movie, really, was that none of that was important in the big picture, especially at the cost of relationships. So why do we put so much stock into fashion and how we or anyone else is dressed? I can have a bad day simply because I don't feel stylish or fashionable in what I'm wearing. Or I can feel really good about how I look...until I'm surrounded by others who look "better". Then there's the nearly unconcious practice of judging a stranger based soley on their dress and lack of fashion. How many people have I judged incompetent or stupid just because they dressed out of style, only to discover how mistaken I was?
This attitude goes against everything we find in Scripture about how God views us. The Bible says God doesn't judge as we do, because He looks at the condition of our hearts, not the designer label on our jeans. Then there's the place where God addresses women specifically, telling us that our beauty should not be reliant upon what we put on, but the gentleness of who we are in our character and our hearts. I feel convicted regarding my attitude about others and the ingratitude about what I have myself. I have not been functioning with God's heart. To put such emphasis on something so temporary...something that may not last through the year. Fashion is constantly changing. How to break free from this obsession. Lord, grant us your grace! Let us see as You see and not with the eyes of this flesh!
Then I remembered that the whole moral of the movie, really, was that none of that was important in the big picture, especially at the cost of relationships. So why do we put so much stock into fashion and how we or anyone else is dressed? I can have a bad day simply because I don't feel stylish or fashionable in what I'm wearing. Or I can feel really good about how I look...until I'm surrounded by others who look "better". Then there's the nearly unconcious practice of judging a stranger based soley on their dress and lack of fashion. How many people have I judged incompetent or stupid just because they dressed out of style, only to discover how mistaken I was?
This attitude goes against everything we find in Scripture about how God views us. The Bible says God doesn't judge as we do, because He looks at the condition of our hearts, not the designer label on our jeans. Then there's the place where God addresses women specifically, telling us that our beauty should not be reliant upon what we put on, but the gentleness of who we are in our character and our hearts. I feel convicted regarding my attitude about others and the ingratitude about what I have myself. I have not been functioning with God's heart. To put such emphasis on something so temporary...something that may not last through the year. Fashion is constantly changing. How to break free from this obsession. Lord, grant us your grace! Let us see as You see and not with the eyes of this flesh!
Thursday, August 03, 2006
The Letdown
This has been the week after the big exam. One would think after anticipating the end of all the studying that the week would have a celebratory feel. But, for unknown reasons it has been more of a "man I'm so glad that's over...now what?" kind of week. The tired, cranky, listless, downer sort of week.
There's nothing standing between us and the next thing now and that's kinda scary. In a way it feels a little like I would imagine a remodel job to feel...if I was the house. "I'm so excited for the additional space, but man I thought I was a gonner when they knocked out my walls...still, the sunset was nice."
This morning was the "AH, I don't know what to wear! Nothing looks right, fits right, feels right...and I'm going to be late. Just get it together Mollie". All of this coming from me, of course, not my sweet husband. Then I chastise myself that I just need to get up earlier and be more responsible. Not the best way to start the day.
There's nothing standing between us and the next thing now and that's kinda scary. In a way it feels a little like I would imagine a remodel job to feel...if I was the house. "I'm so excited for the additional space, but man I thought I was a gonner when they knocked out my walls...still, the sunset was nice."
This morning was the "AH, I don't know what to wear! Nothing looks right, fits right, feels right...and I'm going to be late. Just get it together Mollie". All of this coming from me, of course, not my sweet husband. Then I chastise myself that I just need to get up earlier and be more responsible. Not the best way to start the day.
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