Overly Blessed

Do you ever take a moment to look at just how blessed your life is? I don't do it often enough.

I spent some time today and yesterday reading the blog of a woman who found out her child would not survive the pregnancy. I read about the first time they told her and her husband little Audrey wouldn't survive. I read about every tiny miracle they experienced as Audrey continued to struggle. I read as they decided not once, but twice, to not abort their little girl, even if they doctors said it was okay and that it was acceptable in the medical world. I read as she struggled to tell her little girls that their sister would not be coming home. I read as she struggled with fear, frustration, fatigue and faith. I read as Audrey was born, and then as she died. I cried harder than I've cried in a long time. What amazed me most was not the struggle, not the journey the Smith family went on, but that she continued to seek God and to hear His voice in the middle of a storm I cannot even begin to fathom. The depth of her faith and her willingness to trust Him even though it hurt, even though it just plain sucked, just struck me to the core.

Sometimes I'm not sure I have half the faith she had - and I live a pretty blessed life. Sure, there have been dark moments in my life and moments when I cried out to God, but to love and trust like she does - wow. I was humbled by her love - for her family, for her friends, for those she's never met that read her journey with her - and most importanly, for her Jesus.

My heart cries out tonight to feel that same passion for Him - to trust Him in my small life - my safe life - my good life. Because I wonder - if I can't lean on Him in these good times, how will I ever be able to lean on Him when faced with a something that shakes my world to the core? I am not so naive to think it won't happen someday - but I hope and pray and pray and hope that I am willing to lean on Him when those times do come. I need to start now.

I'm Back...

I am back from vacation. It was a wonderful trip. It's nice to be home, but I miss being able to spend my days on the beach, riding rides, and not working. I won't lie, the week before the vacation was among the most stressful weeks in my life - I honestly don't know if I have ever worked that hard or felt that stressed/stretched/exhausted. All the work was worth it, thought. Because, I then spent several days at places that looked like this...

And some more places like this... (Turtle Beach, Siesta Key Beach, and Lover's Key Beach in case you're wondering).

One day, without me knowing it, Tim wrote this for me and took a picture!

He was sneaky, but so was I! The next day I wrote this...

Four days at the various beaches was wonderful!

The next few days we spent in Orlando. We went to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure one day. We thought we had cheap tickets, but it didn't work out that way. A word of wisdom - always read the fine print! We didn't, and it ended up costing us more than we wanted to spend. But, it was really fun, anyway. Definitely more of an amusement park than anything else.

Then, thanks to the generosity of my friends Tristan & Auburn, we got to spend three days at Disney World! It was wonderful. This is the fourth time I've been to Disney, and every experience has been completely different. Going with Tim was a totally different experience. The other times I've gone, I was a child or Cameron was a child. Going as adults was different, but a lot of fun.

Unfortunately I didn't take a lot of pictures because I didn't want to mess with my camera too many days. I should have taken a lot more pictures, but I have really good pictures from last time we went to Disney with the family. However, even without pictures, we have lots of good memories. We got to ride a lot of rides, see some fun shows, and just get away from everything for a few days.

Vacations are a wonderful thing. I love getting away from the ordinary with Tim. We have such a good time together every time we go anywhere. It will be awhile before we go on another trip. He do have a day trip scheduled for September - my very first professional baseball game in Chicago!

So, that's why I haven't been blogging lately. There's a really brief summary of my trip...how has your last few days been?

Whew...what a week!

I haven't blogged much this week. Want to know why? Here is what I've done this week at
work:

• Finished the compilation.
• Finished the retirement distribution.
• Finished the most recent edition of ENGAGE.
• Reconciled the bank accounts.
• Closed the month.
• Did the ministry reports.
• Not one, not two, but three payrolls.
• Did a lot of other random things I cannot even remember...but it was a lot.

It was an insane week of work, but I feel like I've accomplished a lot and have a lot of the big things I've had on my plate forever done, so there. It has been an exhausting week, but I finally feel like I'm on the other side of the hill that I've been struggling up for months and months and months.

It's 8:00pm on Friday night. It's been a ridiculous week, but it's over. Hallelujah!

deadlines...

....believe it or not, deadlines are not arbitrary. They have a purpose and a reason. I don't do it to be mean or to make jobs more difficult. I do it because everything is part of a larger system.

that being said, consistently not following, or even attempting to follow, deadlines makes me angry, frustrated and feel like what I do is not that important.

just so you know.

Blogging from My Couch

Right now I am sitting on my couch watching TV and blogging. This is not blog-worthy for most people, I am sure. The only reason I am truly excited about it is because this is the first time I've been able to do this! For my birthday Tim bought me a wireless router, which means I can access the internet from anywhere in our house! I know it's a little thing, but I'm very excited! It also means when Tim is online or when we both want to use the computer, we can. I have a laptop that has sat mostly unused for several years, but now it's on almost all the time!

Okay, so it's a little thing, but I'm excited!