Hello Again

To those of you who actually check to see if I've written, my deepest apologies for failing to provide anything for you! I've considered updating on several different occasions yet for one reason or another it just hasn't happened. I figured it was time though.

I have been working at my new job at the Pregnancy Care Clinic for 3 or 4 months now and I LOVE it!! I have definitely been stretched and challenged through this job but it's been so good for me and I feel like I've grown a lot. It's a lot of pressure to be "the boss" and be looked to for direction and answers. We get some very sad life stories about people facing difficulties I could never imagine going through. It's such an honor that Christ has put me in a position where I can help them, show them a Love like no other, and provide encouragement and hope in sometimes hopeless looking situations.

Other than working I've been staying involved in the Navigators Bible Study, the church worship team and choir, and our young adult small group. I've also been getting up at 5:30 to exercise at Curves each morning...go ahead, be impressed! haha! I really am enjoying it and I feel so much better throughout the day knowing I got up and accomplished something that morning that's so good for me! All of these things keep me pretty busy but life is still good.

In a month I get to travel back to IN to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and being "home".

The difficulty of friends moving away, being on deployments, or away at school has been one of my greatest struggles these past several months. I love Amy, I love my co-workers, and I love my church family but there's just something about having those people around you who are in the same age group and stage of life that you are. It's a special thing. I've definitely been missing it and praying that God would bring me contentment in the midst of it. I know in time He will bring new people into my life that can fill that special place as others have before.

Though it can be hard to wait, I know the outcome will be so sweet and perfect in His timing so, I will spend my days singing alleluia to Yahweh.

The Learning Process

God has been encouraging and asking me to love and trust Him more and myself and my desires less. I wish this was easy for me. I let myself get so caught up in how I hope things will be that I begin to forget that it is not my responsibility to even think about it. Could I possibly form a better future for myself than what the Creator of the heavens and the earth has planned for me?? The path that has brought me here has not been an easy one-partially because of my own stubbornness and pride and partially because God does not promise that things will always be easy. How would we ever learn to depend on Him without those difficult times? He has taught me so much through both the joys and the sufferings. I wouldn’t trade a moment of any of it. So now it continues…the learning process, growth, trust. May my spirit be willing and my heart be solely focused on the One to whom it belongs.

I have an overwhelming desire to run away from pretty much everything going on in my life right now. Thankfully, I know that running away doesn't solve anything. More waiting and reliance on God is the only thing that will help me through.

Maybe a real post will appear soon. It's been awhile...

Late Night Thinking Leads To Confused Ranting

Have you ever wanted to write about something but you didn't know how to put it it a way that wouldn't make people ask you a thousand questions or start suspecting something about you that may or may not be true? Or that you at least don't really want people talking about because it's not really that exciting in reality anyway it's just something that excites you even though there's probably no reason for it too?? Have I completely lost you and compelled you to do exactly that which I am writing in hopes of people not doing??

*SIGH*

Maybe I should just go to bed and keep all thoughts to myself...

And so, Goodnight :]

I GOT A NEW JOB!!!!!

God is so good and has overwhelmed me once again with His blessing and provision! After interviewing at the Pregnancy Care Clinic almost 2 weeks ago I was beginning to wonder if I would ever hear from them and if it could possibly be good news when I did. Friday I got the call that they wanted to offer me a position as the Human Resources Director. (or something like that…I can never remember the official job title!) This was so exciting because it wasn’t even the job I had originally interviewed for. After talking with the employer she thought I would be perfect for the position so she had me talk to the current human resources director to get a feel for what the job is and to see if I would be interested in it. Apparently this lady thought I would be perfect for the position as well and they are excited to have me on board!!

The Pregnancy Care Clinic is a non-profit organization here in Oak Harbor. My employer goes to my church and she is an amazing woman with a beautiful passion for this ministry. I am so excited about the opportunity to work with her and so many other Christian women that have a deep love for the Lord and care and compassion for the women that come to the clinic for help and guidance. The clinic does not recommend or endorse abortion in anyway. We are pro-life all the way! (just thought I better put that disclaimer in there)

My job will include being in charge of all the volunteers—training them and helping them with any problems, as well as looking through volunteer applications to find some more wonderful people to help us out--teaching parenting classes, helping with pregnancy tests and ultrasounds, doing some minor counseling work with young women/couples, and setting up seminars every couple months to help the volunteers (and myself) keep up on the last issues, laws, and advances in various pregnancy related issues. (i.e.: adoption, abortion, pregnancy heath, etc.)

To celebrate Amy, Miriah, Stephen, and I went out to Applebee’s for dinner and had quite a lovely time…at least I thought so! There were some serious moments but mostly lots of laughing and poking fun at one another. Amy’s face must have been tired because she had to stretch it and I laughed so hard I cried. I love my friends. Thank you for celebrating with me and for bringing so much joy into my life!!!

The other exciting thing right now is that my parents are, at this very moment, on a plane traveling to Oak Harbor to visit me for a week. They should be landing in a couple hours and I’m pretty excited! I got the house all cleaned up for them and it’s so great that we’ll all get to celebrate together! It will be so fun to show them around the island and help them understand why I love it here so much. Hopefully the rain will stop and the sunshine and mountains will come back into view while they are here. I’d hate for them to miss those beautiful sites! I have Monday and Wednesday of work, which makes their visit even more spectacular. I’m hoping we have a great time together…this is such a new season of life for all of us. It will be interesting to see how that affects our relationship. I think it will better it honestly. Time will tell.

So, until next time my friends and avid readers, blessings. :D

And So It Goes

It would take too long to go through the craziness of my life from the past month so here's some highlights :)

*The Bethel Concert Choir came to our town and sang at our church. What a blessing and pleasure it was to see so many old friends and hear such beautiful music! I am so glad they were able to come and that our church responded so positively to the whole thing!

*My job has been a constant up and down ride. Overall, I really hate it. God has recently blessed me with some wonderful clients that make my job so much more pleasant than it once was but I'm still not getting many hours which means I'm not making much money.

*On the upside of the job stuff...I had an interview with the Pregnancy Care Clinic this past week for either their Administrative Assistant position or their Career Services Director position and am hoping and praying that they hire me for one of them! Time will tell...my prayer is that I would have peace about whatever decision is made and that I will remember that it is God's plan for my life that rules, not my plan.

*Two of my good friends and brothers in Christ left for deployments this week. I already miss them. I saw a bakery the other day and heard a song that instantly made me think of Nick. I got a hangnail today and automatically thought of Timothy. (haha ;) When these little things bring my friends to mind I try to make sure I stop to say a little prayer for them. I figure they are coming to mind for a reason. :]

*My parents will be here a week from tomorrow. Weird. Crazy. Exciting. I hope we have great weather and that they are able to see why I love it so much here. I wish Erin could come with them...maybe next time... :)

*I am struggling to wait patiently for love. And too often I fear that it will simply never happen for me. There. I said it. Prayer would be greatly appreciated as I work on allowing God to fill every part of me and trusting that He can and will provide for all my needs.

*I can feel that life is changing. I don't exactly know what that means or where it will take me next. Part of me is excited. The other part is nervous. Again...trusting Him to work it all out...

*One of my best friends will be having her second child in a month. The other has entered into a new and exciting time in her life. I'm so happy for both of them and I love them both so much. God has truly blessed me in the friend department!

*That last sentence goes for all my friends. They're literally all over the world now and I love each of them so much and for so many different reasons. Isn't it so fun to think about the various ways God brings people together and forms relationships?? It's amazing when you think about it...

*I'm so glad I serve a God who care about every detail, no matter how small it may be

I really like spending time with friends. Tonight Amy and I have several people over. We cooked a bunch of yummy breakfast foods for dinner and we all sat around the big table just talking and laughing and making fun of each other. It's been awhile since we've done anything like this and I've found it refreshing to be with people. I love Amy and I love hanging out with her but I really do find a special joy in spending time with the group. Tonight a few newer people came and it's been nice to get to know them better too. Overall, it's just been a really good day. :)

Tomorrow Amy and I are singing a duet at church. It'll be the first time we've ever sung together so I'm pretty excited...hopefully I'll remember all the words! haha...it should be wonderful and I think people at our church will like it. We'll also be making an announcement about the Bethel choir coming to our church! I really hope people get excited and offer to host students for us!

Ok...this post is boring and people are hovering so I'm gonna stop...:)