Tuesday, October 5, 2010

confessions and blessings

I’ve been a terrible flake about writing on here lately. Honestly, it’s because I’m just overwhelmed.

My life is a constant flurry of activity these days. Our closing on our house in NRH is in 22 days. Today we are making an offer on a possible new house in Arlington . Our home office is pretty much packed up (yay), but then I remember that I haven’t even really touched the kitchen… and there is a TON to pack in there. I’m just exhausted… and we have a family retreat this weekend, a fifth quarter next weekend, a family festival, a junior high retreat, and a high school retreat… all before Thanksgiving. Yeesh. My back is full of knots, and I keep getting stress headaches. Well, stress/sinus. I always struggle with allergies when the seasons change. To summarize – I’m busy, sleepy, and don’t feel too hot.

Every time I sit down to write something, it ends up being more of a to-do list… and it sounds so negative… so then I give up and quit. Instead, I am going to try to focus on the good things happening in my life:

  1. We found a house we like enough to make an offer on… and it’s even cheaper than most of the houses we’d looked at, so we’ll be able to put quite a bit down (at least 20%, maybe 25%) and have a nice low mortgage.
  2. Our house sold in this terrible market (totally all God).
  3. We are going to NYC the first week of December regardless of what else happens… so I KNOW I will have a little break and be able to get away for awhile. And I’ve always dreamed of going to New York at Christmastime, so I am just SO excited.
  4. Even though I sometimes get sad and miss my Legacy friends, we are finally getting to a point that we’ll be able to start attending some PR grow groups and hopefully make some friends there.
  5. I’m still in a non-Bunko/supper club group with some of my Legacy friends, so I get to see them and catch up at least once a month. I never realized what a blessing that could be for me.
  6. I decided that I really want Ugg boots to wear in NYC while we’re there since it will be so cold, so I went and tried some on this weekend and liked them enough that I’m ordering a Discover cash back bonus card to go buy them… hopefully in the next week or so. They were delightfully comfy and warm… which is good because that is MUCH more than I normally spend on shoes. (And someone come hunt me down and kick me in my face if I ever wear the Uggs with Soffe cheerleading shorts. I still don’t get that look. If it’s cold enough for your feet to need Uggs, don’t your legs need pants???)
  7. I’ve been reading through my Bible, and I got really bogged down in Isaiah and Ezekiel, but I’m now to the other side of those (just finished Daniel, actually), so hopefully I will pick up the pace and perhaps be able to finish reading through the Bible this year.
  8. Christmas is getting close! Yesterday I numbered off the days until Christmas so that I could do a countdown. Today makes 81 days until Christmas! I am so excited about that. I love Christmas. I mean, really. It’s ridiculous. I love Christmas. Did I mention I love Christmas? Well, I do.
  9. We are (sort of) beginning to get into a groove at PR. I am starting to know names and be able to talk to people… and find my way around the building without getting lost (hallelujah!).
  10. I have a really wonderful husband. He takes such good care of me and is so patient with me when I go through phases like the one I’m in now (borderline panic attack at least once a day). We’re SO different, so I know he doesn’t necessarily understand how I’m feeling, but he loves me and cares for me through it. It’s also been a big blessing to see him really thrive in his new job. Sometimes he gets overwhelmed, yes, but he just has all these new ideas and gets so excited when kids really get it. He has a precious heart.

Finally, I am so thankful for the Lord’s faithfulness. Throughout this changing churches/selling a house/buying a house/moving process, one of the stories that the Lord brought back to me over and over was that of Abraham. God called him out of where he was without showing him exactly where he was going. God was incredibly faithful to Abraham, and the only times things didn’t go well for Abraham were the times that he tried to manipulate his own situation instead of following where he was led. God just kept reminding me that I need to trust and not try to shape my own situation into what I think it should be. Amazingly, of all things, that is precisely what this past week’s sermon was about – about God calling Abraham to an unknown place and the faith it takes to move there. What a confirmation! Oh, He’s so good to me.

So… I’m still a little overwhelmed by the number of boxes that need to be packed and the arrangements that need to be made… and my allergies are still less than fabulous… but I know I am protected and loved and cherished by the King of kings… and that He will provide for my every need. After all, I’m worth more than sparrows and lilies.