I love autumn. I just kind of struggle with dreading winter as it approaches. This year I have tried to relax a little, enjoy the changing leaves & the fall activities. Mike & I had a blast the first weekend of the month, going to an apple festival & then a pioneer village. The next weekend we celebrated my dad's birthday with a full-on turkey dinner (bless my mom's heart - she'll fix anybody's favorite meal for their birthday!). The third weekend I took a much-anticipated trip to Tennessee to visit with some wonderful college buddies - the Dr. Pepper Group.
We all gathered at Christie & Ryan's house in Nashville. I was really happily surprised to realize that it was not nearly as long of a trip as I had anticipated. Stephanie rode down with me & we had a blast catching up. You know you are with a great friend when you can drive a little over 4 hours & not have a lull in the conversation :-) Rachel came down from Michigan with her three sons & that rounded out our party. All together we had five adults and eight kiddos. If Steph had brought her two boys we would have been outnumbered two to one!
We spent all day Friday conversating, looking at my wedding pictures, encouraging one another & catching up. It was great. That night we went to Opry Mills (the huge shopping mall) & the Opryland Hotel. We walked through all of the atriums - it is a beautiful place! After dinner at Applebee's we headed back to Christie's for some more visiting. It's amazing how much we find to talk about!
Saturday I was ready to head back to my husband, but I was glad for the time away. Just a little pinch of time apart makes me appreciate the time together so much more.
That day was the beginning of revival meetings at my church. I was more than a little frustrated about the timing of my schedule in relation to the meetings. I missed the first night b/c of the TN trip. I got to attend all day on Sunday, but then I missed Monday & Tuesday due to work; I missed Wednesday as well b/c it was my turn to help in the nursery. The Lord was still very good to teach me some things in Sunday's meetings. The speaker spent just a few minutes teaching about Martha & Mary, but it was enough to really convict me about the priorities I have concerning my time. Frankly, I am just working TOO MUCH! When we got married Mike left it up to me to determine if I would continue working my second job. It just 'made sense' to me to keep the job until my car is paid off (March '10), especially since Mike's job is so month to month right now. I thought that I could certainly juggle all of my responsibilities plus the extra work hours for the next few months, right? Wrong. So wrong. I hadn't even really prayed about it. It just 'made sense' to me, so I was doing it. I was so convicted about that lack of surrender. I was also convicted about the things that were not getting done b/c of my frantic schedule, my exhaustion, & my feelings of being overwhelmed. All of that to say, tomorrow night is my last shift at the second job. I am so happy about the additional time I will have to do what is highest priority in my life - getting to know my Lord better by spending time with Him consistently, spending more time with my husband (we are newlyweds, you know!), and managing our household better.
*do you get the feeling that a lot has been going on??? *grin*
So, after the meetings & the resignation had been handed in, I left work at my full time job Thursday evening to do some frantic grocery shopping before some other college buddies came to town to visit. Roxanna & Bekah got to my house around suppertime on Thursday & we visited, talked, shopped, & enjoyed each other until Sunday morning. On Friday we drove up to Lafayette to visit Becky b/c she couldn't get to my place. We enjoyed the day with her & her family, getting to see their new house for the first time. Then on Saturday we headed to the outlet mall & Bekah got some serious shopping done! Clothes, shoes & other goodies to help get her ready to go to the mission field of Japan in January.
Here's a pic of the four of us at Becky's house. We always have so much fun & so many laughs when we are together. Thank the Lord for the blessing of good friends.
And that's a quick recap of this month. Whooo! I'm a little tired :-) I think it's always a good idea to take a moment or two & think back over the last week, month, year & see what all the Lord has done & what all He has brought me through. By the way, exactly one year ago yesterday Mike asked me to marry him & a year ago today I was flying to Vienna to visit Missy - wow!
2 comments:
I'm so glad you are simplifying your life a bit. You were just too busy. I really hope it will help. I'm also so glad you've gotten to catch up with so many friends. It is a blessing to have such great friends.
Have you read, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World"? I would definitely recommend it. It will help to affirm what you've already been doing.
Glad you had a great time in TN. I was thinking of you all. I know the Lord intentionally shut the door on that one. I would have been able to go if a church hadn't bumped us from a Sunday to that Wednesday. BUT, the Lord also knew that Jason would come down with a kidney stone that week and that Peyton would have hand-foot-mouth disease. It would have been hard to cancel the trip last minute, so I'm glad I never planned on being there. Isn't it amazing when God does stuff like that to say, "Yes, I really am in control and I see the whole picture."
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