My Not That Exciting but Perfectly Fine Life

The last two months have been absolutely crazy…as you can probably guess since I haven’t blogged the entire time. Today, I plan to play catch up and fill you in on what’s been keeping me so busy. Life has been full of wonderful things.

I visited Claire and John the first weekend in November. We had a grand time together as we always do. The following weekend Andy, Elissa, Joshua, and I visited Grandpa Gail in Illinois. Grandpa loved seeing his great grandson again.

I spent Thanksgiving day at Andy and Elissa’s and enjoyed loving on my nephew. It was so nice to be at home for Thanksgiving weekend this year. I was able to put up my Christmas décor and also enjoy some time hanging out with friends. I got to see the lighting of the downtown Santa Claus, Christmas Tree, and wreath with Rachael and her family…something I’ve never been around to see. So that was fun…even though it was raining the entire time. Made for less of a crowd that way! Amy, one of the girls in our small group, also got married Thanksgiving weekend. Our small group did our infamous dog pile…and this time I managed to get a picture with the help of a friend. We’re crazy girls. One thing I can say though…we do have fun!

As I reflected on the year this Thanksgiving I had so many things to be thankful for. I’m thankful for my family, my community of friends, my health, a job that I love, the list goes on. The one thing that stood out the most to me though is my gratefulness for God’s transforming power in my life. He really has transformed my heart and soul and mind over the last year and a half and I’m ever so grateful. It’s happened through the process of a discipleship study, Called To Obediance. The whole process is basically taking God’s Word, applying it to my life, with a witness (Rachael) who loved me through it, called me out on some hard things, gave me freedom to be in process, and encouraged me to keep seeking Christ first. We’ve also gained a friendship from it. I look back and see God’s hand in it all and am so excited for the freedom He’s brought into my life. I’ve officially graduated. In fact I graduated from both CTO and Financial Peace University (for the second time) on the same day! I had decided to take FPU again to see about moving to the next step in the baby steps. After being in the class for a while, I realized I’m not ready to move to the next baby step Dave Ramsey has mapped out, but it was good to take the class anyway. It was a good encouragement to keep up my current money management practices. I’m a little over a year into this new system…and it’s working pretty well.

During the last week of November I managed to attend a Casting Crowns Concert and hear Rob Bell speak in Indy. Rob was on his “The God’s Aren’t Angry Tour”. It was excellent. I had never heard him speak…don’t think I’ve read any of his books either. But I’m convinced this is one gifted man. He spoke for an hour and 45 minutes straight and not for one second was I bored. In fact I was captivated the entire time. He had a powerful message about Jesus coming at the reconciliation of the ages. I was rapidly taking notes the entire time so I could look back and reflect on it since I’m not the best at remembering things when I just listen…writing helps it stick. If you ever get a chance to hear him in person, go for it. It will be well worth your time.

December has been filled with Christmas celebrations and another wedding. Angie (my former roommate) and Randy got married on December 15. It was absolutely beautiful. I was basically Angie’s personal assistant/wedding coordinator. I didn’t get as many pictures as I wanted because once we got to the church I got more involved in my responsibilities than taking pictures. I’m sure the photographer did a great job of capturing the event though. The picture to the left was taken the morning of the wedding at Angie's house right before we left for the church. The day started at 8 a.m. with me picking up her and Ashlynn (her step-daughter) for a hair appointment. It was a wonderful relaxing morning. Everything went smoothly once we arrived at the church as well. It was the first day of a major winter storm…thankfully the brunt of the storm didn’t really set in until that night. It was really special to be a part of their day since I’ve been there with Angie since day one of their relationship. It’s so exciting to see them start this new phase of their journey. Congratulations Randy and Angie!

For the last couple weeks I’ve enjoyed spending time with my family in Florida. I picked Betsy and Gerson up in Indy (where one of the first things Gerson and Besty did was build a snowman) and then headed to Illinois to visit Grandpa Gail the Friday before Christmas. He had a minor stroke a few weeks ago and is currently in the nursing home. We had a great visit with him and would have never known he had a stroke when we saw him. He wasn’t confused and was able to recall his life history as Gerson inquired about different things. We’re praising the Lord for a precious visit. He continues to improve daily.

The next day Gerson, Betsy, and I made the long cross country trek to Florida to visit our parents and Aunt Betsy and Uncle Rick. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were filled with lots of yummy food (I ate until I could eat no more), games, and good family time. It was rainy and cloudy the majority of the time…ironic huh…we go to the sunshine state and get rain and clouds. By the end of the week it did reach the upper 70s and the sun came out to play here and there. On Saturday we went to the beach …we were thankful the weather was nice for our short time there. Gerson was like a little kid…it was the first time he’d seen the ocean up close and personal. We couldn’t swim because of the rip tides…although it was so cold I wouldn’t have wanted to submerge myself in the water if there weren’t any rip tides. That didn’t stop Gerson though. He managed to dunk himself even in the shallow end.

So far Gerson’s impression of all that he’s seen in the U.S.A. is that God is very BIG! He’s never been out of Bolivia before this trip so he’s seeing a lot of things for the first time. It’s been great fun to watch his reactions.

As we usually do when we go to Florida, we played lots of games. This year the favored games were Settlers of Catan, Apples to Apples, Dominos, and Bang. Settlers is a strategy game…in fact I think I posted about this game previously. Betsy and I were the most familiar with it and ended up winning several times. We were shocked the men didn’t win as they usually do in strategy games…give ‘em time and I imagine they’ll surpass us. We played Bang only one night and let me tell you it was a hoot. There are so many rules and cards with different meanings we ended up cheating without knowing it until it was too late. There was a mixture of laughter and frustration as a result. It’s one of those games that takes a while to master I guess.

I apologize for not getting a Christmas card sent out this year. As you can see, life has been full. So, know that I wish you and yours the best in 2008. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make His face shine upon you and encourage your heart today.