Thursday, March 20, 2008

I Finally Had Time to Scrap!!!

 

 


Oh, how good it feels!

I haven't scrapped since December. I missed it SO much, but I just haven't had time with the move and everything. Well, my husband's parents have been here all week, so my husband is working on his motorcycle with his Dad, his Mom is sewing, the kids are sleeping -- which means I'm scrapping! Sure, there are many other things I COULD be doing, but scrapping just sounded so inviting.

I didn't do any designing -- this was a purely selfish scrapping day for me. OK, so a scrapping hour. But I'll take it!

Since I scrap chronologically and refuse to go out of order unless I get the "perfect" photo that just needs my immediate attention, these photos are from last June when we visited my parents. My son especially doesn't even look the same anymore! How time flies. Quick note: My son's page is a complete scraplift of "Carver" at 2Peas (aka Veronica Ponce). I just love her work!

Anyway, no freebies and nothing to report... just wanted to check in with a couple LOs of my wonderful kidlets. Hope you're all well. Have a blessed Easter weekend.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Calendar: June Revisited

Boy, I wish it really were June! :)

I had a few people this week ask me to reupload June, because the link wasn't working right. No idea what happened to it, but I deleted the old file and put in this new one. Here is the fixed file. (link removed)

Sorry to my faithful friends -- but this isn't a NEW link/template -- just the old one fixed. I WISH I had time to scrap, but I'm still not there yet.

OK, for those of you who asked for life updates....

Here's my newest revelation. We lived in our last home/state for 2.5 years. We didn't really like it there all that much. The people were wonderful, but it just never felt like "home" to us and was really a challenging 2.5 years for us for many reasons. We felt like God led us there, but never really understood why.

As we were preparing to leave, I felt that the reason why He had us move there was because during those 2.5 years, I was very conscious of His presence in the daily things. You know how you can look back over your life and see His fingerprints on it, but you can't always see them when you're "in the moment?" Well... in our last home, despite the challenges, I could always see His fingerprints in the moment. There were so many immediate answers to prayer; both mine and those of friends around me who blessed me with sharing it. So that's why I thought He moved us there -- so we could be witness to and of His constant presence.

But now I think that was only part of it.

We've now been in our new home for about 2.5 months. My husband has been here 5.5 weeks. During that time, he's probably put out 100 resumes. He really has had ZERO calls back. He was offered a position back in December in his field (he works w/ troubled kids). However, the pay was ridiculously low (i.e. couldn't pay the bills), and the position was one he could have done in his sleep (though he would have enjoyed it). He turned them down and it has been quiet ever since.

It has been a frustrating time for both of us... my husband not understanding why no one is calling, and me not quite knowing how to respond, offer hope, help without annoying, etc. God gave my husband a VERY strong provider gene, and I know that's a gift from God -- one that He will be faithful to fulfill. But when?

And that's what I realized tonight that I learned at our last home: to trust God for His perfection, His timing, and His plan. If we try to control things in our own time, will, and comfort zone, we'll get things done... but they'll be good, not great. However, if we wait for God, we have limitless possibilities.

So about a week ago, my husband went to a staffing agency, which really wasn't the direction he wanted to go. One of the places he went was doing pro-bono HR work for a non-profit homeless shelter. They're looking to hire an Executive Director/CEO. Within his field, that would have been his next step, but this is a whole different non-profit realm than he's ever been in. Is this the challenge, the "greatness" that God wants to use Jon to do His work? He had a casual interview today to see if he was still interested after hearing their spiel. Then he'll be called in later for an official interview.

Who knows if it's what God has in store... what I do know is that in our old home, almost every Women's study I did dealt with waiting on God's timing. Not taking control into our own hands -- in doing so, we close the door on God's greatness. I'm proud of my husband for being patient even in the face of doubt and frustration. This move has been the most stressful one to date (it's our 6th state in 9.5 years of marriage). It's the move that has us saying, "This is it -- we're not moving again." Yet... if God moves us... we'll listen and obey.

Anyway... that's a WHOLE lot more than the June you asked for! :) Blessings to you all...