Highs and Lows

Hi friends! I realized yesterday that it has been entirely too long since I published a new post. Life is BUSY!! This is actually something I'm very thankful for, because I definitely went through a few weeks where boredom threatened to eat me alive. Boredom, I've found, leads to intense loneliness, which leads to depressing and totally counterproductive pity parties...which all just add up to bring me low. Combined with my husband's late night work schedule , the boredom/loneliness/self-pity all translated into me acting like a pathetic mess mope for a few days. Thankfully, I realized that moping solves nothing, so I needed to cut off my loneliness at the source...I needed to fill up my time.

I started praying the Lord would bring me some things to keep me busy (and help with finances!), and He was faithful as always. I got a part-time job as Clinical Records Coordinator for a counseling office, and just last week I was hired teach Play and Learn classes for ages 0-5 at Gymboree. It's the perfect combination for me...enough adult time to feel sane, yet a healthy dose of playing with kiddos, which is one of my favorite things ever. Now, instead of being bored, I have very little free time, but it's definitely the preferred option. Unfortunately, Joel and I have opposite schedules so we don't get to see each other much, apart from Sundays (one of Chick-fil-A's biggest perks!), but we're hoping that changes. Until then, we're putting a lot of extra effort into making our time together really count.

I thought the best way to catch everyone up might be to give a few highs and lows from the last few weeks. We used to always do "highs and lows" at community group, and I always found that was the easiest way to remember what's been going on and highlight the most important parts. The first low, obviously, is just that we still are homesick and we don't get to hang out together much. Finances are also difficult right now. On the flip side of that, we are very thankful to have jobs, and the Lord has been faithful to provide for us...always a high!

I'm trying to think of another low, but most of what comes to mind right now are good things! This is definitely a high in and of itself, since I was so down a few weeks ago. This is probably God's way of reminding me to dwell on positive and good things, so I think I will just share a few more highs and be encouraged that the blessings in life are far outweighing the challenges. This is certainly not always the case, but for now, I will simply rejoice in the fact that the Lord is loving us and taking care of us in tangible ways.

My top 7 :
1) We have made some wonderful friends here in Willoughby. We have met several amazing couples/families, and we are so thankful to be building relationships with people. There is a wonderful couple that we hang out with a lot and we are 100% sure God put them in our lives to remind us how much he loves us because they are so awesome!
2) Worship at church has been so Spirit-filled and we've really had the opportunity to see God do some big things at WBC, both in our hearts and the hearts of others in the church.
3) I am super excited about working at Gymboree and getting to be around kids during some of the week. I loved being a nanny and have really been missing those interactions. I am so thankful to have this opportunity. Aren't kids the best?
4) My sweet husband and I celebrated our one year anniversary last weekend. He brought me beautiful flowers, along with buying me some lovely gifts--including French cheeses and strawberry champagne tea from Teavana! He's so amazing!
5) Last week, some of our friends from Sojourn, Tate and Kristen Mason, were in Ohio visiting some friends so we met them for breakfast in Northfield. It was such a blessing to see friends from home.
6) My mom, two sisters, and their puppy came to visit for 5 whole days! We had sooooo much fun...shopping, going out to eat, taking walks in the park, going to the farmer's market. My mom blessed us so generously in countless ways, and it was so hard to see them leave. I am so grateful they got to come though!
7) After much debate, I decided to become an official redhead. I am really liking it. These pictures are not the optimum quality since I just took it with my computer camera, but here's an idea:  
                                                     

7) Hanging out with my favorite puppy love, Pippa. She is SUCH a special dog. I adore her and miss her so much. How could anyone not love this face?

I'm sure I could go on, but those are the major highlights of the last couple weeks. I hope this post encourages you to look for the blessings in your life and thank God for how good He is to us. What are your highs for the week?

Until next time,

Chels