i haven't mentioned it here, but jeremy suddenly and unexpectedly lost his job in october. things have been a bit stressful, depressing, and boring since. there have been lots of jobs applied for, some interviews, a job plowing snow (we've only had one snow that needed to be plowed, though!), and lots of long days of uncertainty.
the winter weather and lack of things to do was really getting to us, and we were missing family. on saturday, we decided that it was time to get away. on sunday, (thanks to my generous father-in-law), we found tickets. and on tuesday, we found ourselves flying across the country (on three different planes, i might add!) and landing in warm and sunny california. we have been playing outside, drinking extra coffee and tea, and enjoying time with family. it's just what we needed.
we thought that we would still be job hunting while we were here...but on tuesday morning, jeremy got a call that he got a job! it's just a job that will hold us over for a few months (selling shoes at a local store), but it's a job, and we are thankful. jeremy plans to become a certified chaplain and will be doing a residency program (likely starting in the summer), so we just needed something to hold us over until then. this is perfect. and now we feel like we can just relax and enjoy our vacation instead of stressing over finding a job.
it's been a stressful few months...grieving the loss of what we thought was going to be our future, struggling with God and his plans for our family, and dealing with the daily stress of providing for our family. through it all, we know that God is good and we are thankful for all the people who have spoken encouraging words into our life as we walk through this. we have had so many people who have prayed for us and who remind us that God loves us, has a plan for us, and will use us to glorify him. we have also been provided for in ways we never could have imagined...from money and gift cards unexpectedly showing up in the mail to an old acquaintance (who had no idea of our circumstances) showing up at our door with a gift card to the grocery store on a particularly stressful day.
as hard as this time is right now, i hope that we can look back on it someday and see it as a time in our lives where we saw God's faithfulness to us. right now, it feels like a huge horrible event in our lives, but in the future, i think it will just be a blip on the timeline of our lives. i hope it's a blip that helped us grow, strengthened our faith and our marriage, and led us to a fruitful place that we never could have imagined. and thanks to all of you who read this who have prayed for us, especially at times where it has been hard for us to pray.
i'm off to have another cup of coffee. this morning, we are going to go for a walk in the sunshine and find a park with a slide (love's request). i'm feeling thankful and even a bit hopeful this morning.
Friday, January 11, 2013
Thursday, January 3, 2013
christmas morning
a couple of pics of our kiddos from christmas morning. (love is a big fan of thomas the tank engine. those thomas pajamas were a christmas eve gift from us - i got them at a local consignment shop. i had originally picked out a pair of girly pajamas, but then i came across these. as much as i wanted to buy the girly pjs, i knew that these would make love so happy. so...i put the girly pjs back on the rack and got these, and she was so happy).
love and her new dollhouse.
jobot was excited to open his stocking!
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
happy new year!
welcome, 2013!
i've been having a bit of an issue with uploading photos to the blog, so i haven't been posting much, because it's just not as fun. i do think it's time for an update, though.
december passed by rather quickly. we enjoyed the season of advent as much as possible. originally, i was going to do a special activity every day. i ended up doing it a bit differently. a friend told me about truth in the tinsel, a daily advent devotional for kids, so i decided to do that with love. it's an ebook and each day has a scripture reading, devotion, and instructions for making an ornament. i modified some of the crafts for love's abilities and to use materials that we had on hand. we certainly didn't do all 24 days, and we did more at the beginning of the month than the end, but it was a great way to observe advent, and something that we can do in future years as well.
instead of scheduling an activity for every day, i made a list of things we wanted to do together and we went through the list for what worked on whatever day. we didn't get to everything on the list, and i'm okay with that. here is what we did get to:
- visit the train display at our local mall
- make homemade "gingerbread" play dough
- make salt dough ornaments
- drive around and look at christmas lights
- watch a christmas movie and eat homemade pizza (we watched the polar express)
- send christmas mail to grandparents
- visit the local botanical gardens
- read new christmas book ("room for a little one" from my sister)
- get christmas books from the library
- color in christmas coloring book
we also enjoyed observing advent by lighting our way of light wreath each day and moving the wooden mary a little closer to bethlehem each day. love learned "away in a manger" with motions as we sang it each day after devotions.
the four of us were home together for christmas, and then we traveled to visit family last weekend.
unfortunately, the flu struck our home just before christmas. jobot came down with it the friday before christmas, it hit love on saturday, and jeremy and i got it on sunday. christmas eve found me crawling into bed with a fever and chills, huddled under piles of blankets and snuggling close to jeremy to get warm. it was a bummer. thankfully, we all felt pretty good on christmas morning. we opened our stockings, had a nice little gift exchange, ate some cinnamon rolls, and headed to church. some friends came over in the afternoon and we had christmas dinner and played games. it was a good day.
we went light on the gifts this year, which was the usual for us. jeremy and i decided to get a few things that we needed. they weren't surprises, but i wrapped them up anyway. we got ourselves a nice pair of scissors, a food scale, and i got a pair of tennis shoes and jeremy got some new slippers. we gave jobot a pair of booties for his cold little toes, and we gave both kids a set of wooden blocks. love was given a water bottle and...the big gift which several family members went in on together...a wooden dollhouse, doll family, and furniture! i really think this has been as much fun for me as it has been for her. jeremy did well with my stocking...vanilla almond tea, which i have really been enjoying, a beautiful new mug, and a bar of lavender soap. all things that add a little luxury to life. the best gift was that jobot finally started sleeping through the night, starting on christmas night. it is amazing to sleep all the way through the night again!
of course, more than enjoying the gifts and the family time, we basked in the reality that God is with us. we recently came across a prayer by max lucado, which we have found very fitting for this time. here is an exerpt from the prayer:
"Jesus, the world sure seems dark. i have a good eye for silver linings, but they seem dimmer lately.
your world seems a bit darker this Christmas.
but, you were born in the dark, right? you came at night. the shepherds were nightshift workers. the wise men followed a star. your first cries were heard in the shadows. to see your face, mary and joseph needed a candle flame. it was dark.
dark with herod's jealousy. dark with roman oppression. dark with poverty. dark with violence.
oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. won't you enter ours? we are weary of bloodshed. we, like the wise men, are looking for a star. we, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
this christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us."
and to continue the prayer as we enter this new year...may the light of the world shine brightly even through the darkness of our lives. may the hope of Jesus be born in us as we walk on this earth, and may Jesus be invited and faithfully enter into our lives.
happy new year!
i've been having a bit of an issue with uploading photos to the blog, so i haven't been posting much, because it's just not as fun. i do think it's time for an update, though.
december passed by rather quickly. we enjoyed the season of advent as much as possible. originally, i was going to do a special activity every day. i ended up doing it a bit differently. a friend told me about truth in the tinsel, a daily advent devotional for kids, so i decided to do that with love. it's an ebook and each day has a scripture reading, devotion, and instructions for making an ornament. i modified some of the crafts for love's abilities and to use materials that we had on hand. we certainly didn't do all 24 days, and we did more at the beginning of the month than the end, but it was a great way to observe advent, and something that we can do in future years as well.
instead of scheduling an activity for every day, i made a list of things we wanted to do together and we went through the list for what worked on whatever day. we didn't get to everything on the list, and i'm okay with that. here is what we did get to:
- visit the train display at our local mall
- make homemade "gingerbread" play dough
- make salt dough ornaments
- drive around and look at christmas lights
- watch a christmas movie and eat homemade pizza (we watched the polar express)
- send christmas mail to grandparents
- visit the local botanical gardens
- read new christmas book ("room for a little one" from my sister)
- get christmas books from the library
- color in christmas coloring book
we also enjoyed observing advent by lighting our way of light wreath each day and moving the wooden mary a little closer to bethlehem each day. love learned "away in a manger" with motions as we sang it each day after devotions.
the four of us were home together for christmas, and then we traveled to visit family last weekend.
unfortunately, the flu struck our home just before christmas. jobot came down with it the friday before christmas, it hit love on saturday, and jeremy and i got it on sunday. christmas eve found me crawling into bed with a fever and chills, huddled under piles of blankets and snuggling close to jeremy to get warm. it was a bummer. thankfully, we all felt pretty good on christmas morning. we opened our stockings, had a nice little gift exchange, ate some cinnamon rolls, and headed to church. some friends came over in the afternoon and we had christmas dinner and played games. it was a good day.
we went light on the gifts this year, which was the usual for us. jeremy and i decided to get a few things that we needed. they weren't surprises, but i wrapped them up anyway. we got ourselves a nice pair of scissors, a food scale, and i got a pair of tennis shoes and jeremy got some new slippers. we gave jobot a pair of booties for his cold little toes, and we gave both kids a set of wooden blocks. love was given a water bottle and...the big gift which several family members went in on together...a wooden dollhouse, doll family, and furniture! i really think this has been as much fun for me as it has been for her. jeremy did well with my stocking...vanilla almond tea, which i have really been enjoying, a beautiful new mug, and a bar of lavender soap. all things that add a little luxury to life. the best gift was that jobot finally started sleeping through the night, starting on christmas night. it is amazing to sleep all the way through the night again!
of course, more than enjoying the gifts and the family time, we basked in the reality that God is with us. we recently came across a prayer by max lucado, which we have found very fitting for this time. here is an exerpt from the prayer:
"Jesus, the world sure seems dark. i have a good eye for silver linings, but they seem dimmer lately.
your world seems a bit darker this Christmas.
but, you were born in the dark, right? you came at night. the shepherds were nightshift workers. the wise men followed a star. your first cries were heard in the shadows. to see your face, mary and joseph needed a candle flame. it was dark.
dark with herod's jealousy. dark with roman oppression. dark with poverty. dark with violence.
oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. won't you enter ours? we are weary of bloodshed. we, like the wise men, are looking for a star. we, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.
this christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us."
and to continue the prayer as we enter this new year...may the light of the world shine brightly even through the darkness of our lives. may the hope of Jesus be born in us as we walk on this earth, and may Jesus be invited and faithfully enter into our lives.
happy new year!
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