HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2009, JUST A FEW WEEKS LATE!

Can you believe that we are entering the last week of January already? My how time does fly. I have been meaning to get to posting for the past several weeks now, yet every time I think about sitting down to do so I either get distracted, or have already put in a long day at work and the thought of sitting down in front of the computer again just, well, just does not happen.
Since I am forced to sit around today (nursing a sore foot - more later) I figured this would be as good as time as any to get "caught up" with my blogging.

I hope that all of you had a very nice Holiday season. Mine was very nice, and relaxing. Something was going on everyday during Christmas. The following Saturday Andrea and Erik were suppose to be over, but their best friends experienced a tragedy on Christmas Eve, so they went down to minister to them. Even though we missed them, we were glad they could be there for Abraham and Nancy during their difficult time.
Dad came over both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. This was his first Christmas without Pat, so we wanted to be sure he was not alone, however we told him that if that is what he wanted we would completely respect that. Everyone has their own way of getting through painful times in their lives and I think it is important that be respected. He did well, and continues to do well. He has a really great look on things and God has been showing him so much grace...it is Awesome to see! Christmas dinner also included my mom, sister, nephew, Caleb and Jamie, and Amanda, Phil, and Indiana (Milla and Hudson were with their daddy this year). We all had a very nice time.
Merle (dad) came over for New Year's Eve. We were going to have dinner and then watch some movies. Well, we sat down around 7:15pm to eat and do you know that we looked at the clock and it was already 11pm. We hadn't even gotten to the movies. Once we were finished eating we had stayed at the table talking and sipping wine and didn't even notice how late it was getting. It was such a precious time. We were talking about everything: Mom, life, death, God, church, hopes, dreams....



Speaking of hopes and dreams, how many of you dear friends made New Year's Resolutions? I did! I resolve to not make resolutions....they are almost always broken, so why bother. I tend to be so hard on myself when I don't follow through with something that it is just not worth it. The things that truly are important happen....the others, well.....don't!!!


 

My hopes and dreams and plans are a different story on the other hand.

I will be seeing one dream come true in the next 2-3 years and that is I will "finally" be able to work either part time, or not at all. Personally, I cannot see me not working at least a couple of days a week. I really love my present job. I am so incredibly grateful to God for giving me the courage and strength to stick through my previous job of almost 5 yr working at a Family Practice. So many times I wanted to leave, but I never felt God's release; knowing this I would just pray, "Father, please help me be open to learn what it is you want me to learn so I can move on..." When God finally did give me the "OK" it was just a matter of 3 weeks that I was hired at my current job. Do you know that the first month here I literally cried almost everyday on my way to work. I was SO FULL of gratitude, and for seeing the hand of God, and the fruitfulness of WAITING for God! I still feel just as incredibly blessed.



Meanwhile...

Just as soon as my foot allows....Oh, my foot! That's right!
Most of you know about it, but to those of you who don't, I had bunion surgery December 18th on my left foot. Besides removing the bunion, the surgeon also realigned my big toe. You see, as a bunion grows, it pushes your big toe into the next toe, if not taken care of that other toe will eventually bend into what some call "hammertoe". Fortunately mine was not that bad, however I do have a pin in my foot up into my big toe. It could be temporary, but since it is not causing any pain my orthopedist said there is no reason to remove it. According to my doctor the healing process takes approximately 3 months, which means sometime in March I should be able to be back full swing in my walking routine.
Only 4 more days and I will be back to wearing a regular shoe (I have been wearing a special shoe since the day of surgery).
I am especially excited to get back into my walking routine because from there I will start training hard for the 3-Day Walk for Breast Cancer in September. Participating in this event is my tribute to my mother-in-law, Pat, who most of you know passed away this past November from complications stemming from breast cancer.
This event consists of walking 20 miles a day, three days in a row. As of now, I don't have a walking partner....you see, to do the walk you also have to raise $2300, so becoming a walking partner comes at a price, no pun intended!!! According to information I have read so far, if you don't have a partner they find you someone...that should be interesting.
I am really excited about this. It is going to take some major sacrifices to train, but in the end it will be so incredibly rewarding. I look forward to the journey!



 Other plans include Rick and I putting in new wood laminate floors sometime this year, as well as replacing the windows in this house...it may be just the front half of the house this year, and the back next year. We don't use credit cards, so everything is done as we can...which is just fine with us. The main reason for the new windows is because the existing ones are not sealed and heat escapes, especially in the winter. There are times that it is at least 5-10 degrees colder in the living room from the rest of the house...not good on the heating bill - especially in these times.
It seems SO easy to get caught up wanting to do this and that with a home that I think sometimes people forget to be grateful for what God has given them in the first place.It seems as though our nation has  a couple of generations of people who are not content with anything. When they get their dream, they want more. I have been taught that if we cannot be content with the "little God has given us, we will not be blessed with more.
I don't think it is necessarily "wrong" to make changes, but I think that it is important to check the motivation of your heart. I have. There have been times when Rick and I talk about doing this to the kitchen, or that to the dining/living...and then, it is like, "wait...WHY do we want to do this? What we have is just fine." Then we think about how money for those unnecessary changes could be used to go on a road trip, extra offering at church, or on a home "update" that "really" needs to be done...such as for us, there are 3 fir trees right outside the front of our house where one tree's roots has grown just about to the garage - not a good thing!!
Please don't misunderstand me, I am not condemning anyone who loves to make home improvements, I am just saying, "do they really have to be improved?"



Sorry about the "preaching"...I didn't mean to go off. Bless you who have the money and time to do everything - travel and remodels! Maybe I am just a "simple" person!

My hopes,dreams and plans do not stop here, but I have taken enough of your time for now.
I will leave you with this quote:

Passion - There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart...pursue those." - author unknown

What is catching your heart?



(Pictures on this post from the Big Snow and recent Winter Walk at Tumwater Falls)

Comments

[fromthewoodlands]

Great pics Linda! I love the walk at Tumwater Falls, beautiful place.

Those snow pics make me glad we have SUN today...I've been cleaning up our garden looking forward to Spring with all this yummy sunshine!

Have a good week...

Laurie : )