Growing

The past year has been very difficult at times. I have had many not so great experiences and have learned amazing lessons from them. The best part of the past year is how much I have grown as a person. I really finally feel like I am becoming the person I want to be. Moving every year or two has made it hard to settle down and work on just being me. But God has been working on me with how I relate to others and how I see the world around me. Friends have told me I have changed since they first met me and I know I am a different person from the one I was in high school or even college. Being in a whole different state without any close friends nearbye has made me realize who I really am. Meeting a ton of new people for the first time could make a person want to start fresh as someone new. Staying true to who I am and continually improving myself has made me see life in a new light. We never really stop growing. God is always working in us and through us. Has God been doing major work in your life?

I am an auntie again!!!

My second niece, Macy Edelle, was born at 11:06am on March 11. She is 7lbs 11oz and 20.5 inches long. She has a full head of brown hair and has the same cute little nose as her sister Aylah. You can see pictures of Macy by visiting the Life in Jersey blog that I follow. Yesterday I got to hear Macy makes some noise while talking to Andrea on the phone, I love it! Both Andrea and Macy are doing great and Aylah loves to hold her little sister. It is such a blessing to have two beautiful nieces. I hope to see them both in August when they visit Michigan.

As far as work goes, I love working in the infant room, no surprise there:) Some of the rules are a little different, such as washing the babies hands and my hands before each change (as well as washing both after which was the rule in MI). Thank goodness for Curel hand lotion! There are a total of 9 babies and I love them all, a couple are just more challenging than others;) I have also helped out in the Early Preschool (3's) and Preschool (4's) classrooms. Just this past week I was in the Toddler Room (2-2.5 yr olds) several times and once in the 2's room. The infant room is still my favorite. I have not quite gotten used to having up to 11 two-year-olds all to myself or 9 one-year-olds.

On Friday I took care of two sick kiddos. One in the infant room and one in the 2's room (with a temp of 103!). I am chewing on Cold-Eeze gum balls and making sure I take my multi-vitamin this weekend. I hope to not get sick within the first month of working in child care, that is what usually happens as you build up your immune system.

The women I work with are great. Especially the three in the infant room, they are all Christians and it is great to chat about our faith while feeding babies. While talking with my boss and a couple of teachers from the older rooms my boss asked if I went to church, they all do, when I told her which church I attend she said "Oh, so you are a Jesus Freak too". Yup! I am:)

I continue to meet new people at church and found a women who really wants to be my friend. She explained to me something I had started to notice. People in Texas are nice and friendly but it is really hard to get past the surface. This woman moved to Texas with her husband and sons two years agob so she remembers what it is like being new to Texas.

Next week I will start the process of becoming an actual Texan. Oh yea I am so excited, not! I have to have my car inspected, change my car insurance, get new license plates, and get a new drivers license. And before all that I have to get a new windshield because the tiny chip I got on the drive down here has started cracking in two different directions like crazy (I did not realize I had the chip until the crack was several inches long.) So I will be praying for my car to pass inspection without any major repairs and that I will not have any hassles going to the several different locations to get my license and plates.

I never thought I would leave MI let alone become a resident of the state with the most pride. God bless Texas!

First Couple of Days on the Job

I have been working at La Petite Academy for two days now and have yet to be a caregiver in a classroom. Why you ask? Because they definitely do a thurough job of training their staff. I am trying to be patient and just soak everything in. I do not even know which classroom I will end up in. My ultimate goal though is to apply for an assistant director position (which is what I did originally but did not know the academy or licensing rules of TX yet).

Some of the licensing rules are very different from the Michigan rules. A teacher is allowed to have a ton more kids in their room in TX compared to MI. One reason why this still works out okay is because the teachers have ways to keep better track of their children and are given more resources to use in the classroom to keep the children busy.

Overall I am happy to have a job and that I am working for a great lady who runs her academy very well. She told me as I was leaving tonight that I will be in a classroom for at least a little while tomorrow for sure. I am getting fingerprinted in the morning so that makes me legal to be in the classroom with the kids as a caregiver. And besides that there will be several teachers out tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting to know some of the kids more.

I will be sure to keep you updated. Right now it has just been paperwork, reading, and more reading:)

Family

I have never been away from my family for this long. Tomorrow it will be five weeks since I moved to Texas. Yesterday I was thinking "wouldn't it be great if I could get a huge hug from my mom and a huge bear hug from my dad? and a big furry hug from Aspen?". I was also thinking about my second niece being due a week from today. I love her so much already, even though I do not know her name and she is not born yet. I think the next time I see any of my family I have a face full of tears because I will be so happy to see them. I knew living away from home would be hard but tried not to let it get to me because I also knew God had an amazing plan for me.

Today I am still waiting for the plan to unfold and wishing I could visit my family while I wait. This leads me to wonder how in the world non-Christians survive. With all of the s**** I have been through and seen others go through and now being this far away from home, I know I could not have made it this far without my Heavenly Father. Who do non-Christians turn to during the s****y times and when they are lonely? Just another empty person who feels the same way?

Wow, this post is getting deep, but stick with me here. I have been thinking about this for a little while and might as well share it. For those of you who know me well you know I have dealt with a lot of crap in my life. It is always one thing after the other and the past year or so has been the hardest. Here is the cool thing: I have grown more in my faith and knowledge of God the most in the past year. God has blessed me through some really s****y times when I was struggling to hold on. I have learned from those times and from the mistakes I made (that God allowed me to make). You see, the thing is, I experienced that crap and made those mistakes so those around me can learn from what I went through and did and do not have to experience it first hand.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." James 1:2-4

Am I mature? No. I am always a work in progress. But I have learned that I cannot be so trusting of people and not let people get too close until I really know who they are. I have also learned that there in one who I can trust in any situation (again how do non-Christians survive?).

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path's straight." Proverbs 3:5, 6

I think God has been preparing me to work in a non-Christian environment where I will need to be Jesus to my coworkers. He is teaching me more about being Him to other people in non-obvious ways. I can be outspoken and like to tell it as it is and after all I have been through lately it is easy for me to praise God and share him with others. But I need to remember that others are watching me closely, for that difference in me, and do not want to hear how I am glad I experienced the s****y times. Don't get me wrong, I did not enjoy those times when they were happening and did not always see the blessing I received during them but looking back I CAN see God working through all of it.

Have you seen God working in your life lately? Even during the crap you wish you did not have to deal with? You may not be ready to be happy about it now and you may be yelling at God to make it stop. That's okay, (as I learned at Harvest) just turn to the Psalms. Open your Bible and start reading.

"The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry (even though at the time it may not seem like he is listening, he is!) the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth (do not dwell on those who hurt you, forgive them and work on getting over the hurt, it is a process). The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them (again, he DOES hear us); he delivers them from all their troubles (His timing is never the same as my timing). The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and save those who are crushed in spirit (he will not let you suffer forever, just for a time)." Psalm 34: 15-18

Please feel free to share with me what God has been laying upon your heart.


disclaimer: I do not like rereading posts after I let the words flow so I am sorry if all the words in my head do not end up on the post, I tend to skip words in sentences when I type or write them out:)

Euchre

My phone rang today with a MI number I did not recognize but I picked it up because someone was calling from "home". It was a friend from church who I had not spoken with since maybe November or December. She explained that her and her husband where looking for another person to play Euchre tonight and that they had not seen me in awhile. I laughed as I told her I was in Texas and that I was actually living here now. We had a good chat catching up and promised to talk again soon.

The truth, I would LOVE to play Euchre tonight, more than anything. 1)I love Euchre 2) last night I had planned on hanging out with 20-30 something people from church after our twice monthly worship meeting but was not able to 3) I still only have one friend in Texas who is my age (actually 3yrs younger).

So, about last night. I had been looking forward to Axis for three weeks (since the last time we met) and was excited to make more friends there and meet new people. Well, God's plan is never the same as mine and I get reminded of that all the time. I met one girl before the worship/message portion and then when it ended we were told we needed to not hang around like usual but just go to the restaurant. Every time after Axis meets they go to the same Tex Mex restaurant.

How no one but me ended up there I am not quite sure. I helped move a couch back upstairs (funny how they bring the comfy furniture down just for our meeting;) and then saw people putting chairs back out. I quickly went the bathroom and when I got out no one was around. I hurried to the parking lot and saw everyone heading to their cars (it is a big parking lot and has several different areas to park). So I hopped in my car and started to drive, then realized I needed a refresher on the directions. I called my one and only friend, found out she had a date that night, and got directions. I ended up a couple minutes behind everyone because I had to turn around and wait for traffic etc. At the restaurant no one was there, I walked all through the inside, looked around the parking lot, and waited a little bit. NO ONE. I was SO bummed. I still do not know what happened but the only thing that got me through the rest of the night was a talk with my mom on the phone while I tried not to cry and a borrowed funny DVD from my aunt and uncle.

Yes, I will admit I am lonely. If I had 18 hrs until the Euchre game started I may just have decided to go. No, not really, it would not be practical. So here I am hoping I can find people at church tomorrow after I volunteer as a sub in the nursery again.

I have always known how much friends mean to me and it has been reinforced over and over ever since I began having goodbye lunches and dinners with friends before I left. Thank you all for your wonderful friendships and know that I think of you all often. In fact when a friend asked what I missed most about MI I said friends. I do miss my parents but I do get to talk with them frequently on the phone and get frequent e-mails which helps.

Totally on a different subject: I love the pastor bible studies on Wednesday nights. We have been going verse by verse through Psalm 23:1-6. This was the first chapter of the Bible that I ever memorized verses from, my mom suggested it and I will never forget. Now after each Wednesday night study I understand each verse on a deeper level. God speaks to me through Pastor Bill every time. God is awesome!

Concerning my job interview: It went well. I think it may be a couple of days before I hearing anything back. There are several other people interested in the position both within the company and outside from what I understand. And I am still not sure if God is leading me back to working at a child care center or not but I have been most excited about applying for this job than any others. I applied for an Assistant Director position, even though I was trying to stay away from working in a child care center again. It is a long story as to why but centers are definitely run differently in TX than in MI.

Love and miss you all!

First Interview

This Thursday, the 19th, I have my first interview since losing my job at the beginning of November. I do not want to go into detal right now but please pray that I will allow for God's will to be done. I am really interested in the position but just do not know if it is where God wants me to be right now.

On a lighter note, Aylah now says "love you". So precious!

Update

I do not have much to share. Not much has happened. The only big thing that has changed is the construction project going on downstairs. The master bathroom was pretty much complete so they moved on to the fireplace and kitchen and my allergies/sinuses have gone haywire. I have been not feeling the greatest for the past couple of days and sleeping more than usual. Then this morning when it was time to get up for Sunday School and church, which I was excited to go to, I realized I felt miserable and would not be going. I am trying to figure out a way to get a steroid allergy shot and not have to pay a couple hundred dollars for it. Pretty much, I am out of luck until the construction is finished. The main floor is still all concrete so things are not looking too positive there.

(I have been taking a lot of the Perrigo drugs for allergy/sinus problems--Thanks Kim!!!)

My job search continues with really no leads but plenty of filled-out applications and sent resumes. The pastor's bible study on Wednesday was about not letting ourselves be discouraged. I took it to heart and am trying to keep a more positive attitude. It can be hard though when I get daily lectures from my aunt and uncle on where I should apply and what job I should do.

I am looking forward to my second niece being born soon, Andrea is due March 6. It will be an eye opener for Princess Aylah but I know she will be an excellent help to her mommy and daddy. Although I will not be able to see the little angel in person I know I will get to see many pictures and hear all about her.

There is another 20-30 something gathering at church Friday night and I am really excited to go. (Can you tell? Today is only Sunday and I'm already talking about it:) Please pray that I will make more friends there.

On Sunday nights I have been going to a six week class that people who have recently started going to the church attend, it is to let us know how the church feels about connecting, growing, serving etc. I have only been able to attend twice so far but am getting a lot out of it. Monday nights I go to a great group called Celebrate Recovery. This group is helping learn more how to deal with a past relationship and the times when I feel a little depressed and anxious about being in another state practically all by myself trying to find a job in a bad economy. That is how I met my one friend from church and a lot of other great women.

I hope you are all enjoying the snow for me:) I am wishing y'all were here to go on walks with me because I wear Capri walking pants and a t-shirt when I go:)