Thinking about stuff

So, I am reading through the Bible - turns out, very slowly...but I have decided to read it through. I heard someone say that she reads it through twice a year and she has done it for years now and said that every time she reads it, it totally changes her life. God gives her something new each time. I was pretty amazed by that. I am not putting pressure on myself to read it through in six months. I do not pick it up every day - sometimes only once a week. But when I go too long without reading it, I definitely feel that hunger to hear what God's precious Word has to say to me. This week, I read about Joseph - obviously - I'm still in Genesis...lol. Anyway, his story completely got me thinking. He was pretty much an old man that had endured a pretty awful life before he even had a clue as to what God was doing with him. He was betrayed by his brothers, thrown in a pit, sold to the Egyptians. Then, he was doing well and "prospering" as a slave in Egypt but then he was betrayed by Potipher's wife and thrown in prison. He helped a couple people out in prison and all he asked was that they remember him when they talked to Pharoah. Did the guy remember?? Not until TWO years later...wow. That really sucks. But yet he still trusted God - and he trusted God with his gift - interpreting dreams. I think the thing that amazes me most is that when he was pretty much running all of Egypt because he had been obedient to God, he did not hold a grudge against his brothers. He wept for them. He even told them that them throwing him into that pit was NOT their fault. That GOD had had a complete purpose in doing that. Amazing. He did not see the culmination of what God was going to do with his life, until he was old. He didn't get to grow up with his family and only got to see his father a little bit before he died, but he understood that God had a bigger plan and eventually, he got to spend all eternity with them. I look at my life and see how quick I am to blame others or to not exhibit grace or mercy - only giving to someone when they are giving to me. Maybe it took those years and years of Joseph being away from his family to forgive them - maybe he forgave them right away. It doesn't really say. But he got there. He was faithful to God and God was faithful to him. His story spurred me on to keep on, keepin on. To show grace always. That is hard for me. I want to be the judge. Joseph did mess with his brothers a little - I wondered if that was sort of "getting back" at them for all they put him through. But in the end, he blessed them HUGE. They didn't deserve it. Sort of like what God does for me every day. I don't deserve the free gift of salvation. I don't deserve to be able to walk into His presence and have a relationship with him, but he gives me HUGE blessings - probably the majority of which I haven't even discovered yet. Hmm. I can definitely learn from Joseph. Use the gifts God has given me with confidence. Don't hold grudges - this life is to short to stay angry. Believe that God has a purpose for my life, even though I may not see how he's working in my current situation. Stay faithful in ALL my actions. God see's everything - including the darkest areas of my heart where I even try to fool myself sometimes.

That's all for now...still processing.

Summer Highlights

WOW - it has been two months and one day since I posted last...time has flown and lots has happened. Here are a some of the high and low lights :-)

June 12-15th - Travis and I celebrated eight years of marriage by taking a trip to San Francisco. It was the first time we had been on an airplane since the girls were born. Surprisingly...I was ready. I went gung-ho down the ramp to board the plane. I had forgotten how much I used to enjoy traveling - and flying! Travis had even booked me a window seat as a surprise. We spent part of the trip with our good friends Josh and Meredith. We ate at the Rain Forest Cafe and spent much of the time roaming the city on foot. Travis and I took a trip to Alcatraz which was really interesting. The whole time we were there, the weather was beautiful. I fell in love with San Francisco.

June 25th - I was laid off from my job. This was a bit unexpected, yet I hadn't been able to shake the feeling for a while now that I was supposed to NOT be at Willamette Dental anymore. I was having a hard time going - while I loved my co-workers and I really did enjoy my work, I just was feeling unsettled. When I got laid off, it was like all of the pieces fell into place in my head. God had been preparing me for that moment. It was a bit surreal at first, but it didn't take long for both Travis and I to really appreciate what had happened - that I would have a time at home with him and the girls before his crazy school schedule would start.

June 26th - Mia turns two! We had her birthday party on Saturday the 27th with an Elmo theme (of course). The kid LOVES Elmo. My sister-in-law, Meghan made an AWESOME cake (like usual). We had a great time celebrating in our yard. The weather was warm, but not in the hundreds like last year - thankfully!

We took a couple of weekend camping trips in July. One with my mom, aunt and uncle, cousin and his family and the other one with my sister and her family. Other than the weather was HOT and made being IN the trailer pretty uncomfortable, we had a good time. The kids love being outdoors.

Last weekend we even did a spontaneous road trip to the beach. It was last minute - we threw in ONE bag that had all of our stuff in it, took some toys for the kids and headed out. We are fortunate enough to have an open invitation at Travis' grandma's house - actually both of his grandma's have houses at the beach, which is really cool. We got there around 9:30 on Saturday evening after stopping for dinner in Beaverton. We had a blast with the girls on Sunday - went to the acquarium, walked around downtown Seaside, played in the sand, fed the seagulls, and Keira and I went to the park while Travis and Mia took a three hour nap! Our trip was sort of a "test run" to see if we could actually successfully pull off a last minute trip - because that is what they will probably be during these next few years with Travis in some pretty intense school.

August 10th - I started a new job!! Pretty amazing - I lost my job on a Thursday, saw a posting for this job on the next Monday and applied for it, got a call on Tuesday, had a phone interview on Wednesday. The rest of the process slowed down a bit because they were weeding through over 200 applicants!! I ended up going in for a working interview and then they were trying to decide betweein me and one other person so we had to both do a personality test. I was told mine came out just a tiny bit stronger so I got the job! It is at a dental office in Vancouver and so far it seems great. The only hard time I've had is that it is in the afternoon so I tend to get sleepy right when I get there. I still have to get up early in the mornings to get some things done before the kiddos wake up. I love what I'm learning though and the staff seems pheonominal - like they really work well together. I'm very excited to still be in the dental field and to learn more about how things work in a private practice. Plus, I will still have Fridays off and will keep my hours around 30 per week.

August 15th - the girls were in Trav's cousin Jenni's wedding. This was Keira's second wedding as a flower girl, and Mia's first. It was so cute to watch them and they did really. Mia managed to stay up there for about the first 10 or 15 minutes which was WAY better than I thought she would since she had a really hard time at the rehearsal.

TODAY - August 17th - Travis starts dental school! As I write this, he is three minutes into his class. One HUGE praise is that my uncle has a house right above the school and he is letting Travis park his truck there!! PTL!!! There is NO parking for the first two years and he was really stressed out about taking public transportation and the time that would add on to his commute. My uncle just called us last night to tell us it was okay. Parking is really crazy up there and people that LIVE there have to have a permit to park on the street because it was used so much for the school.

Yesterday, we went to a picnic for new students. Of course, it was a bit awkward at first. Nobody really talked to us so we just sat down at a picnic table and started feeding the girls chips lol. We did end up meeting a few really nice people. There was one couple there that had a baby and the girls of course wanted to go see the little boy, so we got to know them a little bit. They moved here from Montana for him to go to school and they know no one. I really feel for them - especially the girl who will be at home with that little boy, not having any friends or family around. We exchanged numbers and I hope to keep in touch with her and maybe set up a play date in the next few weeks. They had a contest at the picnic and Travis was the 2nd oldest student - the first oldest was also 32 but his b-day was a little before Trav's. Travis did win the prize for the most kids, though. We were the ONLY ones there with two kids. ACK! But then we got to talking about it, any other students with kids probably stayed home, because the picnic WAS right at nap time. lol

So, here we begin the start of a new era...I'm sure these next four years will be tough - but we have SO much to be thankful for. I can't even begin to express how grateful I am to be able to stay in town, in our house, with numerous friends and family to support us.

Until next time...whenever that may be. :-)