Saturday, September 26, 2009
Prayer Request for Trevor Willis
A coworker of mine (Kim W. as we call her:)) has a son, Trevor, who is turning 9 tomorrow. A couple of years ago, Trevor had a battle with lung cancer. It was in remission until recently. This past week, they found out that the cancer is back. Trevor is in Children's Hospital. He has a drainage tube in his chest and is on oxygen because of a bubble in his lung. He is facing 36 weeks of chemotherapy and 2 weeks of radiation. I feel so much for Kim right now. Trevor has a younger brother and an older brother. Tomorrow is his birthday and it would really mean a lot to me to those of you who keep up with my blog if you would say a little prayer for Trevor and his family. They have a very difficult road ahead of them.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Christmas Shopping and such
Okay, so I'm really ahead on the whole Christmas shopping thing this year! At work, last weekend was double discount days for us, which meant we got 30% off...even on sale prices! I ended up being able to get some nice things for my friends that I never would have been able to afford without the sale price and discount! I also got presents for both of our grandmothers! I'm still not sure what I'm going to get Alan for Christmas. I want to get him something really useful and something that will really mean a lot to him. I guess I'll have to think some more about that!
I'm also trying really hard to go through some things in our spare room. I want to get it set up as a study area for Alan to use to study for the LSAT and also as a crafting/sewing area for myself. We still have a bunch of boxes to go through, but I took a bag of trash out last week and the trash can is about half full right now. I'm also trying to figure out what to do with some of our things that we no longer have room for. Going from a two-bedroom townhouse to a two-bedroom apartment is a bigger change than I thought! I'm really hoping that we can sell a bunch of stuff on eBay and hopefully use the money to buy some furniture for the patio, but we'll have to see!
I've been pretty lonely today because Alan has been asleep all morning. He worked third shift last night and so he's been sleeping :) I have to work 3 to close tonight and then I open tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to next week though because I think we are both going to have Tuesday and Wednesday off! I'm also excited about Sunday because we are going back to visit Jacksonville. I can't wait to see Erika! It's been too long!!!
Well, I need to take a shower before work so I need to go now!
I'm also trying really hard to go through some things in our spare room. I want to get it set up as a study area for Alan to use to study for the LSAT and also as a crafting/sewing area for myself. We still have a bunch of boxes to go through, but I took a bag of trash out last week and the trash can is about half full right now. I'm also trying to figure out what to do with some of our things that we no longer have room for. Going from a two-bedroom townhouse to a two-bedroom apartment is a bigger change than I thought! I'm really hoping that we can sell a bunch of stuff on eBay and hopefully use the money to buy some furniture for the patio, but we'll have to see!
I've been pretty lonely today because Alan has been asleep all morning. He worked third shift last night and so he's been sleeping :) I have to work 3 to close tonight and then I open tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to next week though because I think we are both going to have Tuesday and Wednesday off! I'm also excited about Sunday because we are going back to visit Jacksonville. I can't wait to see Erika! It's been too long!!!
Well, I need to take a shower before work so I need to go now!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
An Epitaph
Sunday morning, a woman who I never had the pleasure of meeting breathed her last breath on this earth. Annelle Comer is someone who I have heard a lot about, especially over the past week. She wasn't famous by any means. A simple woman who loved God, her husband, and her children. She had 5 bypass heart surgery on June 3...the first day that Alan and I attended services at Vestavia church of Christ. She was the wife of one of the elders/preachers there. I've only seen one picture of her, but I have heard many stories about her that have touched my heart. Annelle struggled with a long recovery in the hospital these past three months and she was on and off the ventilator. Last week, with her husband Harold, she decided not to go back on again. She was facing dialysis (which she has also had to have on and off the past three months) and just never being the same again. Harold went and sat with her around 6:30 AM on Sunday and she went to sleep around 10 AM.
On Wednesday night, one of the elders encouraged all of the young women of the congregation to make a decision to live a life like Annelle...to be a strong Christian example like she was and to use talents to encourage and uplift others. In our Wednesday class, Jason asked us to strongly think about two questions. #1: How do I want to be remembered? #2: What am I doing about it?
#1: How do I want to be remembered?
I want to be remembered as someone who sought to live after Christ, someone whose heart was "after God's own heart." I would like to live so that I could be called a handmaiden of the Lord, like Mary was (Luke 1:38). I want to be remembered as having a meek and quiet spirit, as a woman who loved her husband and respected him the way the Bible commands. I want people to remember me as someone who did whatever she could to help those in need and who sought diligently to teach others about God's Word. I want people to remember my kindness and gentleness. I want my children to be thankful to have had me as a mother. When people remember me, I want them to immediately think of Christ and His love.
#2: What am I doing about it?
I have resolved to live my life in a way so that all of things might truly be said about me at the end of my life.
I think past these two questions, there is also a third and important question. Why do I want to be remembered this way? I want to be remembered this way, not because I want people to remember me as a great person, but because I want to get to Heaven. I want to spend eternity in the presence of Christ's eternal glory!
Thinking about these questions has generated lots of pondering for me. I've been thinking more about even the smallest decisions. For instance, what does it matter how I dress if that's all that people remember about me? I'm not insinuating that it's wrong to dress in a stylish manner (as long as it's also modest). I'm just trying to consider more why I want to dress stylishly... why I want to have nicer things... why I care what others think.
On Wednesday night, one of the elders encouraged all of the young women of the congregation to make a decision to live a life like Annelle...to be a strong Christian example like she was and to use talents to encourage and uplift others. In our Wednesday class, Jason asked us to strongly think about two questions. #1: How do I want to be remembered? #2: What am I doing about it?
#1: How do I want to be remembered?
I want to be remembered as someone who sought to live after Christ, someone whose heart was "after God's own heart." I would like to live so that I could be called a handmaiden of the Lord, like Mary was (Luke 1:38). I want to be remembered as having a meek and quiet spirit, as a woman who loved her husband and respected him the way the Bible commands. I want people to remember me as someone who did whatever she could to help those in need and who sought diligently to teach others about God's Word. I want people to remember my kindness and gentleness. I want my children to be thankful to have had me as a mother. When people remember me, I want them to immediately think of Christ and His love.
#2: What am I doing about it?
I have resolved to live my life in a way so that all of things might truly be said about me at the end of my life.
I think past these two questions, there is also a third and important question. Why do I want to be remembered this way? I want to be remembered this way, not because I want people to remember me as a great person, but because I want to get to Heaven. I want to spend eternity in the presence of Christ's eternal glory!
Thinking about these questions has generated lots of pondering for me. I've been thinking more about even the smallest decisions. For instance, what does it matter how I dress if that's all that people remember about me? I'm not insinuating that it's wrong to dress in a stylish manner (as long as it's also modest). I'm just trying to consider more why I want to dress stylishly... why I want to have nicer things... why I care what others think.
Experiencing God
So I noticed an acquaintance posted a note on facebook earlier this week about his Auburn football experience this past week. I'm not trying to come down on him at all (just in case anyone reading this knows who I'm referring to), I just had an epiphany after reading his note. It didn't really hit me until later on, but I started wondering why people don't experience God the way they experience football.
Some people might disagree that you don't 'experience' God, but I think it all depends on your definition of experience. Just so that we're all on the same page here, I am NOT saying that religion should be based on feelings and emotions. Belief in God and that Christ is our Saviour are simple logical facts that we must accept and understand if we are to experience anything in Him.
So here's the point: I think most people put more feeling and excitement into sports, or food, or hunting, or wherever their passion lies and have no idea how to experience God with the same kind of enthusiasm. Imagine what our worship would be like if we truly believed that Christ was there with us! Imagine the reverence that we would have while partaking of the Lord's Supper if we understood the magnitude of what it truly means!
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with enjoying sports. I love Alabama football and I know more about football than almost all women (and a good bit of men, too!) so this is not my way of bashing sports. I think sports are great because they encourage children to be active and find a healthy way of releasing some of life's frustrations. I just think we have some seriously misplaced priorities as a society. It's just really hard to imagine people getting as excited about worshipping God in the way they get excited about sports.
Some people might disagree that you don't 'experience' God, but I think it all depends on your definition of experience. Just so that we're all on the same page here, I am NOT saying that religion should be based on feelings and emotions. Belief in God and that Christ is our Saviour are simple logical facts that we must accept and understand if we are to experience anything in Him.
So here's the point: I think most people put more feeling and excitement into sports, or food, or hunting, or wherever their passion lies and have no idea how to experience God with the same kind of enthusiasm. Imagine what our worship would be like if we truly believed that Christ was there with us! Imagine the reverence that we would have while partaking of the Lord's Supper if we understood the magnitude of what it truly means!
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with enjoying sports. I love Alabama football and I know more about football than almost all women (and a good bit of men, too!) so this is not my way of bashing sports. I think sports are great because they encourage children to be active and find a healthy way of releasing some of life's frustrations. I just think we have some seriously misplaced priorities as a society. It's just really hard to imagine people getting as excited about worshipping God in the way they get excited about sports.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Job News
Well, I FINALLY found out about the DHR job that interviewed for a month ago. They chose someone else and I'm not as upset about it as I thought I would be. I guess I had told myself that I wouldn't get the job (to keep from getting my hopes up), so I was kind of prepared for the news. I don't feel too bad about it though, because I know the interview went really well, there were just so many people qualified for the job (they offered interviews to 49 people!). I know that God knows what is best for me and hopefully something closer will come up.
For right now, I'm loving my job at the fabrics and crafts store! We opened on Friday (I was on the cash register when we opened) and it was insane!!! We had a soft opening, which means no advertising, just word of mouth, and our grand opening is next week. Usually traffic is much higher at grand opening since they advertise about that. They said that our traffic at the soft opening was as high as a usual grand opening, which means grand opening is going to be CrAzY!!! I also found out that I got a promotion!!! The STL wanted me as Lead Cashier/Secondary Front-End Supervisor, which means I'm the Front-End Supervisor when the Primary Front-End Supervisor isn't there (which will pretty much be anytime I'm working)...I'm pretty excited about it because that means a RAISE!!! I should find out later this week how much the raise will be, so keep your fingers crossed that it will be a big, fat raise! The promotion also means that I will (probably) be full-time...so I can finally get health insurance!!! Alan gets it through his work, but we only signed up for it for him because it's outrageous for family coverage (why don't insurance offer couple's insurance?)...so that is REALLY good news since flu season and all the scares are coming up.
Speaking of flu season, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to continue my boycott on flu shots. The only times I have ever gotten the flu are the three times that I got the flu shot. They say that it's not as bad if you still get it if you had the shot, but all three times, I was MIA for a few days and still felt bad for about a week and a half later, so I'm probably going to continue my boycott...we'll see.
Well, I have to work from 3 until 10 tonight and I have lots of laundry to fold and I was planning on making a grocery trip before I go to work, so I better get off the computer and get things done!
For right now, I'm loving my job at the fabrics and crafts store! We opened on Friday (I was on the cash register when we opened) and it was insane!!! We had a soft opening, which means no advertising, just word of mouth, and our grand opening is next week. Usually traffic is much higher at grand opening since they advertise about that. They said that our traffic at the soft opening was as high as a usual grand opening, which means grand opening is going to be CrAzY!!! I also found out that I got a promotion!!! The STL wanted me as Lead Cashier/Secondary Front-End Supervisor, which means I'm the Front-End Supervisor when the Primary Front-End Supervisor isn't there (which will pretty much be anytime I'm working)...I'm pretty excited about it because that means a RAISE!!! I should find out later this week how much the raise will be, so keep your fingers crossed that it will be a big, fat raise! The promotion also means that I will (probably) be full-time...so I can finally get health insurance!!! Alan gets it through his work, but we only signed up for it for him because it's outrageous for family coverage (why don't insurance offer couple's insurance?)...so that is REALLY good news since flu season and all the scares are coming up.
Speaking of flu season, I'm trying to decide if I'm going to continue my boycott on flu shots. The only times I have ever gotten the flu are the three times that I got the flu shot. They say that it's not as bad if you still get it if you had the shot, but all three times, I was MIA for a few days and still felt bad for about a week and a half later, so I'm probably going to continue my boycott...we'll see.
Well, I have to work from 3 until 10 tonight and I have lots of laundry to fold and I was planning on making a grocery trip before I go to work, so I better get off the computer and get things done!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Missing Alan :)
Okay, so I have the most wonderful husband in the world and I know it! I hate days like today and, unfortunately, there are probably going to be a lot like this over the next few months. He works 7 am-3 pm and I work 12 pm-7 pm. I hate being away from him all day and I know that I'll be so tired by the time that I get home that I won't feel like doing anything. My feet have been killing me every day when I get off work. Yesterday was especially rough because I ran the cash register all day long and had to stand in the same place. I also hate that we can't have water (to drink) on the sales floor. That means if you get swamped at the register for 4 hours, you don't have anything to drink either. Ideally, if you are working an eight hour shift, you get a 15 minute paid break after 2 hours, a 30 minute unpaid break (lunch) after 4 hours, and another 15 minute paid break after 6 hours...yeah, that's not gonna happen. We were swamped yesterday and they had called people in...we had every register open and had every location at cutting counter covered. I can't begin to imagine how it's going to be during grand opening in 2 weeks and especially how it will be during the holidays!
At least I have Alan though :) Coming home and seeing him is the highlight of my day. He's even sweet enough to rub my feet at night, which really makes them feel a lot better. He's so wonderful to me. Last week, when I was sick, he left work to take me home and make sure I was okay and then on Thursday (which was his off day), he spent the whole day taking care of me and making sure that I didn't overdo myself. I can't believe that God blessed me with such a wonderful man to spend my life with. A few weeks ago, we weren't talking at work about our names. I mentioned that I had changed my middle name to my maiden name after Alan and I got married. Someone asked me what my name would be if we got divorced and I said "we aren't going to get divorced." She said "yeah, but what if he leaves you or you just don't want to be married anymore?" I told her that we said "until death do us part" and that we meant it...that wasn't just a promise to each other, but a promise that we made to God. She said that she wished she could find someone that she was that in love with. I guess that's part of the problem with society today is that people think love is always supposed to be easy and that, if you aren't "in love" with someone, there's nothing left. Our society has fallen into the illusion that nothing bad ever happens to you if you're in love and that relationships are always perfect when you are in love...no one ever has bad breath, no one ever has stinky feet (or farts, lol), and you get roses everyday. Well, that's not reality.
Reality is knowing that my breath is horrible in the morning (yes, I admit it). It's understanding that roses aren't something we can afford. It's acknowledging that neither of us are perfect, but that we are both willing to try. It's knowing that I'm definitely not the easiest person to get along with, but that he loves me so much and understands me better than anyone else and that he is willing to take the time to make me feel better.
I guess I'm just writing this as a way to express my feelings about my marriage. I have a wonderful husband who loves me for who I am and who wants to help me reach my ultimate goal of Heaven. I could not ask for more :)
At least I have Alan though :) Coming home and seeing him is the highlight of my day. He's even sweet enough to rub my feet at night, which really makes them feel a lot better. He's so wonderful to me. Last week, when I was sick, he left work to take me home and make sure I was okay and then on Thursday (which was his off day), he spent the whole day taking care of me and making sure that I didn't overdo myself. I can't believe that God blessed me with such a wonderful man to spend my life with. A few weeks ago, we weren't talking at work about our names. I mentioned that I had changed my middle name to my maiden name after Alan and I got married. Someone asked me what my name would be if we got divorced and I said "we aren't going to get divorced." She said "yeah, but what if he leaves you or you just don't want to be married anymore?" I told her that we said "until death do us part" and that we meant it...that wasn't just a promise to each other, but a promise that we made to God. She said that she wished she could find someone that she was that in love with. I guess that's part of the problem with society today is that people think love is always supposed to be easy and that, if you aren't "in love" with someone, there's nothing left. Our society has fallen into the illusion that nothing bad ever happens to you if you're in love and that relationships are always perfect when you are in love...no one ever has bad breath, no one ever has stinky feet (or farts, lol), and you get roses everyday. Well, that's not reality.
Reality is knowing that my breath is horrible in the morning (yes, I admit it). It's understanding that roses aren't something we can afford. It's acknowledging that neither of us are perfect, but that we are both willing to try. It's knowing that I'm definitely not the easiest person to get along with, but that he loves me so much and understands me better than anyone else and that he is willing to take the time to make me feel better.
I guess I'm just writing this as a way to express my feelings about my marriage. I have a wonderful husband who loves me for who I am and who wants to help me reach my ultimate goal of Heaven. I could not ask for more :)
Monday, September 7, 2009
The Eternal Weight of Glory
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Our preacher, Jason, taught on this yesterday. I really loved the way he talked about it. It made me realize things I had never seen before. This affliction that we are under now may seem unbearably heavy right now, but it is nothing when compared to how glorious our eternal reward shall be...so much so that our eternal weight of glory is unworthy of comparison to this life! I'm going to try and keep this in perspective anytime things here 'below the sun' seem bad.
16So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Our preacher, Jason, taught on this yesterday. I really loved the way he talked about it. It made me realize things I had never seen before. This affliction that we are under now may seem unbearably heavy right now, but it is nothing when compared to how glorious our eternal reward shall be...so much so that our eternal weight of glory is unworthy of comparison to this life! I'm going to try and keep this in perspective anytime things here 'below the sun' seem bad.
What's up with me?
Okay...so that could be a totally loaded question that no one could ever answer...lol. However, last week was pretty "eventful" for me so I feel like expressing my frustrations with my body.
So two weeks ago, I started having a little bit of some allergies...took some nyquil and dayquil for a couple of days...sinus problems gone...or so I thought. Last week, I was trained how to do 'cut counter' at work on Monday. I get to work on Tuesday and find out I'm training everyone else on how to do 'cut counter.' WHAT?!? I just learned how to do this yesterday! Are you kidding?!? Okay, so I seize the opportunity and train everyone who is in the store on Tuesday. All goes well. I get done training everyone and go to fabrics to learn how to drape the fabrics (totally awesome technique, btw, that makes the fabrics look great!). I'm in fabrics for less than five minutes and I start sneezing like crazy! My eyes start watering and I can hardly breathe out my nose! I get home and it continues to worsen. I figure it's just my allergies acting up again and just push through it. Don't really think anything about it at the time, but I wasn't really hungry for dinner so I just munched on a few fries, chips, and have an applesauce. Wake up on Wednesday and feel TERRIBLE, but decide to suck it up and go into work. Realize I'm running incredibly late and don't have time to eat breakfast at home. Thinking I have a pack of crackers in my work bag, I grab my stuff and run out the door. As I'm waiting at the light to turn onto the highway, I realize I don't have crackers after all. Oh well, I'll just grab some food out of the glovebox (I'm in Alan's car and he USED to have a stash of food in the glovebox...USED to being very key here--I emptied it months ago when we realized all of the food in the glovebox was VERY, VERY stale). No biggie, I'll just grab something on our 10:00 break and I'll be fine. I get to work and continue training on 'cut counter' for anyone who wasn't at work on Tuesday. I'm in my first session of training and I start feeling really hot and sweaty. I'm nearly finished with the first group and I think "If I can just make it through this group, I'll tell Sherry I need to take a break." I start feeling light-headed, so I head to the bathroom (one of the few places the a/c actually works) and cool off for a minute. Thinking I'm better, I head back to the cut counter to finish up the group's training session. I start getting even more light-headed, so I call Sherry over. When she finally arrives, I tell her I'm not feeling well and I don't think I can finish this session. As I'm talking to her, things start getting spinny and weird looking. I tell her I'm going to go sit in the breakroom for a few minutes and start walking towards the clock-out computer to clock-out...next thing I know, Sherry is under one of my arms and Julie's under the other and they are dragging me to the breakroom (the only place in the store with chairs). Someone grabs a bran muffin with pb and someone else fixes me a crystal light. I'm shaking like crazy and scared to death. My nerves finally get calmed and I start to feel a little better.
Anyways, all of this happens and people start asking me if I'm pregnant...seriously, the count is at 9 or 10 now! Well, the answer is probably not. I had my period about 2 1/2 weeks ago and I'm bleeding now. I think I might have been pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not right now. We've also discovered that I'm probably allergic to something in some of the fabrics that we carry in the store.
So what exactly caused me to pass out? Was it not eating breakfast? My naturally low blood pressure? A racing pulse from being on dayquil? The ridiculous heat in the store?
I don't think it was any one particular thing on this list...maybe a combination of all of it?
I am feeling much better now and have not skipped any meals since the incident...not that I really ever skip meals (obviously, lol).
So two weeks ago, I started having a little bit of some allergies...took some nyquil and dayquil for a couple of days...sinus problems gone...or so I thought. Last week, I was trained how to do 'cut counter' at work on Monday. I get to work on Tuesday and find out I'm training everyone else on how to do 'cut counter.' WHAT?!? I just learned how to do this yesterday! Are you kidding?!? Okay, so I seize the opportunity and train everyone who is in the store on Tuesday. All goes well. I get done training everyone and go to fabrics to learn how to drape the fabrics (totally awesome technique, btw, that makes the fabrics look great!). I'm in fabrics for less than five minutes and I start sneezing like crazy! My eyes start watering and I can hardly breathe out my nose! I get home and it continues to worsen. I figure it's just my allergies acting up again and just push through it. Don't really think anything about it at the time, but I wasn't really hungry for dinner so I just munched on a few fries, chips, and have an applesauce. Wake up on Wednesday and feel TERRIBLE, but decide to suck it up and go into work. Realize I'm running incredibly late and don't have time to eat breakfast at home. Thinking I have a pack of crackers in my work bag, I grab my stuff and run out the door. As I'm waiting at the light to turn onto the highway, I realize I don't have crackers after all. Oh well, I'll just grab some food out of the glovebox (I'm in Alan's car and he USED to have a stash of food in the glovebox...USED to being very key here--I emptied it months ago when we realized all of the food in the glovebox was VERY, VERY stale). No biggie, I'll just grab something on our 10:00 break and I'll be fine. I get to work and continue training on 'cut counter' for anyone who wasn't at work on Tuesday. I'm in my first session of training and I start feeling really hot and sweaty. I'm nearly finished with the first group and I think "If I can just make it through this group, I'll tell Sherry I need to take a break." I start feeling light-headed, so I head to the bathroom (one of the few places the a/c actually works) and cool off for a minute. Thinking I'm better, I head back to the cut counter to finish up the group's training session. I start getting even more light-headed, so I call Sherry over. When she finally arrives, I tell her I'm not feeling well and I don't think I can finish this session. As I'm talking to her, things start getting spinny and weird looking. I tell her I'm going to go sit in the breakroom for a few minutes and start walking towards the clock-out computer to clock-out...next thing I know, Sherry is under one of my arms and Julie's under the other and they are dragging me to the breakroom (the only place in the store with chairs). Someone grabs a bran muffin with pb and someone else fixes me a crystal light. I'm shaking like crazy and scared to death. My nerves finally get calmed and I start to feel a little better.
Anyways, all of this happens and people start asking me if I'm pregnant...seriously, the count is at 9 or 10 now! Well, the answer is probably not. I had my period about 2 1/2 weeks ago and I'm bleeding now. I think I might have been pregnant, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not right now. We've also discovered that I'm probably allergic to something in some of the fabrics that we carry in the store.
So what exactly caused me to pass out? Was it not eating breakfast? My naturally low blood pressure? A racing pulse from being on dayquil? The ridiculous heat in the store?
I don't think it was any one particular thing on this list...maybe a combination of all of it?
I am feeling much better now and have not skipped any meals since the incident...not that I really ever skip meals (obviously, lol).
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