Its been a weird couple of weeks....
1. Policy change in expenses at work have left us slammed with calls, resulting in a bit of OT (never a bad thing)...
2. I finished up the spring semester at school on April 29th, and started what felt like a whirlwind social life. This weekend is the first I've been primarily at home all month. I kinda like it.
3. Divorce was finalized on Thursday. I am just happy its behind us, and we can both move forward from here. I was pretty nervous to see him, but once I saw him I didn't really have any reaction other than relief that he showed up. Not that I thought he wouldn't, but still, he was coming to FL from NJ. It is a bit of a hike for for a 10 minute hearing.
4. So just for kicks, because of the ads for "free communication" I opened a profile on eHarmony. Found some interesting people. Not really positive that I'm ready. My ex left for NJ on 8/1 of last year, and I've been on my own, healing and moving forward since then. The thought of being back in the "dating pool" is a little terrifying. I feel kinda sorry for the first few guys I meet, 'cause I'll probably have a lot of dating gaffs while trying to figure out how much to reveal and how much to keep to myself when it comes to my last relationship. I guess if a guy can stomach those kinds of mistakes, he might be the kind of guy with whom I should be involved. hahaha. Meantime, my focus is FORWARD with these goals: finishing school, losing the excess weight, and becoming debt free.
5. I should really have led with this one, cause its GREAT, and I'm all about good stuff...but since there was some not so hot news earlier in the post, I can wrap up with something awesome. :)
Friday afternoon in our team chat my manager mentions he has credits for southwest airlines about to expire. He's willing to negotiate a reasonable price in exchange. I laughed and said I would love to use them, but the only "price" i could afford was free. Long story short, I'm flying home to see my folks this weekend. YAY!! The only thing my manager is asking me to do: Feed my teammates something homemade... I THINK I might be able to handle that...
Down side: I have an appointment for a haircut that will need to be juggled, I'll miss Lindsay's graduation :( and Ashlie's baby shower. :((. Other than that, it'll be good to see my parents again.
6. Up next: Oklahoma on June 13th. Can't wait, but I guess I must!
7. One of my fellow bloggers signs his posts: All the Love in the Universe, ME. I love that. I wish I had thought of it first. O well.
Have a FABULOUS week! :)
Showing posts with label whatever. Show all posts
Showing posts with label whatever. Show all posts
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Spiritual Gifts
Last August I somehow became involved in the College Ministry. It's an interesting story of me drifting aimlessly into the youth leadership planning meeting and leaving with the vague idea that I would be co-leading the group. While things didn't exactly work out that way, and the Children's ministry pulled me away for a whole month, I am now spending my time with the college kids, building relationships.
One of the students, still a fairly new christian, wanted to investigate the subject of spiritual gifts, so the teacher collaborated with one of the pastors and we ended up with a packet of information to sift through, and some dvds to watch.
The booklets begin with 129 statements and a rating scale of 1-5. The instructions are to label each statement according to the rating scale: 1 is least like you and 5 is most. Through lots of complicated instructions and processes I won't detail here, you could easily see on a grid all of the spiritual gifts, and which one was strongest for you. Mine was encouragement. But I already knew that. I took a very similar test in Atlanta 7 years ago, and had the exact same gift. What did surprise me was the 2 runners up. In the prior test they were Hospitality and Service. This time it was Faith and Evangelism. I know my faith is very strong, and I know I have come a long way from my upbringing, but I had no idea I would score so highly in the evangelism category. I will address the reasons for surprise in a future blog.
Overall, although the test was helpful, it served only to confirm to me what the Holy Spirit was already working in me during the past six months. My gifts and personality traits (there was a personality test in the packet also) are uniquely suited to things like choir, prayer, counseling, and discipleship. It struck me today as we were watching one of the dvd lessons that go along with the packet: part of the reason I have a fountain of joy in the middle of pain is because I am following the Spirit's lead. I am actively encouraging people, began prayer walking in January, and am currently building relationships that will hopefully have an influence on others' walks with Christ.
All this is not to toot my own horn, but to encourage you to pray and ask God for direction in where and how you should serve. You should not be feeling frustrated and burnt out over what you are doing for Jesus, but instead feel fulfilled. I know my spiritual journey in the last year has taken me down a very strange path. But now, in the middle of great stress (school, divorce, and other stuff) I have indescribable JOY.
One of the students, still a fairly new christian, wanted to investigate the subject of spiritual gifts, so the teacher collaborated with one of the pastors and we ended up with a packet of information to sift through, and some dvds to watch.
The booklets begin with 129 statements and a rating scale of 1-5. The instructions are to label each statement according to the rating scale: 1 is least like you and 5 is most. Through lots of complicated instructions and processes I won't detail here, you could easily see on a grid all of the spiritual gifts, and which one was strongest for you. Mine was encouragement. But I already knew that. I took a very similar test in Atlanta 7 years ago, and had the exact same gift. What did surprise me was the 2 runners up. In the prior test they were Hospitality and Service. This time it was Faith and Evangelism. I know my faith is very strong, and I know I have come a long way from my upbringing, but I had no idea I would score so highly in the evangelism category. I will address the reasons for surprise in a future blog.
Overall, although the test was helpful, it served only to confirm to me what the Holy Spirit was already working in me during the past six months. My gifts and personality traits (there was a personality test in the packet also) are uniquely suited to things like choir, prayer, counseling, and discipleship. It struck me today as we were watching one of the dvd lessons that go along with the packet: part of the reason I have a fountain of joy in the middle of pain is because I am following the Spirit's lead. I am actively encouraging people, began prayer walking in January, and am currently building relationships that will hopefully have an influence on others' walks with Christ.
All this is not to toot my own horn, but to encourage you to pray and ask God for direction in where and how you should serve. You should not be feeling frustrated and burnt out over what you are doing for Jesus, but instead feel fulfilled. I know my spiritual journey in the last year has taken me down a very strange path. But now, in the middle of great stress (school, divorce, and other stuff) I have indescribable JOY.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Making Lemonade
Well, here we are back at positive post Tuesday! This week went by so fast, and so much happened.
1. Wednesday night I rushed out of work to head to a Stats test, but when I tried to start the car, I only heard "click-click-click"...I flagged down a coworker who said he had jumper cables, and called my friend Bob. Long story short, I needed a new battery. Most people would say nothing good could possibly come of this, but I learned that I will survive just fine in this type of crisis without hubby.
2. Thursday, I took my sore throat to the Walk-in clinic and found out I was in the early stages of bronchitis. Good thing I went, because it prevented the infection from spreading. The second good thing was that I found out I've lost over 40 pounds since last July. Since I threw out my scale when I moved, I have had no other way of telling what I've lost. Woohoo!!
3. A co-worker was teasing me about my too-large pants. Told me they were like parachute pants, cause they are sooo baggy. So I went shopping, found a pair that fit, and is four sizes smaller from where I started last summer. PLUS: When I paid, I made a comment about the price, and the cashier told me the pants would be an additional 40% tomorrow. I was going to go back tomorrow, but she decided to give it to me today. So....$89 pants for $27.00. Since I had a gift card for $25, I'm pretty happy.
Even though I missed God's sunset, I definitely know He was with me anyways.
1. Wednesday night I rushed out of work to head to a Stats test, but when I tried to start the car, I only heard "click-click-click"...I flagged down a coworker who said he had jumper cables, and called my friend Bob. Long story short, I needed a new battery. Most people would say nothing good could possibly come of this, but I learned that I will survive just fine in this type of crisis without hubby.
2. Thursday, I took my sore throat to the Walk-in clinic and found out I was in the early stages of bronchitis. Good thing I went, because it prevented the infection from spreading. The second good thing was that I found out I've lost over 40 pounds since last July. Since I threw out my scale when I moved, I have had no other way of telling what I've lost. Woohoo!!
3. A co-worker was teasing me about my too-large pants. Told me they were like parachute pants, cause they are sooo baggy. So I went shopping, found a pair that fit, and is four sizes smaller from where I started last summer. PLUS: When I paid, I made a comment about the price, and the cashier told me the pants would be an additional 40% tomorrow. I was going to go back tomorrow, but she decided to give it to me today. So....$89 pants for $27.00. Since I had a gift card for $25, I'm pretty happy.
Even though I missed God's sunset, I definitely know He was with me anyways.
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