Pomp and Circumstance

I AM GOING TO GRAD SCHOOL!! Well at least that is the plan as it seems the doors are still open for it. I am very excited about it. It seems as though I have somewhat plateaued where I am at. For the jobs I have been going for it seems as though 12yrs of experience + 2 bachelors degrees isn't enough. So rather than continue in the secular world, I am starting grad school in January to obtain either an MFT and/or a Biblical Counseling masters and go from there. Please pray for us as we start to put more of these plans into action.

BIG DAY!

Well, today was the big day, Bella graduated from puppy school complete with diploma and a photo of her wearing a mini graduation cap. As a gift I let her pick out a toy and the funny this is that she did. I gave her a few options...a black gorilla that makes a real gorilla sound, a teddy bear she was trying to grab and a monkey wearing a bikini top and hula skirt. Needless to say she picked the monkey. It's sooo funny, the thing is bigger than her!!

Other than that it's been pretty quiet out here. We are both working and staying busy and living for the weekends.

I'll have to try and post Bella's graduation picture when I get it from the school.

The cost of regret....a new condiment

I have been reading through a book called Women of the Bible , it's a devotional book and quite good so far. Yesterday I was reading the section on Lot's wife. The author(of the devotional book) suggested that perhaps Lot's wife looked back because of regret. That maybe she looked back at what she had to leave behind in order to save her very life. Maybe she regretted not being able to stay, not mending fences with a neighbor, not being able to influence her friends and neighbors to change the wicked ways that they were living. This got me to thinking about the cost of regret. In her case, it cost her her life.

Then, I began to think about how much time I have wasted on regret and wonder if it couldn't be an effective tool to avoid making the same mistake. I think that it can be a tool. Like all tools it can build or destroy depending on how it is used. Regret can be crippling for some and empowering for others. Another thought is that there is no regret...God uses it all. If God uses everything for good for those who are his own then couldn't He also use regret too?

Like most things in life, many times it's ok to be where you are right now, it's just not ok to stay there. Just a few thoughts!

Hmm...

Wow how time flies! I can't believe that my last post was almost 2 months ago. The interesting thing is that there is someone in Virginia who looks at my blog quite often and I do not recall knowing anyone in Virginia. I would love to know who you are if you would please leave me a comment.

I will be updating again soon. But for now I must continue my battle with the Nevada DMV!

What's new

Well, here it is...one month after the wedding. It still doesn't seem real. It is amazing how many lessons I have learned in such a short time simply by 'just' getting married. I am not sure what I plan to do with this blog since it's use has now expired as I am no longer in NY. Perhaps I will start another one. For now I will update:

* I am now married
* About to be the proud parent of a puppy
* Moving into our new HOUSE!!
* Living in Reno
* Preparing to go on a missions trip to Mexico with the youth group
* Job Hunting
* Adjusting to west coast life =0P
* Missing you all!

The Wedding!

What an amazing Sunday!! All I knew about was the going away party but it was soooo much more. I went to both services as I always do and thought nothing of it. Pastor Mike mentioned something about it being my last Sunday in church and that there would be a get together later on that afternoon. THEN...in the second service a mom who I was praying for and trying to reach out to for almost the entire time I was here got up in front of the congregation to thank me for all that I had done for her, her family and the church. Here I was beating myself up as I tried to think of ways to help then and she basically answered all of the questions in my head by her thank you! The hardest part was reading the letter her 10yr old who assisted me in Sunday school and I became buddies with wrote to me. It was soooooo awesome and soooooooo hard at the same time.

I think part of what was so overwhelming is finding out I was on the right track all along and the impact that I had had without realizing it.