Random Thoughts

Never feel like I have much to say, but I did laugh at something the other night at dinner and KT said, "You should put that in your blog." So here goes...

Our A/C wasn't working right and I was worried that it would be a big repair bill after having to replace our refrigerator this summer too. Fortunately, Jeff looked at it and it was only a fuse that he was able to replace with very little cost. At dinner I told him I was glad he had that electrical engineering degree so he can fix fuses and stuff like that... He said he's glad I have that nursing degree because it comes in handy everyday.... I said, "Yeah, that was good training for learning to wait on people hand and foot!"

Our dog, Greta, finally came home from my mom's after being there 2 weeks for our vacation. I thought she'd be happy to see us, but she seems kind of miffed that we left her. It's been four days and she still seems a little aloof--unless I take her for a walk. Guess my mom was right when she said, "You can't put a person like that in a kennel!"

I've been feeling kind of sad for some friends who are going through marriage struggles and other family issues. There are so many people hurting and so little we can do to really help them. But we are praying and trying to be available to be supportive.

I've been very refreshed these past few weeks by walking every morning and using that time to pray for anything that comes to mind. I'm hoping I can continue that after school starts, but it's always hard when the schedule changes. I'm going to try though!

Guess I need to go and start dinner--sometimes I think a home ec degree would have been more useful to me now!

My First Post

I guess since it's been over a month since Katie helped me start my blog and I haven't posted anything, one might think my life hasn't been much worth living. However, it really has been. We've read the new Harry Potter book together as a family which was really fun. We've gone to West Virginia to see Jeff's family and had a great time with them. We've ordered school books and done some prep work for the fall.

Most of my reflection happens in my "real paper journal" that I try to write in every day. That's where I write out everything that I'm thinking about and I pray about it all. I also write down what I read in the Bible that speaks to me that day. That time with the Lord keeps me on track and centered on what is important in life. I've been learning a lot about trusting God and the difference between "commitment" to God and "surrender" to God.

My friend, Theresa, who visited us on July 4 and lives in South Carolina got me started on that. She shared with me that commitment still implies that I am somewhat in control and thinking about what I will do for God. Surrender puts God totally in control and lets Him fill in the blanks. My part then is to be willing to obey whatever He fills in. That has been freeing for me, as I tend to worry a lot and fret over little things. It especially helped me as my hubby, Jeff, had to have a stress test due to an irregular heartbeat he was feeling while running. My tendency would be to worry a lot about that, and I did have to work hard at taking every thought captive, but it was much better as I surrendered to God and allowed Him to be in control--which He is anyway, whether I acknowledge it or not!

The good news is that Jeff's stress test was normal!