Moving Forward

Lots of stuff

Welcome back. It's been a while, but life has still been fairly uneventful. I just got back from my weekend in Las Vegas with the whole family. It was so funny to watch my brother, not knowing what to do or how to act at the casinos. Not that I'm a gambler, but it was funny. He was glad that we were there and as always we had a good time. We took a gondola ride which was awesome... I didn't actually get to go to Venice when I was in Italy, so the Venetian hotel will have to do for now. Our Gondolier really sang to us and spoke with an Italian accent... how realistic it was is in question, but it was cute. Of course I didn't get much sleep and we took a red-eye flight home, so I've been trying to get back to normal here.
Teaching is going well and I still like it, but I'm definitely ready for a change. I have an interview this Sunday (I know! SuperBowl Sunday, of all sundays!) at a UM Church. They're looking for a youth pastor and sound pretty interested in me. I'm excited. Yes, I already turned down a church job, but I know that's not where God needed me just then, so we'll see about this one. Ultimately I'd like to work in my church, but we'll see how everything goes.
I'm very much interested in traveling and going to different places, so I'm thinking about trying to get a job as a mission's coordinator or something like that. Mexico and South America are really intriguing and I'd love to go to Africa, so I'm hoping I can find something that will allow that. Part of my heart still lies in Italy and I know that there is a need for ministry over there too, so I'm not forgetting about that possibilty either. Who knows! I'm up for anything at this point!
My time here is quickly drawing to a close and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm ready to not be bored or as lonely, but I'm not ready to leave my best friend (BFF!) :), and I'm not ready to fully admit that I'm in the real world now and I have to act like it. It's been easy to stick around here because I have such strong ties here, to this place, but I've gotta move on... I suppose. I have tons of reservations and I also have tons of opportunities and stuff to look forward to. I go back and forth everyday about how I feel really. There's kinda a sadness hanging over me right now and I can attribute much of it to this dilema and season of change. There's a beauty in it though...
There's a beauty in living in a place and calling it home. There's beauty in finding the Lord in the small places you've grown accustomed to. There's a beauty in the need for more too. He's so good and so sovereign. There's a beauty in knowing that I can do NOTHING on my own and I must depend on the Lord no matter how independent I think I am or try to be. He's beautiful. So who knows what tomorrow or next week holds, or next month or next year holds... I'm just going to be doing my best to do the work God has for me. There's so much hope in His promise and faithfulness. :)
That just kinda all came flooding out, but onto lighter things...
My dad is doing pretty well from his surgery. Everything seems to be doing what it was supposed to do. My brother is not doing so well in the "making good choices" department, so you can be praying for him. My sister is almost 6 months pregnant now and so far Alexandria Marie (we share the same middle name!) is very healthy. She likes to play soccer with Liz's bladder and kidneys though! Also, for spring break I can either go to Florida and see Stacy and Jeff or go to Arizona. I can't decide, so hopefully the cost of the plane ticket will decide for me. Maybe neither of those places... if you've got any suggestions let me know! Good news, I'm finally healthy after about 3 weeks of ears infections so that's exciting! Wow, TMI I'm sure.
Last I have to say GO BEARS!!! It's going to be a good game, but I think we've got it in the bag. Peyton Manning is annoying and his offensive line is going to crumble under the Bears' defense! I'm also pretty excited about the funny commercials!
I hope all is well in your lives... please let me know how I can be praying for you!

posted by Moving Forward @ 4:36 PM