GWYNETH CLAIRE was born!! Love her. She is absolutely beautiful-- I have pictures to prove it... :-) They are, of course, at the Smugmug-- Gwyneth! via smugmug In the category “Births”. This is the first baby for Wes and Meghann, so it’s pretty majorly exciting! I can’t get over how gorgeous and tiny she is.
Love. Being. Aunty. Em!
Rache and I are thrilled to take Meghann and “the girls” on shopping dates, excited to do tea parties, have girls-nights-out with the cousins...etc. You get the picture. I have permission to spoil her entirely! Which is good, because of course I wouldn’t have without permission.. ;-) It also means that by the time I have kids, no one is going to be excited about it anymore... :p
In case you didn’t know-- papa had surgery. They call it a distal bicep tendon rupture... In normal people language, it means that the tendon connecting the bicep to the bone down by the elbow tore off. Ouch. The surgery was to repair it... They put him all the way under and drilled a hole through the bone, and basically nailed/sewed/bolted the thing back in place, from what I understand. (Clearly medical terminology is my forte) Anyway, recovery has been going okay... so thanks for the prayers.
I worked a couple days more than I planned this week, and after several rainy busy shifts, was so thankful when noon came around today! Now-- Blissfully ensconced at home, with my computer, some baked potato ( Have I mentioned that carbs and starch are pretty much my favorite things? Especially with tons of butter!) lunch, and comfy clothes that make it look like I worked out. I didn’t. I just like to pretend. I’ll get back on the running schedule next week. This week ended up being pretty much an epic workout fail...
In other news, had a one year anniversary at work last month. Love it! In other other news, my boss is selling the stand, so consider me stressed. Not sure what will happen with the job situation soon, but we’ll see how it goes! Prayers appreciated. If you happen to have a fantastic job opening that might work for me, info would be nice... ;-) Best case scenario, someone awesome buys it and keeps it closed on Sundays. Worst case: Out of a job. There you have it...
I will admit that the stress has increased, on account of further developments since the above, meaning that it is highly likely that I’ll be out of a job when I get home from vacation. The upside? I won’t have to worry about getting the time off for any trips I want to spontaneously take this summer! ;-) I worried at first, and have been occasionally overwhelmed, but this morning I read excellent things that were encouraging... and a fantastic reminder that God is just as sovereign today as He was two weeks ago... I’m leaving it with the Lord. I’ve given myself “the speech,” and am pretty much at peace with it. Don’t know what I’m going to do next, or how it will come about, but it’s okay! Here are the things I read this morning that were majorly helpful--
First, from the Valley of Vision. If you don’t have a copy, GO BUY ONE! (the aesthetic-loving part of me says in an added whisper... “The leather-bound beautiful edition that doesn’t have the ugly cover art!” ;-) ) It is a compilation of puritan prayers, and has been a wonderful aid to my prayer life.
Italicized are the phrases that really hit me for where I am right now!
The Divine Will
O Lord, I hang on Thee. I see, I believe, live, when they will, not mine, is done; I can plead nothing in myself, in regard of any worthiness and grace, in regard of thy providence and promises, but only thy good pleasure. If thy mercy make me poor and vile, blessed be thou! Prayers arising from my needs are preparations for future mercies; Help me to honour thee by believing before I feel, for great is the sin if I make feeling a cause of faith. ... Help me to humble myself for past evils, to be resolved to walk with more care... Help me to pray in faith and so find thy will, by leaning hard on thy rich free mercy, by believing thou wilt give what thou hast promised; Strengthen me to pray with the conviction that whatever I receive is thy gift, so that I may pray until prayer be granted; Teach me to believe that all degrees of mercy arise from several degrees of prayer, that when faith is begun it is imperfect and must grow, as chapped ground opens wider and wider until rain comes. So shall I wait thy will, pray for it to be done, and by thy grace become fully obedient.
And from a slightly older source,
Ecclesiastes 7. ... Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the heart of fools. Say not, "Why were the former days better than these?" For it is not from wisdom that you ask this. ... Consider the work of God: who can make straight what He has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him. ...
Anyway, Thomas Brooks is my companion this rainy afternoon as well. I have been loving the puritans even more than normal this week-- their God-centered view of things is beautiful and refreshing, in a world where too many mega-pastors try to make it “All about YOU and Jesus!” (Said with a wink and a smile, going along with the graphic tee and cool glasses). Love the emphasis with the puritans on living a holy life, glorifying Christ, and looking forward to heaven.
That being said, it’s not Thomas Brooks I’m going to send you to. Rather, I am going a bit closer to home. Literally. We are in the same home. Oh look, it’s papa. Handy that he is my pastor as well. I was going to quote from him, but there was too much to gather! Therefore, I am doing it again... just putting up the link. If you haven’t listened to a sermon of his, you really should. Recently, the “Obedience, a corollary to humility” and the other one on casting your cares were amazing, to give you a starting point before hitting all the other ones... :p. Just click HERE.
2 comments:
Thanks for the update Em! I hope the job situation works out in your favor... it's rare to have a job you love as much as you seem to love yours.
Also, for some reason I was thinking Gwyneth was Rachel's baby, not Meghann's... weird. But that is awesome that you have nieces from two different families now!
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