GRATEFUL PART II

Today I am grateful for my sister. Her life-long friendship that continues to flourish and bless me in countless ways. I am going to miss that girl when she moves in a month. A LOT.

THANKSGIVING WEEK - GRATEFUL PART I

It's Thanksgiving Week! Last year I attempted to post one thing I was grateful for every day in the month of November. This year I'm being a little less ambitious- I am going to post something I'm grateful for every day this week. I think recognizing the things in our life that we are grateful for on a regular basis, whether we are 'feeling' grateful or not, will lead to a greater sense of contentment in life. Not mention we owe our gratitude to God!

Today I am grateful for our living situation. Alan and I have been married for 3 months now. We have been living with my parents in their house ever since we were married. This is difficult for us to admit sometimes, however the more I think about it and pray about it, the more and more grateful I have become. It has been very difficult in this economy for Alan to find a job. Being able to live with my parents rent-free has been such a huge financial blessing for us. Not only this, but we have run into pretty much zero living conflicts with my parents. The house is laid out in such a way that we have our own space and they have theirs. But most of all, I am grateful for this time that we get to share with them. We don't know where the future will lead us, and if it leads us away from them, I will sure miss them a lot. Being able to spend time with them and live life as an adult with them has been such a blessing.

So would we like our own place? Of course! But I am going to choose to focus on being grateful for the blessing that our current living situation is, rather than on what it could be. Because it could be so much worse.

READING LIST

I LOVE reading. I always have. I feel like I haven't read as much as I usually do lately, so I have a growing reading list, which include the following:

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy Kaling. (AKA Kelly from The Office) She cracks me up. UPDATE: This book is really funny and an easy read.

The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Commitment with the Wisdom of God by Timothy keller with Kathy Keller. A topic I'm passionate about.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Didn't see the movie, but heard both the movie and the book are amazing.

Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. Loved the movie, so now want to read the book.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I actually don't even really know what this series is about, just that it's supposed to be really good, and I've seen that a few of my friends have read them.

Has anyone read any of these? Any reviews?

SOMEDAYS I FEEL

S T U C K

"ONCE YOU FIND IT DEEP IN YOUR SOUL..."

Saw this today on a blog. Written to someone who was thinking about switching careers, and something about it really resonated with me.

"I know that the job thing has been bothering you for a while. I feel like in a way you are pregnant with the idea that you need to do something else, but the definition of what that is is still hazy enough to stay inside you. Once you find it deep in your soul nothing will stop you from giving birth to it – be it a business(es), new job, whatever. Right now you are just in that third trimester of uncomfortableness – but that’s a good thing! It makes the giving birth part a whole lot easier because you are so unhappy and “fat” with the possibility that there is something new around the corner. Give it time, eventually life, God, and your next step will come from within you so strongly that you’ll be in labor before you know it and never look back! You can’t stuff a baby back inside once it wants to come out."

I feel like this really could apply to any big life changes that you know are just around the corner, that you are uncomfortably and anxiously waiting for. But the waiting isn't necessarily a bad thing.