I got a job. It’s not the ideal job, but it pays more than my last one. God is good…all the time. And all the time…God is good. I didn’t have to go without a paycheck this month.
Today I felt lonely. I know that special guy will come along eventually. I’ve waited ten years, I suppose I can keep right on waiting.
It’s true. It may have started out on a positive note, but Tuesday morning was awful. I don’t work on Mondays because the studio isn’t open. So, Tuesday is the beginning of my work week. I get to work early, just like every day. I liked to get things ready before actually opening. Sometimes I would vaccuum, mop, dust…whatever needed to be done. This day was different though. I got to the studio early and before I could even put my purse and keys down, the phone rang. I thought it might be my boss, so I went to the phone to check the caller ID. It wasn’t my boss, but it was a client I recognized so I took the call. That call took about ten minutes. I then turned on the lights and hung up my coat and put my purse down. Then another client called. I took that one too because I again, recognized the name. I finished with that call and started to write down the info in the schedule book and my boss walked in. She wanted to know what was going on (in other words, what was I writing in the book) and I told her I needed a minute so I wouldn’t forget the info. When I finished, I explained to her what the two phone calls were. Then it happened…she did what she always does. She made sure to point out any mistakes that I had made.
You see, she started a special for January and the typical rules have changed for those that want to take advantage of this special. I had only taken a couple of calls for this special last week and then we had a three-day weekend, so when I got back to work I had forgotten some of the special rules. My boss made sure to point these out. Now, because this was not the first time she’s done this, it was quite frustrating and irritating to start my day and week with her getting on my case.
A little while later, she brought up the possibility of moving into a new building. She’s been looking for awhile now, and had found, what she considered to be “the perfect place”. I told her that I had driven by the place and had concerns. I didn’t think it was the best place or the best neigborhood. She had a comeback for everything I said (as usual) and then when she no longer had a comeback, she accused me of arguing. That was it. I couldn’t win. Not that I was trying, but it obviously showed me that she didn’t value my oppinion. It didn’t matter to me where she had her business, but I thought I would put my concerns out there so she could at least weigh the options. Her whole attitude was very upsetting to me and I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. I said, “Fine. I’ll just keep my mouth shut.” Then I went out in the front and tried to calm down. I thought through what had just happened and how to handle it and I finally decided to just go home. I got my things and apologized to my boss for the way the conversation went and that I was going home because I wasn’t any good to her with me being upset. I also told her that if she felt she needed to fire me because of it, then fine. She had to do what was best.
To make a long story short, the next day she fired me. Now, if this had been an ongoing situation, I could understand her decision, but this was a one-time, isolated incident. She evidently felt that this was enough of a reason to fire me. In any case, I already have an interview for another job, so let’s hope it works out. I can’t be unemployed.
My phone and internet are back. The week is starting off on a positive note.
Another thing I’m trying to do more of is reading the Bible. I’ve never been one to actually sit down and read through a book and the Bible is no exception. I’ve thought about getting the Bible on cd’s so I can listen to them while I’m in the car and I would still very much like to do that, but they do cost and I have a hard time paying out almost $100 for cd’s. Maybe if I look at it as more of a spiritual investment…? Well, maybe for my birthday. I’ll treat myself. Cause nobody else is going to do it.
I was inspired by a pastor to read The Message, which is just another version of the Bible. It’s more like reading it in book form. I don’t know, I’m still in Genesis, so I don’t know if I like it or not. It certainly has made me think differently about some very basic facts. Such as: everyone typically thinks that Noah brought two of every kind of animal, when actually, God told Noah to take seven pairs of every clean animal and seven pairs of every kind of bird to ensure their survival on earth. (Gen. 7:2-4) I’ve always known this, but I guess the way it was worded in this version, made it stand out to me.
I challenge all of you as well, to read the Bible this year. Don’t tell yourself you’ll read a certain number of verses or chapters per day if that’s not what’s best for you. I read as much or as little as I want. I read it in the morning or in the evening, whichever works out best for that day. And find a version that you like. Look in a second-hand book store or the library before investing in a Bible version that you may not like.
Wow…that’s all I can say. That sums up my week. It’s been just awful. My car is dying. Gabbi is sick again. Tammany and I had one of our “typical” arguments. Meaning, the type of fights we use to have two years ago. The guy I was dating for three and a half years still wants to marry me even though he says he can’t seem to figure out how to speak my love language, we have a stray cat that won’t seem to go away, so it’s living in our basement so it won’t freeze to death. My boss tells me I don’t smile enough. I cut my finger with a razor blade at work and of course, I don’t have health insurance so I wouldn’t have been able to afford the stitches even if i had gotten them. (Actually, my boss told me about this stuff called New Skin that works fantastic on cuts like this that are deep, but not really stitch-worthy.
And there was one more thing I need to add because it’s closing time at the coffee shop I am currently at. Why am I at a coffee shop writing on my blog? Well, let my explain….during our recent run of storms in the area, our landline phone stopped having a dial tone and began having a constant busy signal. Not the normal slow one we usually hear when we are trying to call somebody and they are on their phone, so I thought the ice was causing problems with the line. Wednesday of this week I called our local company here who is our phone, cable and ISP to tell them of the problem and he very politely told me that the phone had been shut off because the bill hadn’t been paid last month. I was quite surprised because I rarely forget that bill. Water and gas, yes. But not my connections to the world! Are you kidding me? So I told the guy that I would bring the payment tomorrow. It was a half day of work for me, so I knew I’d have plenty of time before they closed. Well, I got groceries right after work and forgot all about the payment. Then Friday, I again forgot about the payment because it was Family Night and my thoughts were on getting the stuff I needed for supper and getting home to make it. This morning, I had some errands to run, so I grabbed the envelope with the payment in it and left with the full intention of driving by to pay the bill. I ran all my errands, came back home and soon realized I had again forgotten to drive by and pay the bill. I threw my coat on again and made a special trip downtown just for that bill. Now here’s the sad part. Sometime during that morning, they shut off the internet, too. And with it being a Saturday, you know it’s not going to be turned on until Monday. So, here I am. Writing in my blog at a coffee shop. It’s not a bad thing, it’s just one more thing that went wrong this week. Hopefully by Monday, they’ll have me up and running.
We hear that a lot this time of year, but I really do wish you all happiness. I pray that you will grow as you seek the guidance and wisdom of Our Savior and if you don’t know Him, I pray that someone will come into your life and share His Good News with you.
As for me, I unintentionally set a few resolutions for myself. I don’t like them because when I don’t succeed, I then feel guilty. *sigh* But I did it anyway. I am cleaning up and out. I’ve been deleting old emails, images and programs like crazy off of my laptop. And I would like to submit to my blog at least once a week. That’s my goal. I’m also changing some eating habits. I found an article on Yahoo! that was simple and do-able for me. There were five things listed:
1. Drink water. 8 glasses per day.
2. Drink tea instead of coffee and pop.
3. Walk.
4. Eat lots of fruits and vegies.
5. Eat soup once a day.
Simple, right? We’ll see.
Well, I should get to work.
In Him,
Ann
God is awesome! Several times during our vacation we felt that God’s hand was with us. We had planned to go to Wisconsin on vacation, but when those plans fell through, it opened up other possibilites, such as going to a three-day music festival. I have often talked to the kids about going to one because their dad and I use to go to them all the time. It was job-related, but what a great perk! When you just need a little break and want to be around others who love Jesus as much as you do, it was a wonderful retreat.
I convinced the kids to go with me to Sonshine Fest in Minnesota. We left Thursday morning and arrived in Willmar, Minnesota around 3pm CT. There were soooo many tents and RV’s!!! We were a little overwhelmed at first, but the people who were directing where so kind and patient. They explained everything they could and basically told me to just find an open spot and put up our tent. We drove around for about 10 minutes and finally found a place that was large enough for our tent and our van. It was quite a walk to the main stage, but it was a nice, quiet spot. It had it’s advantages and disadvantages.
Since the bands actually started at 10am, I was a little bummed out that we had gotten there so late in the day, but as it turned out, the bands we wanted to hear didn’t start until 5:30pm. So were had just enough time to set up camp, get our bearings, buy tickets and walk to the main stage.
On the way there, we walked by stage two and we immediately recognized the song. It was Sanctus Real. A group that our whole family likes, so we stopped and listened to them. They sounded great. We continued on to the main stage as soon as they were done.
The next band we heard was Skillet. I love their music, but have now decided that I don’t ever want to attend one of their concerts again. I was very well aware of the fact that teens and young adults like to “mosh” and I was also aware of the fact that this was the kind of group that encouraged “moshing”, but I thought we were standing far enough away from the front of the stage that we would be safe. Wrong! As soon as the music started, the crowd surfing started too. What is crowd surfing you ask? It’s where a very adventurous person is hoisted up by friends over their heads and passed to the strangers next to them and so on. So while this person is putting their faith in the crowd, there are people in the crowd that don’t want to participate in such antics. And I don’t mean just me. As I watched some of the teen girls standing around me, they were covering their heads trying to keep from being kicked in the head and occasionally squealing out of fear and a little bit of excitement. Then there was the bouncing. My toes were stepped on so many times I lost count and twice I had to push others away to keep from losing my 11 year old son under their feet. But aside from all this, the one thing I couldn’t understand about the behavior I witnessed was the constant pushing of people to get closer to the stage. We were already standing shoulder to shoulder, yet these kids managed to push people apart and squeeze through, which of course, made us have to step back. I felt like we had been standing in the same spot for quite a long to time to see Skillet. We had earned the right to stand right where we were. It was selfish of those people to push through just because they didn’t get there as soon as others so they had to be aggresive and push people around to get what they felt they deserved, just because they wanted it. Is this a Christian attitude?
I’m sure that our generation did things that our parents shook their heads in amazement at because of our stupidity, but I can’t think of any at the moment…nothing that would compare anyway. What good does it do to bounce your body off of another with all your might, only to be brought to the sudden realization that gravity will take control and pull you to the hard ground? And then, because there was no grass underneath them, it stirred up dirt and dust, which of course, went right back into the crowd’s eyes and noses. I can’t imagine what it was like to try to sing up on stage!
Because the crowd was so aggresive, I decided to keep my camera put away and close to me until I had a chance to get further back.
The next group was David Crowder. While they were switching things around on stage, the crowd thinned out considerably so I sat down on the ground and took out my camera. I set it up, made sure there was enough film, put my zoom lens on and then handed it to Hall to take the first picture. He focused in on the stage and then pulled the camera away from his face. He looked at me a little confused, but held the camera up once more. A second or two later, he’s looking the camera over like he couldn’t remember where the buttons were. I asked him if something was wrong and he said, “I don’t know”. He handed the camera to me and after looking at it for about 15 seconds, I knew what was wrong. I slight panic went through my body as I quickly realized that I couldn’t fix the problem. The batteries had died and I hadn’t taken the advice of my first photography intructer…never be without plenty of film and fresh batteries. I seriously wanted to cry at that point, but knowing my kids would think I had lost my mind, I just sat. And as I was practicing my soothing deep breaths, I realized that all wasn’t lost. I may not be able to get picture tonight, but tomorrow would be a new day! I was sure there would be some place in town that sold camera batteries.
The David Crowder Band is one of Hall’s favorites, so I’m quite familiar with their music. It’s not the type of music I would think kids would feel the need to “mosh” to. But again, I was so wrong. Fortunately, this time I was prepared. I had backed up even further and Gabrielle and Wilson stayed with me. Hall, on the other hand, wanted to get in with the crowd. He’s over 6 feet tall, so he didn’t have to worry about getting kicked quite as much and he loved the bouncing. So he went in…and his younger brother wanted to follow. I was more worried about him, so I said no. Wow. Lost major mom points there. During this time, I thought it would be a good idea to take my camera back to the camp site, so I left Wilson with Gabrielle and trudged through the crowds. It took me 30 minutes to get to our tent and get back to the stage. By this time it was getting dark and it was difficult to tell where the kids were, so I stood in the general vicinity until the band was done and people started clearing out.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I actually miss being at work. I have this whole week off for vacation and I miss my “job”. I guess it’s because I really enjoy what I do and I have wonderful people to work with.
Tonight I went to our church’s yearly baptism that’s held at a nearby lake. There were about 30 people who were baptised and most of them were under 18. It was beautiful to see so many publicly show their obediance to God in this way. Many of the fathers were able to baptise their own children which made it even more special. What a blessing!
Last night, the youth group got back from Mexico. It was soooo good to see their faces again, (although my son had some kind of paint all over his), but even so, they looked great! And almost every one of the 51 people that went had a story to share with the group of parents, friends and relatives that were there to greet them.
I didn’t know until the last minute that they were going to be staying in Wichita, Kansas near an uncle and aunt and their five kids that they haven’t seen for a very long time. So, I sent them an email to let them know the Gabbi and Hall were on their way back from Mexico and would be stopping in Wichita. As it turned out, they were able to go, so they had a (very small) family reunion. There were seven cousins in all! Gabbi and Hall both said it was a little awkward at first, but it was fun and they loved it.
Just got an email update on the youth group. I’ll just cut and paste it here….
Again, it’s a God thing! Mark JUST called and they are IN. At first the guard said “absolutely NO buses, no crossing.” They prayed. They waited. The guard changed his mind and said “JUST THIS ONE TIME”!!!! (They don’t have to cross every day, just this once!!). Mark was SOOOOOOOOOOOO pumped up. The kids are “ready to build some houses”! They are in the Mountain time zone – so an hour earlier than us. Their day began at 3:30 a.m.!
Got an email yesterday from the church that went out to all the parents and families of those who went to Mexico. The bus’ engine overheated in Kansas and they were delayed a while. But the bus is running again and everything seems to be pretty close to schedule. Whew! I’m hoping we get some more updates today. And maybe even some photos!
This morning they were to have gone across the Mexican border. Their Bible reading today is out of Numbers 13 and 14 describing the Isrealites crossing into a strange land. I remember when Tammany went on this trip a couple of years ago, their border experience wasn’t very smooth. I guess Tammany had some grapes, so the border dogs sniffed her out and she had to get rid of them and there were some passports that weren’t up-to-date or something…in any case, it was a little stressful and they had to go around and enter Mexico at a different border. I’m curious to find out how it went this time around.
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