Think Time

Mike and I went for a walk today. It was a bright and sunshiny day; great for walking around a beautiful pond. Mike ended up taking photos of some great wildlife, which you will see in a moment. I, on the other hand, had time to think; something I really needed to do.
To be quite honest, this week has been very difficult for me. We are coming up on three months without any major employment and trust me, that’s not due to a lack of effort on our part. I have been quite frustrated with God, often times I have wondered if God really does have a plan for our lives. This week all those thoughts have collided in my mind and the result has amounted to tears. Ultimately it comes down to the fact that I feel that God hasn’t given me the opportunity to be successful in the world, which I know we all desire.
It is because of these thoughts and feelings that I was thankful for some “think time”; time to sort things out. As I thought through my frustrations, the Lord was good to remind me of this: It is our society that has made me think that I should be defined by what I do. I define my success on what I do and how much money because that is how our society defines success, rather than defining my success based off of biblical principles.
I often introduce myself as, “hello, I’m Sheila, I am a teacher” as if the fact that I am a teacher makes me someone in our society. For some reason in my mind, it says that I am successful because I have a career. But really, what does success look like? A teacher is not successful just because she is a teacher or a doctor just because he is a doctor. I choose to define success quite different from what most of our society would say it is. I am successful not because of my occupation or title, but rather because I seek to love, encourage, and serve. I have a loving husband who makes me laugh, family who encourage me and a God who paid it all for me. I am successful not because of my occupation and income, but for who I strive to be.

Goodbye sad Sundays; hello success!

Mike's adorable pictures:

Summer highlights

Here are a few pictures of our summer highlights:

This picture is from our family cruise!

We went to Orlando, Fl. where we enjoyed
a day at the "free" places at Disney world.

Mike was so excited to go visit

National Whitewater Center in

Charlotte, NC where there is a

man made river for kayakers and

rafters!

God continues to give us small adventures to keep our spirits and hope high during uncertain times. God is so good!

Truly Blessed

It has been a few weeks since we have returned from Florida and needless to say, that job opportunity didn't work out. Unfortunately, we are still at ground zero for job opportunities, so we keep praying and trusting that God's time is much better than ours. In the meantime, Mike and I have been on many adventures and have loved meeting new people. We are continually reminded that while we do not have jobs yet, the Lord continues to meet ALL our needs. We are truly blessed!

Perhaps Tampa

Mike and I will be traveling to Tampa, Florida next Thursday-Saturday. We will be visiting a Christian organization that houses at risk female teens. The teens are required to stay at the organization for 1 year where they will live, go to school, and be encouraged in their walk with God. We are visiting the organization because I am looking into a house parent/mentoring position at the organization. I would be responsible for 9 girls and would work with them day in and day out with the ultimate hope of seeing life change occur in the girls. We would receive room and board, although Mike would not be employed with the organization. Ideally, this would be a great opportunity for Mike to knock out his masters degree. He is actually more excited about this possibility than I would have thought, after all he did just finish his undergrad work a few months ago.

We would appreciate your prayers as we travel down there (about a 6 hour drive) and as we try and decide whether this opportunity would be a good fit for both Mike and I. We look forward to keeping you up to date as this journey unfolds.

You Know You're in the South When...

You know you're in the south when...

10) You are asked where you are from because you don't say "ya'll".
9) If you are a man, you ditch all your undershirts because it is just too darn hot!
8) If you are a female, you have a new appreciation for summer dresses (a natural form of air condition).
7) There are still Blue Laws that restrict what you can buy on a Sundays; better plan ahead of time!
6) You are scared to have a picnic under a tree because a black snake might fall out of it.
5) You can park your car in your front yard, literally, and you are not consider strange...in fact, you are strange if you don't!
4) You only eat fried chicken.
3) The confederate flag flies higher than the American flag (or so it seems).
2) You have to peal your skin off of leather seats due to the nasty percentage of humidity.
1) When ordering ice tea, you must specify that you do NOT want sweet tea. Note to self: do not say that you would like "regular tea", regular tea is sweet tea! Ordering non-sweet tea can be as if there is a language barrier between you and your server- good luck!

Waiting

Now that life has settled down a little, Mike and I have started the 'full time job' of searching for jobs. We would appreciate your prayers as we try and sort through God's will for our future. While the wait is hard, we continue to trust in God's perfect timing and choose to believe in a God that cares and provides according to our needs.

Grabbing Life by the Horns

My sister had her wedding this last Saturday. We were worried that it wasn't going to be an outdoor wedding as planned due to terrible rain the night before; however, God must have heard Mandy's cries for good weather because it was perfect weather. She said it was just how she wanted it to be. While the planning for the wedding was quite exhausting, the fellowship with my extended family was great! My grandparents and aunts and uncles live in Washington state, so needless to say, I rarely see them. It was such a delight to spend almost a week with them.

I talked with my grandpa the most. He is a retired bull rider/cowboy and boy did he have some great stories. He told stories about winning bull riding competitions, rounding up 1600 cattle on the Mexican border and barely escaping rattle snakes, lightning bolts and deadly storms. It was so incredible to hear all the stories of this 82 year old man's life. It is quite evident that he has truly LIVED his life.

It is through my grandfather's adventurous stories that I have been challenged to live life to the fullest. I do not want to become old some day and not have any stories to remember back to or tell my grandchildren. I want to have exciting stories of me embracing life and enjoying the ride that God has blessed me with; stories that inspire my grandchildren to go out and grab life by the horns.