What I've been up to....

• I've started to feel better lately. 2007-20008 at my church were really rough and it completely wore me out. I was bone weary tired all the time and felt very overwhelmed, but I've finally started feeling better.
• Starting in April, I will be volunteering my time at Henry Heywood Hospital as a labor doula. A doula is a labor assistant and pretty much assists the family through the birth process. This hospital provides doulas free of charge upon request to all their patients as a service to the community. I went into nursing initially because I wanted to get into maternity. So I figure this is a perfect opportunity to get certification as a labor doula and to get some experience in maternity nursing.
• I've also been volunteering at Care Net PRC of North Central MA in Fitchburg since July. I love volunteering there and have grown so much from my experiences. My duties have been counseling women, facilitating childbirth education classes, and keeping the boutique organized. I volunteer every Friday. I'm traveling down to Virginia on Wednesday (by train) to get training in limited obstetrical ultrasound. I'm so blessed!
• I've also been singing in the choir at church. We're not that great and you can hardly hear the choir (bad mics) and Pastor Rafael is a brand new pastor and he's nothing like our previous worship pastor so while we got a few marks against us, I'm really enjoying learning to read music better and find a harmony I love it (phew! run on sentence). Hopefully the congregation will too.... eventually.
• I've been working a lot lately. I work per diem at UMASS and Favorite Staffing. I don't get any benefits (but I do get payed at a higher rate) but I can work as little or as much as I want. I can pick the days I want to work. It's really great. Everyone always asks about health insurance--I get it through Fallon at $240/month. Ideally I'd like to get a job closer to home. I'd really like to get into Leominster Hospital. The commute to Worcester is no fun. I'd also like to make myself available for night shifts and driving home from Worcester after a night shift is NOT safe.
• Also big news: My brother is engaged. : ) Her name is Megan and he met her at the church he attends. She's perfect for him and I like her a lot. The wedding is set for May 16th.

Turning 30

So, I'll be turning 30 this year and you know what? I'm actually happy about it! I kind of like getting older. I love the perspective I have. I can think back just a couple years and see how much I've grown and it gives me so much hope for the future. It's SO good to know God. I'm so grateful for the growing He does in my life!

I'm also OK with being single. It's definitely not what I want. And the idea of having babies after I turn thirty is NOT ideal to me. But I will have to trust that God knows what He is doing. God is sovereign and His ways are not my ways. Not having my desires fulfilled has really helped to train me to believe that God is always good. It is not natural for me to think that God is good. Mostly I want to complain to God and wonder why He doesn't act. But not getting what I want has forced me to always keep in my mind that GOD IS GOOD. No matter what. All the time.

Now, I don't want anyone to think that it does not matter to me and that I feel nothing and I'm perfectly OK. I still desire to get married and have children. I will never be able to be married and have children before I turn thirty. And that kind of makes me sad. Many of my younger friends are married with children and that makes me sad sometimes too (although my joy for them kind of makes my sadness go away). I may never marry and that makes me sad too. But this life is not what it's all about. And, in light of eternity, marriage is only momentary.

The Supremacy of God

I love to be reminded that God has the power to do anything He wants and that He orders all the events that take place. It helps me to so much more grateful for His mercies. Check out The President, The Passengers, and The Patience of God by John Piper for a beautiful description of the supremacy and mercy God in the events that took place over the last week.

"Sometimes we are so overwhelmed at being treated better than we deserve that we must exult in the all-sovereign God—the God of birds' flight and Obama’s rise. When King David pondered how many were God’s “wondrous deeds,” he said, “I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told” (Psalm 40:5). That’s the way I feel watching God’s public mercies in the last few days"... Read the rest here.

Because of the steadfast love of the LORD, we are not cut off his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

HT: Desiring God

Life: Imagine the Possibilities

(An ad airing in select markets of Black Entertainment Television)

HT: Justin Taylor

As You Turn the Pages of Scripture

If your eyes don't catch a glimpse of the cross as you turn the pages of Scripture, you're likely to spend much of your day staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love. ~Justin Buzzard

The Difference

"I often tell my congregation that when it comes to battling sin in our lives, the difference between Christians and non-Christians is not that non-Christians sin whereas Christians don't. The difference is found in which side we take in the battle. Christians take God's side against sin, whereas non-Christians take sin's side against God. In other words, a Christian will sin, but then he will turn to God and his Word and say, 'Help me fight against sin.' A non-Christian, even if he recognizes his sin, effectively responds, 'I want my sin more than God.'"
-Mark Dever

(HT: Reformed Voices)

Thank you Laurie!!

I just wanted to give a shout out to Laurie Babcock who so generously and rather unexpectedly gave me a car safety kit sometime last January. It came in very handy on Sunday when I found myself stuck at the bottom of a hill.

Leah, who I will affectionately call my calamity partner, was also with me; we both had come in separate cars. We tryed cardboard, my floor mats, Leah's floor mats, Leah's ice picks, windshielf washer fluid, spinning the tires, Leah spinning the tires, and Leah trying to push. All to no avail. Oh, and did I say we did all of this was in our church clothes? (Random... we had both been joking earlier how we looked like Jehovah's Witnesses in our black pea coats and skirts... no offense but maybe that's why no one came to our aide right away?)

So after all that I opened up the trunk and start to rifle through the car emergency kit. And guess what was in there? A tow rope. So Leah and I thought it would be fun to experiment to see if her car could tow mine out. Guess what? It couldn't. : ) But apparently a neighbor had been watching us for some time and once he saw the tow rope he offered his truck. He said he would have come out sooner if he knew we had a tow rope! He said I should give the person who gave me that tow rope a great big thank you.

So, Laurie Babcock....Thank you!!!

Hudson River Crash

Every time I read or hear something about the Hudson River crash it takes my breath away and brings me to tears. The reports are amazing and beautiful all at the same time! Here's a few articles I liked:

A Shout-Out to Chivalry From a blog I subscribe to.
All Survive Jet's Splashdown in Hudson A very complete and well written news article combining fact, experience, and opinion.
Passengers of Flight 1549 share stories of survival Video stories about the heroism of the captain, crew, and passengers.
Hudson River Plane Survivor Describes Ordeal I like this one because it's in a written interview format.

Anyone have any good links to articles on the Hudson River crash out there?

Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty guardian.co.uk

The whole point of reading through your Bible

I'm reading through the Bible this year and I'm doing pretty well using The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. It's a great reading plan because it allows for a few 'off' days each month so if you miss a day you don't always to read double to catch up. Well, anyway, I just saw this great post on Buzzard Blog regarding reading through your Bible:

The whole point of reading through your Bible on a regular basis is to begin to see and celebrate that the whole Bible is about the cross--about the gospel, about the good news of what Jesus has done for you.

Make it to the cross.

If you don't make it to the cross, if you read a few verses in Proverbs and a paragraph of commands in Philippians without detecting how these sentences connect to the blood-stained beam of wood where, "For our sake he [God] made him [Jesus] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21), then consequences will follow.

If you don't make it to the cross, you'll make your Bible reading and your relationship with God about your performance rather than about Jesus' performance. You'll gravitate away from the gospel and towards religion. Anxiety and fear will take the place of confidence, joy, and rest. Legalism will replace freedom. If your eyes don't catch a glimpse of the cross as you turn the pages of Scripture, you're likely to spend much of your day staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love.

Cultivate the habit of making it to the cross every time you read your Bible.

I thought it was a great reminder for me to look for the cross in my reading. And, oh my, I can certainly relate to cross-less reading that involves 'staring at yourself, wallowing in endless introspection, rather than staring at your Savior, delighting in his costly love'. I'm so thankful that God has helped me to learn to see the cross more!

BTW, I love Buzzard Blog and I read it everyday (by RSS feed)! The articles are relatively short but very helpful. Always worth a stop!

Resolutions

I usually make the same resolutions every year in the hopes that one of these years I'll actually do them. My two resolutions are usually to 1. To maintain good spiritual health through regular Bible reading and 2. To maintain good physical health through regular exercise. When I was younger and full of energy I did fairly well in these areas but I feel like I get less motivated as I get older. Also, my work schedule is crazier and harder and I have new pesky injuries that prevent me from exercising at times. So I make resolutions and goals to beat back that laziness and try to assemble some sort of order in my life.

I'm going to use The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan (it's a good one because you can miss five days a months and still keep up) and this exercise program from PersonalTrainingPrograms.com. If you have access to a gym you can tailor your own program according to your needs with beginner to expert 2-5 day schedules. (I'm doing the 3 day beginner.)

Last year I made some headway on my resolutions. I exercised for a good portion of the spring and summer and read regularly over the fall and part of the winter. I struggle greatly with both as I am often quite lazy and not motivated. I lack intentionality and discipline in much of my life. All of that said, I'm not discouraged!

The Blazing Center posted a great article Reasons To Have Hope You'll Change to discourage any feelings of inability in making resolutions: "We should use all God’s means of grace to grow - reading and meditating on Scripture, prayer, fellowship, worship, communion. But our hope for change is our mighty Savior, not ourselves. So take courage - Jesus is at work in you!"

Oh yeah, and though this wasn't a resolution, I've also flossed regularly for most of 2008. It was, of course, after my dentist and hygienist said all my teeth would fall out if I didn't but, hey, whatever motivates you! : )