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!!!