I'm ALIVE!
According to livejournal, it's been 35 weeks since I last posted. WOOPS! So here I am, posting ... and making a promise to you (whoever may be reading this) that I will do my best to update regularly. I would like for this to be my brainstorming place - so I'll try to be better.
A lot has happened in 35 weeks. Probably the most significant is that I lost my job at the end of January. Since then, I've done a lot of soul searching, praying, listening, reading, and discerning what God is calling me to. I'm reading several books at the moment, all of which have been incredibly wonderful at helping me to be honest with myself about where I am in my personal and spiritual life. I think I'll do a book review of each of them when I finish them, as a way of reflecting on the book and how it affected me. Plus - one more way to update right? :)
The day after I lost my job, I attended an Episcopal Young Adult Gathering called "Vocare". Although I was frustrated during the weekend for several reasons, I have to say that it was a transformative weekend for me. I think a lot of it was timing - because I had just lost my job, I was completely open to what God was saying to me. We had a lot of time during the weekend for silence, and I never realized how comforting complete silence can be when you use it to focus on God. Something else I learned from Vocare was the real value of prayer. I have never been one to sit and pray at any specific time - I usually pray by just randomly talking to God. We were given an Anglican Rosary (also known as Anglican Prayer Beads) and I was also given the opportunity to make one to be sold as a fundraiser for the Atlanta area Episcopal Young Adult group. The prayer beads have been an incredible addition to my prayer life - as one whose mind wanders when I try to focus on prayer, it is helpful to have something solid to focus on when saying prayers. The most important thing I learned from Vocare is that I NEED a Christian community. Many of you know that we have been without a church since we moved to GA - we have visited a couple of churches, but never found a place where we truly felt comfortable. We decided to visit the local Episcopal church for Ash Wednesday service, and instantly felt the presence of God. The people were so welcoming, and the service was very centering. I've been participating in their Lenten Evening Prayer services and Lenten study, and it has been a great experience to be a part of a Christian community again.
We are anticipating a move to Atlanta very soon. When I have firm details, I will post more - it will probably be next week sometime. We have listed the house on craigslist, owners.com and Josh's work intranet. We've had a couple people interested so far, so we're trusting that God will take care of everything in the right time frame. We are learning a lot about surrendering to God's will and trusting that God will supply everything that we need.
Those are the highlights of our life as of right now. Look for a book review tomorrow or Sunday and a "move update" sometime soon!
A lot has happened in 35 weeks. Probably the most significant is that I lost my job at the end of January. Since then, I've done a lot of soul searching, praying, listening, reading, and discerning what God is calling me to. I'm reading several books at the moment, all of which have been incredibly wonderful at helping me to be honest with myself about where I am in my personal and spiritual life. I think I'll do a book review of each of them when I finish them, as a way of reflecting on the book and how it affected me. Plus - one more way to update right? :)
The day after I lost my job, I attended an Episcopal Young Adult Gathering called "Vocare". Although I was frustrated during the weekend for several reasons, I have to say that it was a transformative weekend for me. I think a lot of it was timing - because I had just lost my job, I was completely open to what God was saying to me. We had a lot of time during the weekend for silence, and I never realized how comforting complete silence can be when you use it to focus on God. Something else I learned from Vocare was the real value of prayer. I have never been one to sit and pray at any specific time - I usually pray by just randomly talking to God. We were given an Anglican Rosary (also known as Anglican Prayer Beads) and I was also given the opportunity to make one to be sold as a fundraiser for the Atlanta area Episcopal Young Adult group. The prayer beads have been an incredible addition to my prayer life - as one whose mind wanders when I try to focus on prayer, it is helpful to have something solid to focus on when saying prayers. The most important thing I learned from Vocare is that I NEED a Christian community. Many of you know that we have been without a church since we moved to GA - we have visited a couple of churches, but never found a place where we truly felt comfortable. We decided to visit the local Episcopal church for Ash Wednesday service, and instantly felt the presence of God. The people were so welcoming, and the service was very centering. I've been participating in their Lenten Evening Prayer services and Lenten study, and it has been a great experience to be a part of a Christian community again.
We are anticipating a move to Atlanta very soon. When I have firm details, I will post more - it will probably be next week sometime. We have listed the house on craigslist, owners.com and Josh's work intranet. We've had a couple people interested so far, so we're trusting that God will take care of everything in the right time frame. We are learning a lot about surrendering to God's will and trusting that God will supply everything that we need.
Those are the highlights of our life as of right now. Look for a book review tomorrow or Sunday and a "move update" sometime soon!